“Ye Yunfei, release our Ancestor Master immediately. Although our Gu Han Sect is weak, we will not allow ourselves to be bullied,” one of the Gu Han Sect’s high-level members, a core elder, found the courage and shouted towards Ye Yunfei with an angry glare.
A cold gleam flashed in Ye Yunfei's eyes. With a thought, he unleashed the Soul Power Star Technique. Over twenty Soul Power stars rushed simultaneously into the core elder's mind space, beginning the forceful devouring of his Soul Body.
This core elder was a Fourth-Level Sovereign God who had cultivated within this realm for a long time, making him quite formidable among his peers. But to Ye Yunfei, he was simply too weak. Ye Yunfei's current Soul Power energy level surpassed that of most Eighth Heaven Sovereign Gods.
The swarm of over twenty Soul Power stars instantly surrounded the core elder's Soul Body and started devouring it forcefully. The elder had absolutely no chance to resist. His gaze gradually grew vacant and unfocused, and within moments, his Soul Body was completely consumed.
Thus, Ye Yunfei obtained most of the core elder's memories.
“The so-called Gu Han Sect is indeed a Branch Stronghold of the Great Netherworld,” Ye Yunfei confirmed after absorbing the elder's memories.
“Second Elder! What's wrong with you?” The other senior members of the Gu Han Sect were startled to see the core elder suddenly freeze in place, his eyes blank and vacant, and immediately called out to him.
But the core elder had already perished. Although his body still retained a rich life force, his Soul Body had completely become nourishment for Ye Yunfei.
With a flicker of intent, Ye Yunfei again employed the Soul Power Star Technique, beginning to devour the Soul Bodies of the other senior Gu Han Sect members within the hall.
One by one, senior members who had been speaking suddenly went motionless, their eyes turning empty as if they had become statues.
“Oh no! We must escape!” Finally, the remaining senior members realized something was terribly wrong and turned to flee the hall.
However, as soon as they passed through the hall's doorway, Formation after Formation appeared outside, blocking their path. These Formations had been laid by Ye Yunfei before entering.
In their desperation, the senior members tried breaking through the Formations, but Ye Yunfei's Formations were exceptionally sturdy, preventing them from breaking free in a short time.
“We can't escape!” The senior members' faces turned pale, especially as they saw their companions inside the hall stand motionless, gradually losing their vitality. Panic began to set in.
“We need to strike together! Combine our forces against this brat!” When only about ten senior members remained, one elder gritted his teeth and shouted.
“Right! We'll fight together!” The others also cried out, realizing they couldn't break the Formations surrounding the hall. Their only remaining hope was to mount a joint attack.
But to Ye Yunfei, they were far too weak.
The dozen or so senior members had barely begun to charge towards Ye Yunfei when he unleashed Mind Swords, each one striking their Soul Bodies. One after another, they screamed as they were sent flying back, falling to the ground with blood streaming from their orifices.
The Gu Han Sect’s Ancestor Master, suppressed and sealed in Ye Yunfei's hand, witnessed everything clearly but was powerless to resist. He could only watch as Ye Yunfei dealt with his sect's leaders one by one.
Within moments, except for the Ancestor Master, every senior Gu Han Sect member in the hall had their Soul Bodies devoured by Ye Yunfei.
“You… You…” Watching his senior members, one by one, lose their vitality and turn into cold corpses, the Ancestor Master burned with rage yet simultaneously felt a chilling fear. Throughout the whole process, Ye Yunfei had effortlessly slaughtered them using only soul and mind energy techniques, showcasing truly terrifying power.
“Now it's your turn,” Ye Yunfei stated coldly, his gaze falling on the Ancestor Master in his hand.
“Ye Yunfei, I will tell you the truth. I belong to the Great Netherworld! If you dare move against me, you will provoke the Great Netherworld! You must carefully consider the consequences, or this will bring immense trouble upon you!” Seeing the dense killing intent in Ye Yunfei's eyes, the Ancestor Master felt as if a basin of snow had been poured over his head, chilling him to the bone. Still, he gathered his courage and shouted.
But mentioning the Great Netherworld only intensified the killing intent in Ye Yunfei's heart.
“Precisely because you are from the Great Netherworld, I must kill you all the more,” Ye Yunfei replied icily.
The words barely faded as dozens of Soul Power stars howled forth, invading the Ancestor Master's mind space and beginning to devour his Soul Body.
The Ancestor Master immediately screamed. Soon, his Soul Body was forcibly devoured, and Ye Yunfei acquired most of his memories.
“This fellow indeed belongs to the Great Netherworld. He was dispatched to oversee this Gu Han Sect, which serves as a Branch Stronghold for the Great Netherworld. However, the Great Netherworld operates extremely covertly to avoid drawing attention. Most members of the Gu Han Sect aren’t even aware of the connection. Every time a member of the Great Netherworld arrives, they are secretly received by this Ancestor Master and a few core elders.” By reading the Ancestor Master's memories, Ye Yunfei learned more details.
A short while later, Ye Yunfei's figure flashed, and he exited the hall, his gaze drawn to a particular location deep within the Guhan Realm. He strode towards it and soon arrived before a tall, barren black mountain.
The mountain emitted rolling waves of frigid mist. Dense, black icy haze swirled around its peak, making it difficult to see the summit clearly.
“This is a forbidden zone of the sect! No one is allowed to approach without permission. Young man, who are you? Why have you come here? Which senior authorized you?” Ye Yunfei had barely appeared before the mountain when three elders materialized, blocking his path.
All three were Lesser Sovereign Gods: one a Fourth-Level Sovereign God and two Third-Grade Sovereign Gods. They were permanently stationed here to guard the Gu Han Sect's forbidden ground.
Ye Yunfei stretched out his hand, which rapidly enlarged, releasing terrifying physical strength as he reached towards the three Lesser Sovereign Gods. Sensing the horrifying physical power emanating from Ye Yunfei, the three elders' faces dramatically changed, and they sought to resist. But their thoughts and intentions were instantly disrupted by the Mind Reading Art, and the three stood there looking utterly dazed and disoriented.
Ye Yunfei made a grasping motion, and the three Lesser Sovereign Gods were captured and imprisoned within the Phantom Tower.
Then, with a flick of his sleeve, Ye Yunfei unleashed a surge of Yang-attribute godly energy. It transformed into a golden sea of fire that instantly dispersed the black mist shrouding the mountain peak, restoring clarity to the area.
Now exposed on the summit was a black altar.
“This altar—could it be the teleportation channel connecting the Gu Han Sect to the Great Netherworld?” Hun Lao exclaimed with surprise upon seeing the black altar.
“That’s quite possible,” Ye Yunfei nodded in agreement.
In a flash, Ye Yunfei stood upon the altar. He released his Soul Power energy and Heart Power energy while opening his Divine Pupil at his forehead to study the structure. After a short period, he gained a relatively detailed understanding of this teleportation altar.
“This is indeed a long-distance teleportation channel, and it’s highly likely it leads to the Great Netherworld,” Ye Yunfei stated as he retrieved a heap of divine crystals and channeled them into the altar.
“If this altar truly leads to the Great Netherworld, activating it will transport you there. Are you really planning to venture into the Great Netherworld alone? You should think this through carefully,” Hun Lao immediately spoke up, seeing Ye Yunfei's intent to activate the Teleportation Altar.
“The whereabouts of Old Huang are currently unknown. There’s even a chance he has already fallen into the hands of those from the Great Netherworld. Therefore, I intend to investigate the Great Netherworld. It should be a fairly large-scale world in its own right. If we enter cautiously, we should be fine,” Ye Yunfei contemplated before responding.
“The Great Netherworld is a formidable and mysterious force, and its true strength remains unknown to this day. We must exercise extreme caution if we are to enter the Great Netherworld,” Hun Lao said, realizing Ye Yunfei had made up his mind to venture into the Great Netherworld and was unlikely to be deterred.
With a resonant boom, the Teleportation Altar activated under Ye Yunfei's power, erupting with potent teleportation energy. A spatial teleportation channel materialized above the altar, and Ye Yunfei stepped into it, commencing the transmission.
Meanwhile, across a vast span of space and time, within a large void suffused with intense, dark energy that plunged everything into gloom, atop a towering black-peaked mountain reaching into the heavens, a shadowy figure who had been sitting cross-legged abruptly opened its eyes. Two piercing beams of green light shot forth.
“A small Branch Stronghold, without reporting its status, has activated a teleportation channel. What's more, it's initiating a transfer *from* that stronghold *towards* our Great Netherworld. This has never happened before; something is definitely amiss,” the shadowy figure said.
Beside the figure lay a black Teleportation Altar, currently trembling slightly.
After speaking, the shadowy figure began weaving several strange, intricate hand-seals and repeatedly struck them into the black altar.
Soon, a colossal black hand materialized above the black altar, and a spatial teleportation channel emerged simultaneously.
The colossal black hand surged ferociously into the spatial channel and vanished in an instant, followed by the channel itself disappearing. The entire black altar returned to tranquility.
“Whoever attempts to teleport from those Branch Strongholds towards the Great Netherworld without proper authorization will meet a dead end,” the shadowy figure declared in an icy tone before resuming its motionless, cross-legged pose and entering a meditative state.
Back in his own teleportation channel, Ye Yunfei was speeding along in transit.
“Trouble! Be careful! The structure of this spatial channel is becoming unstable; it seems at risk of disintegrating at any moment!” Suddenly, Hun Lao exclaimed with alarm.
“A powerful expert on the other end of this channel is attempting to hinder my transmission,” Ye Yunfei stated. He activated his Divine Pupil and peered forward. At the far end of the channel, a gigantic black hand was hurtling directly towards him.