"The scenes ahead are not real."
Hun Lao, having also seen the visions in front, spoke to Ye Yunfei.
Right at that moment, a vast amount of black energy, exuding a dense and frigid Yin aura, suddenly surged into the Reincarnation Passage from the outside.
These dark, Yin-chilling energies possessed formidable destructive power, corroding everything in their path, including the structures within the Reincarnation Passage and some parasitic, bizarre creatures.
The wandering souls were even more powerless against these dark, Yin-chilling energies, instantly dissolving into nothingness.
"What vile wretches dare to damage the Reincarnation Passages, disrupt the order of Samsara, and defy Heaven's Will? This is the most heinous of sins!"
An angry voice suddenly boomed from deep within the Reincarnation Passage.
Ye Yunfei immediately directed his gaze towards the passage's depths. There, he saw a dilapidated shrine where a dust-laden sculpted idol was enshrined.
Perhaps due to being placed there for an unfathomably long time, it was covered in thick, void-like dust, its original appearance long since obscured.
Yet now, it suddenly erupted with dazzling white divine radiance. Then, the sculpture seemed to gain life, rising and rushing out of the small shrine. It charged towards the black Yin-chilling energies, taking direct action to expel them.
However, three black silhouettes exuding vast Yin-chilling energy immediately emerged from the dark mist and engaged the earthen statue in combat.
Meanwhile, more and more black Yin-chilling mist continuously poured into the passage from outside, until the Reincarnation Passage was completely shrouded by those dark energies.
From within the pitch-black passage came one furious roar after another, along with terrible rumbles of explosive combat energy.
Yet, this image soon trembled slightly and vanished completely, only to be replaced by another.
In this scene, over a dozen Reincarnation Passages appeared simultaneously, their settings largely similar.
Each passage was teeming with wandering souls walking along them towards their endpoints, and their structures were alike.
Suddenly, a deluge of black Yin-chilling energies invaded every passage. Rolling waves of the energy transformed into towering black mist, ceaselessly corroding them.
Then, from each Reincarnation Passage emerged powerful, fearsome experts who moved to expel the dark Yin energies.
However, from the inky mist, black silhouettes immediately rushed out to confront these Reincarnation Lineage experts.
Soon after, over ten Reincarnation Passages were utterly contaminated by the black Yin-chilling energy. The image trembled once more and disappeared, replaced by yet another, even larger view.
This picture showed scores of Reincarnation Passages arranged in order. The events unfolding in them were identical to those in the earlier scenes.
"I understand. These images before us likely record the process in ancient times when Reincarnation Passages were damaged and subsequently abandoned,"
Hun Lao remarked.
"Indeed," Ye Yunfei nodded.
"Those black Yin-chilling energies resemble the heritage of the Great Netherworld. So perhaps the reason so many Reincarnation Passages were abandoned in antiquity is connected to the Great Netherworld,"
he observed, watching the unfolding images and nodding to himself.
"After the decline of the Reincarnation Lineage in ancient times, the Great Netherworld took over its role, governing the reincarnation of wandering souls in the world," Hun Lao continued.
"It appears likely that the Great Netherworld damaged those Reincarnation Passages in antiquity, preventing the Reincarnation Lineage from continuing to manage the world's cycle of rebirth."
"Then the Great Netherworld established a new system, assuming control over the order of reincarnation for the world's souls."
"Essentially, it was a conflict between two great powers vying for the authority to govern the cycle of birth and death in the world."
"By that reasoning, the Great Netherworld shares an irreconcilable, inherent hatred with the Reincarnation Lineage—they are natural-born enemies,"
the Golden-Horned Dragon Silkworm chimed in.
"No wonder they start fighting as soon as they meet."
Just as Ye Yunfei and the others were talking, the Reincarnation Token on his person suddenly flew out, hovering above his head. It burst forth with brilliant white light, enveloping Ye Yunfei.
"There seems to be something ahead," Ye Yunfei's gaze suddenly fixed on a specific spot in front of him.
His figure flashed, and he shot towards that location.
"So many treasures! They all seem to be related to Reincarnation Energy. Looks like this Small Grinding Mill's interior is a treasure vault!"
The Golden-Horned Dragon Silkworm couldn't help but cry out with joy.
At this moment, heap after heap of various treasures appeared ahead, stretching across the space in rolling mounds.
Their numbers were staggering; different types of treasures were piled together in separate mounds, forming small mountain ranges.
There was no end in sight, with extremely concentrated Reincarnation Energy transforming into rolling white mist.
One strand of Reincarnation Law after another materialized into thick chains that rustled and writhed in the space, resembling colossal white dragons stirring.
Having cultivated Reincarnation Energy and Reincarnation Law in the past, Ye Yunfei immediately felt unprecedented activity within his body upon arriving here.
Moreover, it began automatically absorbing the surrounding Reincarnation Energy and Reincarnation Laws.
In just a split second, Ye Yunfei sensed a significant enhancement in his own Reincarnation Energy and Reincarnation Law.
However, Reincarnation Energy and Laws weren't Ye Yunfei's primary cultivation focus. Up to now, the grade of reincarnation-related cultivation techniques and secret arts he had practiced was relatively low. Therefore, he didn't deliberately attempt to refine and absorb the Reincarnation Energy and Laws here.
Nonetheless, he was very interested in the vast quantity of Reincarnation Energy-type treasures before him. He immediately walked forward, traversing the spaces between the mountainous treasure piles.
"These are Reincarnation Energy and Law crystals, and of a high grade at that," Ye Yunfei noted, seeing mound after mound of energy crystals.
With a wave of his sleeve, he immediately collected several small mountains' worth of energy crystals, transferring them into the Illusory Shadow Tower.
"These are Reincarnation Energy-type medicinal herbs, useful for refining certain special Divine Pills. Might as well take some of these too,"
he said, seeing piles of herbs and directly taking a portion.
These Reincarnation Energy herbs could refine many special Divine Pills, particularly those beneficial to the soul body.
Next, Ye Yunfei saw numerous treasures imbued with Reincarnation Energy. He moved among the stacks of treasures, continuously making selections.
Soon, the Golden-Horned Dragon Silkworm, Huang Chang, Hu Miao, and Hun Lao each chose some treasures that interested them.
Ye Yunfei's gaze, however, fell on a white robe resting atop one particular treasure pile.
This white robe seemed completely out of place among the surrounding artifacts, floating alone above the pile without touching any other treasures, while the others were all heaped together.
"This white robe doesn't seem to emit Reincarnation Energy. Why would such an artifact be placed here?"
Ye Yunfei stopped to examine the white robe, feeling curious.
"That white robe appears to be emanating dense Faith Energy," Hun Lao suddenly interjected.
"Indeed, it is giving off Faith Energy," Ye Yunfei nodded.
Having encountered Faith Energy long ago, he could tell at a glance that the robe contained an ocean of it.
"This artifact is worth careful study," Ye Yunfei immediately manifested an energy hand that grasped the white robe floating above the treasure pile.
Without any resistance, the robe was taken into his possession.
Ye Yunfei didn't study it immediately, instead storing it and continuing onward.
Not long after, he spotted a stone table ahead. On its surface lay several dozen tokens, each exuding ancient, weathered auras, clearly having existed for immense stretches of time.
"These Reincarnation Tokens could be quite useful at certain times. Let's take one or two,"
Ye Yunfei murmured after examining the tokens. He reached out and took two of them.
As his palm touched the tokens, they immediately reacted, releasing potent Reincarnation Energy as if to repel him.
But the token hovering above Ye Yunfei's head instantly shot forth a dazzling beam of white light, enveloping the two tokens and pacifying them. Ye Yunfei then stored them away.
Soon after, he encountered many medicinal pills. Rows of medicine racks, each holding bottles containing Divine Pills, stretched far beyond sight.
"There are so many Divine Pills here!" the Golden-Horned Dragon Silkworm exclaimed, his eyes gleaming at the densely packed racks.
Generally, Divine Pills held greater value than their raw herb counterparts, as each pill was refined and condensed from multiple medicinal ingredients.
Ye Yunfei extended his Soul Power perception while simultaneously activating the Divine Pupil between his eyebrows to inspect the pills.
Before long, he discovered a batch of Sovereign God-level Divine Pills, extremely beneficial to the soul body.
Ye Yunfei, of course, unapologetically collected all the Divine Pills he fancied.
"Could these two bottles contain Chaos God-level Divine Pills?"
Suddenly, Ye Yunfei spotted two jade bottles placed on a solitary rack—the only items on it.
Being an alchemist, he immediately sensed these bottles held something extraordinary.
Simultaneously, the Divine Pupil between his eyebrows analyzed the bottles, soon confirming their likely contents: Chaos God-level Divine Pills.
Ye Yunfei immediately approached and manifested an energy hand to grasp the jade bottles.
Pills of Chaos God level were extraordinary and might possess autonomous defenses.
Indeed, as his energy hand neared the bottles, a powerful defensive force erupted from within, repelling it.
At the same time, a formation light screen materialized around the bottles, encasing them.
"As expected, Chaos God-level pills have self-defense capabilities," Ye Yunfei remarked, slightly surprised.
Now he studied the formation, beams of light shooting from his Divine Pupil onto the light barrier.
"This formation possesses quite formidable grade and power. In the past, you might not have been able to quickly break it, potentially requiring significant time and effort to ultimately breach it,"
Hun Lao observed.
"True, but I can crack it swiftly now," Ye Yunfei replied with a smile.
He then extended his energy hand once more. In an instant, it pierced the formation barrier and lunged for the jade bottles.
The pills within again erupted with potent defensive energy, attempting to dislodge his grasp.
This time, Ye Yunfei was prepared. Majestic physical power surged from within his body, cascading down to suppress the bottles.
Simultaneously, numerous other energies activated instantly. Dense, woven chains of Great Dao laws materialized, forming a net-like lattice to enclose the bottles.
Additionally, eerie light beams shot from his Divine Pupil, landing on the bottles to further subdue them.
Ye Yunfei also activated the Reincarnation Token within him. It flew out, hovering above his head.
As it emitted dazzling divine radiance, Ye Yunfei immediately sensed the resistance from the pills weakening; they quieted down.
Delighted, his energy hand tightened, pulling the two jade bottles into his grasp.
"It seems using that Reincarnation Token is particularly effective against these Reincarnation-type Divine Pills,"
Hun Lao chuckled.
"Indeed. Let's keep looking," Ye Yunfei replied contentedly, feeling satisfied with acquiring two bottles of Chaos God-level pills.
He then proceeded, scanning rack after rack, unceremoniously storing away any Divine Pill that caught his interest.
By the end, he had collected four bottles of Chaos God-level Divine Pills and a substantial batch of Sovereign God-level ones.
He continued his search forward, selecting and taking possession of a significant portion of the treasures he deemed valuable.
Of course, he only took a portion—a very small portion at that.
He left the vast majority of the heaped treasures untouched.
Ye Yunfei understood these treasures were likely left behind by the ancient Reincarnation Lineage, forming part of their foundation and reserves.
Out of respect for Qing Luo, he didn't intend to strip this place bare.
Were these treasures belonging to another faction, he would show no mercy, plundering everything without leaving a single fragment behind.
Knowing Ye Yunfei's mindset, the Golden-Horned Dragon Silkworm and the others refrained from taking any of the vast treasures, allowing Ye Yunfei to make the selections. Ye Yunfei distributed some of his chosen finds among his companions.
"This should be the interior of that Small Grinding Mill. Who knows what's happening outside now? I think we'd better find a way out. If the experts outside manage to break onto the altar and seize this grinding mill, our situation will become perilous,"
the Golden-Horned Dragon Silkworm cautioned Ye Yunfei.
"Alright then, we'll find a way out now," Ye Yunfei nodded.
He raised the Reincarnation Token in his hand, releasing his Soul Power and Reincarnation Energy to sense the space, while simultaneously using his Divine Pupil to analyze and perceive his surroundings.
Moments later, Ye Yunfei suddenly looked upwards. His figure flashed, shooting skyward.
The next instant, his form erupted from the Small Grinding Mill, returning to the altar.
At this moment, the white energy shield surrounding the altar, besieged by numerous powerful experts, was trembling violently, on the verge of collapse.
Standing on the altar, Ye Yunfei observed the Small Grinding Mill. It had fallen completely silent, not even emitting any lingering aura.
With a direct grab, he took hold of the mill.
Then, he surveyed the ancient altar, finding that aside from this Small Grinding Mill, there was nothing else of note.
"It's time we leave," Ye Yunfei declared.
He produced a handful of formation flags and swiftly assembled a large-scale teleportation formation before him.
BOOM!
The instant Ye Yunfei finished the formation, the white energy shield surrounding the altar broke, several gaps appearing in it.
One expert after another rushed onto the altar, their eyes immediately locking onto Ye Yunfei.
They all knew that Ye Yunfei had spent considerable time atop the altar; thus, any treasure upon it must surely be in his possession.
As the experts charged, Ye Yunfei had already activated the teleportation formation. Powerful teleportation energy enveloped his body, initiating the process.
In the next moment, his figure vanished from the altar.