Shortly afterwards, an army was assembled at the headquarters of the Guhai Sect, standing in neat ranks before Ye Yunfei.
Ye Yunfei scanned the army with his senses and found that the overall strength of the Guhai Sect had improved considerably compared to the past.
"Sect Leader, distribute these military formations and organize everyone to practice them."
Ye Yunfei took out over a dozen technique jade slips and handed them to the Sect Leader. These slips contained some rather advanced military formations; the power and grade of any formation deemed worthy by Ye Yunfei to be collected were naturally quite impressive.
"As for these cultivation resources, allocate them exclusively to this army. Distribute them according to needs, starting now."
Ye Yunfei retrieved a large batch of cultivation resources as he spoke.
"Many thanks, Young Master Ye!"
Both the Sect Leader and the upper echelons of the Guhai Sect were profoundly excited as they looked at the staggering quantity of cultivation resources Ye Yunfei had taken out.
These resources were not only plentiful but also of high grade and exceptionally precious.
Considering Ye Yunfei's current wealth and status, even casually taking out some cultivation resources was far superior to what the Guhai Sect had hoarded for many years.
"Good, time is of the essence. Let us depart now."
Ye Yunfei swept his gaze over the neatly standing army before him and gave the order.
"Everyone listen! Young Master Ye will personally lead our Guhai Sect's army on this campaign. All must exert your utmost effort. We cannot let Young Master Ye down!" a core elder of the Guhai Sect declared loudly.
"We absolutely will not let Young Master Ye down!" the entire Guhai Sect army responded in unison, their thunderous voices echoing within the sect's headquarters, lingering for a long while.
Everyone in the Guhai Sect now knew that Ye Yunfei was the highest authority, as even the Sect Leader and core elders obeyed his commands. Thus, everyone was eager to perform well in front of this supreme liege.
"Very good. Let us set off now." Ye Yunfei nodded, looking at the high-spirited army.
With a wave of his hand, Ye Yunfei led the Guhai Sect's army as they surged out of the headquarters like a tidal wave.
"Reporting to Young Master Ye, several world clusters around our Guhai Sect have forces from hostile factions stationed there. They have been eyeing our headquarters with ill intent," the Guhai Sect Leader, following behind Ye Yunfei, reported.
"That's easily handled. Take me there immediately. I'll personally wipe out those fellows," Huang Shang chimed in, appearing beside Ye Yunfei with a sinister grin.
"My cultivation realm seems to have hit a bottleneck recently. I need lots of battles to temper and break through, so let me handle it. Plus, I can collect some more cultivation resources while I'm at it," Huang Shang said to Ye Yunfei.
"Fine. Elder Huang, you may proceed," Ye Yunfei had no issue with that and nodded.
"You, take Elder Huang and eliminate all the hostile forces stationed nearby immediately," Ye Yunfei instructed the Sect Leader.
The Guhai Sect Leader and other upper-echelon members looked at Huang Shang's pitch-black ghostly form, which resembled a devouring black hole. They felt their Soul Bodies nearly being pulled out uncontrollably and devoured. Their hearts were filled with dread, and they cautiously approached to pay their respects to Huang Shang.
Huang Shang had recently devoured numerous Soul Bodies of Sovereign Gods, including a significant number of great Sovereign Gods. He had also collected a massive amount of soul fragments and corpses from battlefields, continuously advancing in both his Ghost Path and Corpse Path cultivation.
Now, when ordinary beings faced Huang Shang, their Soul Bodies would tremble with fear, a terror stemming from the depths of their very souls.
"There's no need to be afraid. Elder Huang is one of us," Ye Yunfei said with a smile.
"Senior Huang, please follow me."
Upon hearing Ye Yunfei's words, the Sect Leader and a few core elders felt much more at ease. Their trust in Ye Yunfei was absolute.
Soon after, Huang Shang led his ghost army and corpse army into a nearby world cluster. They surrounded one world, charged in, and began a great slaughter.
That world housed a stationed army from a subservient force of the Guardian Faction, tasked with monitoring the Guhai Sect.
With Huang Shang's current strength, he could even hold his own against Fourth or Fifth Layer Sovereign Gods, let alone with Ye Yunfei standing guard outside, ready to intervene immediately if Huang Shang struggled.
Ye Yunfei didn't even need to get close to the opposing Sovereign Gods; from a considerable spatial distance, he could employ the Soulslayer Bow to strike at their Soul Bodies.
The strongest among the hostile forces stationed near the Guhai Sect headquarters were only Fourth-Level Sovereign Gods.
Throughout the entire process, Ye Yunfei only intervened once. The reason was that one particular Fourth-Level Sovereign God cultivated an extremely Yang-attuned style of techniques and could wield thunder and lightning energy, which happened to be a counter to the skills and secret arts Huang Shang cultivated.
Moreover, this Fourth-Level Sovereign God possessed a very powerful magical treasure specifically designed to summon thunder energy. An artifact passed down from ancient times, its formidable power posed a significant threat to Huang Shang.
Huang Shang battled this Fourth-Level Sovereign God for a long time. Although he held the upper hand, Ye Yunfei worried that even if Huang Shang eventually killed the opponent, he himself would sustain injuries from the thunder energy.
Thus, Ye Yunfei used the Soulslayer Bow to wound that Fourth-Level Sovereign God's Soul Body.
That Fourth-Level Sovereign God was already no match for Huang Shang; once his Soul Body was injured, he became even more vulnerable. Huang Shang quickly devoured his Soul Body, and he perished completely.
"Although my current strength and realm are quite solid, the Ghost Path and Corpse Path techniques I cultivate have a major weakness. If I encounter thunder energy or particularly powerful Yang-attuned techniques, they become less effective, as they are inherently restrained," Huang Shang lamented after the battle concluded.
"Indeed, thunder energy is one of the most powerful Yang-attuned forces in the world. It naturally restrains Ghost Path and Corpse Path techniques. For now, it seems there's no good solution," Ye Yunfei said helplessly, observing Huang Shang's slightly dampened morale.
"Actually, it's not that there's no solution, but it's extremely rare and hard to come by," Hun Lao suddenly interjected.
"Oh? What solution is there?" Huang Shang immediately perked up upon hearing this and eagerly pressed for details.
"Within my racial memories, it is recorded that in ancient times, there existed a rather special type of Ghost Cultivator known as the Yin-Yang God, also called the Yin-Yang Great Ghost Deity.
Such Ghost Cultivators use some very special techniques or unique heavenly treasures to harmonize the Yin and Yang within their ghostly forms, enabling them to accommodate both Yang attribute energies and Ghost Path energies, as well as other Yin attribute energies.
Yin-Yang Gods do not fear thunder energy, let alone other Yang-attuned techniques and martial skills," Hun Lao answered.