With Ye Yunfei's order, the great army advanced rapidly through the void like a torrential flood through the cosmos.
For this campaign, Ye Yunfei had drawn substantial elite forces from three voids, forming an army of immense scale. All troops were seated within high-grade airships specially designed for long-distance travel.
These airships were part of Ye Yunfei's collected stock, some obtained from Tianmu Shenjun's cultivation cave dwelling.
Not only were these airships extremely fast, but they were also engraved with numerous high-level defensive formations, making them exceptionally sturdy.
Countless airships flew in disciplined formation through the void, the deafening roar of their passage shaking the vast expanse of sky wherever they went.
Not long after, Ye Yunfei brought this army before a large cross-void transmission altar.
The altar had already been activated. Above it hovered a spatial transmission channel, flanked on both sides by a group of Alliance Army high officials responsible for guarding it.
The airship carrying Ye Yunfei was the first to enter the spatial transmission channel above the altar, followed by a majestic procession of the other vessels.
This transmission altar connected to the Fifth Void.
“Young Master Ye, we have just received news. In the Fifth Void, the Guardian Faction’s army holds the advantage in the war.
Nearly half of the major powers in the Fifth Void have already pledged allegiance to the Guardian Faction, becoming subordinate forces.
These major powers have all dispatched armies that obey the Guardian Faction’s command, joining the siege against the Hunyuan Sect’s forces.
Of the remaining major powers in the Fifth Void, only half obey the Hunyuan Sect’s orders, while many others are still observing the situation.
Several major powers in the Fifth Void have even hidden themselves away, and quite a few have fled the Fifth Void entirely, heading to other voids.
Over this period, several major powers from the Fifth Void have secretly escaped to the Sixth and Seventh Voids, keeping an extremely low profile and hiding within several Small Worlds.”
Inside Ye Yunfei’s airship, an Alliance Army Elder reported this to him.
“Very well. Continue gathering intelligence,” Ye Yunfei nodded.
“The three of you will take charge of leading the army forward. I need to go into seclusion for a while,” Ye Yunfei said to Golden Horned Silkworm, Hu Miao, and Huang Shang.
“Alright! Let me lead the army then! I’m really looking forward to the battles ahead!” Golden Horned Silkworm immediately nodded, buzzing with anticipation.
Ye Yunfei entered the Phantom Tower, reached out a hand, and grabbed. A figure shot towards him and landed before him, his face filled with dread.
This was a Heavenly God, his body suffused with dense sword qi—a Heavenly God from the Bladesworld.
He had been incidentally sealed by Ye Yunfei in a previous battle and had been imprisoned within the Phantom Tower ever since.
Ye Yunfei had incarcerated a large number of Heavenly Gods and Sovereign Gods within the Phantom Tower, all from hostile factions such as the Guardian Faction, the Bladesworld, and others.
“Brat Ye! Release me at once, or else my Bladesworld will—” The Bladesworld Heavenly God, seeing Ye Yunfei, cried out in both shock and fury.
BOOM! A formidable godly energy erupted from Ye Yunfei’s body, like an invisible giant hand that instantly suppressed the Heavenly God, rendering him speechless and immobile, his face frozen in terror.
“H-How is this possible? Brat Ye, you’re actually… a Sovereign God now?”
When the Heavenly God suddenly realized Ye Yunfei was actually a Second Level Sovereign God, he was utterly stupefied.
Because when Ye Yunfei had sealed him previously, he was only a Heavenly God. To break through to become a Second Level Sovereign God in such a short time… this speed of advancement was too shocking.
And what stunned him even more was that the potency of the godly energy Ye Yunfei emanated far surpassed that of a Second Level Sovereign God; it was close to that of a Fifth, or even Sixth-Level Sovereign God.
With a mental command, Ye Yunfei activated the Soul Cleansing Technique to begin cleansing this Heavenly God’s Soul Body.
With Ye Yunfei’s current level of Soul Power, dealing with a Heavenly God was truly simple.
In an instant, the Heavenly God’s Soul Body began to sink into a state of dazed confusion. His memories, emotions, will, thoughts, and everything else faded away rapidly.
At first, the Heavenly God fought back desperately, his face contorted in agony, but soon his expression turned numb and vacant, his eyes dull. Everything within his Soul Body related to memories and emotions had vanished, leaving behind only a pure Soul Body, simple and unsullied like a newborn infant.
“I wonder if, with my current level, I can etch a Soul Power imprint onto a Heavenly God’s Soul Body?” Ye Yunfei looked at the now-thoroughly dazed Heavenly God before him and spoke in an expectant tone.
“You are already a Sovereign God. Etching a Soul Power imprint onto a Heavenly God’s Soul Body probably won’t be too difficult,” Hun Lao chimed in.
“I hope so. If I can etch my Soul Power imprint onto a Heavenly God’s Soul Body, it would mean I could later subdue Heavenly Gods to become my Clones,” Ye Yunfei said.
He then began attempting to etch his Soul Power imprint onto this Heavenly God’s Soul Body.
Before starting, Ye Yunfei took out a handful of Divine Pills and swallowed them. These pills were all for replenishing Soul Power. Their potent medicinal energy exploded within his body, then surged powerfully into his soul sea.
Over the following period, Ye Yunfei performed a secret technique to begin etching his Soul Power imprint onto this Heavenly God’s Soul Body.
Half a day later.
“Success at last!” Ye Yunfei’s face lit up with delighted surprise.
After repeated attempts, he had finally succeeded in etching his Soul Power imprint onto this Heavenly God’s Soul Body.
From this moment on, both this Heavenly God’s Soul Body and his physical body were completely under Ye Yunfei’s control, becoming one of his Clones.
“This is an Intermediate Heavenly God. Next, I’ll try an Advanced Heavenly God and a Perfected Heavenly God,” Ye Yunfei glanced at the Heavenly God before him and spoke.
He then reached out again and grabbed an Advanced Heavenly God.
This Advanced Heavenly God was from the Guardian Faction. He had been captured by Ye Yunfei in a previous battle and had been imprisoned in the Phantom Tower for a long time.
“Brat Ye! Release me at once! Then I might even put in a good word for you with the higher-ups of our Guardian Faction and see if we can resolve the conflict between you and us! Otherwise, our Guardian Faction will never let you go!”
As soon as this Advanced Heavenly God of the Guardian Faction saw Ye Yunfei, he immediately yelled.
However, Ye Yunfei had no desire to waste words with him. With a mental command, he unleashed formidable godly energy, directly suppressing the Advanced Heavenly God, and began etching the Soul Power imprint onto his Soul Body.
After considerable effort, Ye Yunfei finally succeeded in etching his Soul Power imprint onto this Advanced Heavenly God’s Soul Body, completely controlling him and making him a Clone.
Next, Ye Yunfei began attempting a Perfected Heavenly God.
Etching his Soul Power imprint onto a Perfected Heavenly God’s Soul Body proved more difficult.
Ye Yunfei tried several Perfected Heavenly Gods in succession. The Soul Bodies of the first five could not withstand the process and directly exploded, leaving only corpses.
Only on the sixth Perfected Heavenly God did Ye Yunfei barely manage to etch his Soul Power imprint.
“It seems my current peak capability is etching Soul Power imprints onto Perfected Heavenly Gods. As for Soul Bodies at the Sovereign God level, I definitely can’t do that yet,” Ye Yunfei observed, looking at the Heavenly Gods standing before him who had become his Clones.
“From now on, I’m going to subdue a batch of Heavenly God-level Clones,” Ye Yunfei continued.
Just then, the airship trembled lightly and came to a stop.
“We’ve arrived at the Fifth Void,” Golden Horned Silkworm informed Ye Yunfei.
Ye Yunfei immediately emerged from the Phantom Tower and then stepped out of the airship.
Sure enough, they were now in the Fifth Void. Ye Yunfei’s airship was positioned at the very front, followed by a vast number of airships arranged in neat rows.
“Reporting, Young Master Ye. This contains the latest situation in the Fifth Void over this period,” a middle-aged man flew swiftly over from the distant void, landing before Ye Yunfei and respectfully presenting a spatial jade slip.
This middle-aged man was a Heavenly God of the Alliance Army, dispatched long ago to the Fifth Void specifically for intelligence work.
Ye Yunfei scanned the information recorded within the spatial jade slip.
“You’ve done well. Continue gathering intelligence,” Ye Yunfei nodded and spoke.
“Young Master Ye, our Alliance Army has already established several secret branch bases within the Fifth Void,” an Elder stepped forward to report.
“Then we will head to our Alliance Army’s branch bases immediately, make our preparations, and then take official action,” Ye Yunfei thought for a moment and nodded.
Not long after, Ye Yunfei led the army into a branch base secretly developed by the Alliance Army in the Fifth Void.
It was an ordinary-looking world, now entirely under the Alliance Army’s control.
“Pass the order: the army must hurry to drill the various battle formations. Also, all members may draw cultivation resources according to their needs,” Ye Yunfei instructed several core Elders of the Alliance Army.
The army soon settled within this world. Ye Yunfei, however, immediately gathered all the high-level officials he had brought with him to discuss their next course of action.
After deliberation, Ye Yunfei decided to keep this army he had brought relatively low-key for now. They would first carry out various covert operations, gradually whittling away the Guardian Faction’s overall strength, and only reveal themselves openly for direct combat against the Guardian Faction’s army when absolutely necessary.
Ye Yunfei’s first step was to subdue as many of the Guardian Faction’s personnel as possible.
He already had rich experience in this area from before.
Over the following period, Ye Yunfei allowed the army he had brought to temporarily settle within this world to rest, recuperate, and drill. He, however, left this world quietly with a group of Sovereign Gods from the Alliance Army and ventured into the Fifth Void to begin covert operations.