In the time that followed, Ye Yunfei continued to discover even more Soul-Hooking Ghost Enforcers within that battlefield, rushing forward without hesitation to apprehend each one of them and imprison them inside the Phantom Tower.
Of course, during this process, Ye Yunfei continued to capture more Sovereign Gods of the Guardian Faction and subjugate more of their Heavenly Gods as Clones.
At this moment on the battlefield, the army of the Guardian Faction was continuously retreating, while the forces of the Hunyuan Sect pursued relentlessly.
Thus, as the Guardian Faction's army fled and the Hunyuan Sect's army gave chase, the scene transformed into a vast, shifting battlefield.
Though the Guardian Faction's army was relatively smaller in number, it was still a considerable force. An army of that scale couldn't possibly complete a retreat all at once.
Ye Yunfei had been staying within the midst of the Guardian Faction's army the entire time. With his movement speed, the Guardian Faction's forces had simply no way of shaking him off.
And so the Guardian Faction's army fled, and the Hunyuan Sect's army pursued. The two mighty armies rolled forward in the void, one after the other, shaking the skies wherever they passed.
"Scatter and split up into batches to flee! Escape with as many as you can!"
A moment later, the two Ninth Heaven Godkings leading the Guardian Faction finally realized that trying to flee in this formation made it difficult to shake the Hunyuan Sect's pursuit in a short time. Only by breaking up the whole into parts and escaping in different directions in batches could they possibly escape the Sect's chase.
At the command of the two Ninth Heaven Godkings, the Guardian Faction's army began to scatter and break up, led by different commanders fleeing towards different directions.
Confronted with this, the Hunyuan Sect's army indeed became unsure of which direction to pursue—unless they too broke up into batches for the chase.
"Enough, have everyone stop. Our Hunyuan Sect has already won on this battlefield," the two Ninth Heaven Godkings presiding over this battlefield for the Hunyuan Sect simultaneously gave the order to cease the pursuit, and thus the entire army came to a halt.
Soon, Elder Liu and Elder Jiang arrived before Ye Yunfei with two other Ninth Heaven Godkings from the Hunyuan Sect. Those two Ninth Heaven Godkings were extremely warm towards Ye Yunfei and heaped praises on him.
All four Ninth Heaven Godkings from the Hunyuan Sect were already aware that Ye Yunfei had led his forces to fight across over a dozen battlefields, and that every battlefield he supported had emerged victorious.
They were all extremely amiable towards Ye Yunfei, putting aside any airs of being elders in his presence, completely treating him as a peer of equal rank.
Through conversation, Ye Yunfei learned the identities of the other two Hunyuan Sect Ninth Heaven Godkings; they were Elder Liao and Elder Chen.
"Master Ye, there is now only one final core battlefield left in the Fourth Void," Elder Liao said to Ye Yunfei.
"Esteemed Seniors, I intend to go into seclusion for a period first, before going to support the final core battlefield. My seclusion will likely only last a day or two," Ye Yunfei thought for a moment before speaking.
The number of Sovereign Gods from the Guardian Faction that Ye Yunfei had captured during this period on the battlefield had already surpassed a thousand. Ye Yunfei planned to enter seclusion, devour the Soul Bodies of these thousand-plus Sovereign Gods, and use them to raise his Soul Force energy and strengthen his own Soul Body.
Ye Yunfei knew that what he would have to face going forward would undoubtedly be the Chaos Gods of the Guardian Faction. After all, given his current strength, among the ranks of Sovereign Gods, he should already count as a formidable existence, with hardly any opponents left to find.
Now that Chaos God-level powerhouses from the Guardian Faction had their eyes on him, he would inevitably have to face Chaos Gods moving forward. Thus, raising his power was extremely urgent for Ye Yunfei.
"Very well. Master Ye, we shall recuperate here for a time. We will set off to support the next battlefield only after you emerge from seclusion," the four Ninth Heaven Godkings of the Hunyuan Sect all nodded in agreement simultaneously.
Regarding the war between these two major powers, the battles on those core battlefields lasted for a minimum of several months at the shortest, with longer engagements even spanning years. A mere day or two was practically negligible.
Ye Yunfei immediately found a spot in the nearby void, set up a small formation-enclosed space, entered it before stepping into the Phantom Tower, and then began his cultivation seclusion.
The purpose of this cultivation seclusion was crystal clear to Ye Yunfei: to devour the Soul Bodies of those Sovereign Gods from the Guardian Faction he had captured during this period on the battlefield.
"I'll devour these Soul-Hooking Ghost Enforcers first," Ye Yunfei thought and reached out a hand, pulling over a dozen figures emitting a chilling energy aura from the distance.
These dozen-plus figures were the Soul-Hooking Ghost Enforcers Ye Yunfei had captured on the battlefield not long ago. Then, Ye Yunfei began devouring them.
The appearances of these Soul-Hooking Ghost Enforcers were of two kinds: one type had the head of an ox, while the other had the face of a horse.
Staring at Ye Yunfei before them, these Bullheads and Horsefaces were both terrified and furious. At first, they all hurled fierce threats at Ye Yunfei, trying to intimidate him using the name of the Great Netherworld, demanding that Ye Yunfei let them go.
But Ye Yunfei remained unmoved. He directly performed the Soul Force Star Art, unleashing several dozen enormous Soul Force stars to begin devouring these Ghost Enforcers.
Soon, these Soul-Hooking Ghost Enforcers became utterly terrified and began pleading for mercy.
Yet Ye Yunfei paid them no heed, using the Soul Force Star Art to devour them one by one.
From this, Ye Yunfei obtained most of these Ghost Enforcers' memories.
"These Soul-Hooking Ghost Enforcers were indeed dispatched by the Great Netherworld. They roam various voids, going everywhere to capture wandering souls and bring them back to the Underworld, forcing those souls to undergo reincarnation via the Underworld's channels. These Ghost Enforcers all cultivate an extremely advanced concealment secret art, and they also have specially made invisibility talismans from the Great Netherworld stuck on their bodies, giving them excellent concealment effects. Furthermore, these Ghost Bailiffs carry several types of treasures specifically designed to suppress wandering souls, and they cultivate many techniques and secret arts specializing in restraining and suppressing spirits. So it can be said that these Soul-Hooking Ghost Enforcers are the natural bane of wandering souls. Ordinary souls, once encountered by them, are subdued in an instant."
After devouring these Ghost Enforcers, Ye Yunfei obtained the majority of their memories.
"The concealment secret arts cultivated by these Ghost Enforcers, along with the techniques and arts specialized for dealing with souls, are things I can study and cultivate properly," Ye Yunfei said with a smile after receiving those memories.
In the following time, Ye Yunfei continued devouring the Soul Bodies of those Guardian Faction Sovereign Gods. Over a thousand Guardian Faction Soul Bodies were an extremely precious cultivation resource for him.
The more Soul Bodies he devoured, the higher Ye Yunfei's Soul Force energy level rose, and the better the quality of his own Soul Body became.
After an unknowable length of time, Ye Yunfei finally finished devouring all the Soul Bodies of those thousand-plus Sovereign Gods.
After devouring over a thousand Sovereign God Soul Bodies, Ye Yunfei's Soul Force energy level experienced another tremendous leap.
Ye Yunfei felt the quality of his Soul Body had also undergone a massive qualitative improvement, rising to an entirely new tier.
"What level does your current Soul Force energy roughly correspond to now? Has it reached the Chaos God tier?" Hun Lao asked.
"My current Soul Force energy level has not reached the Chaos God tier yet, but it should have surpassed that of most Ninth Heaven Godkings. Relying solely on Soul Force Martial Techniques now, I can easily battle against most Ninth Heaven Godkings. To put it simply, from now on, unless I encounter a Chaos God, I fear no one," Ye Yunfei said with a smile. "However, I'm sure I will have to face Chaos God-level powerhouses moving forward, so my current strength still falls short," Ye Yunfei added, his tone carrying a hint of helplessness.
Next, Ye Yunfei spent a period cultivating various Soul Force Martial Techniques.
With the improvement in his Soul Force energy level and Soul Body quality, the power of the various Soul Force Martial Techniques he cultivated naturally also experienced a tremendous boost.
An unknowable length of time later...
"I can now conjure forth over seventeen hundred Soul Force weapons when executing the Soul Armament Art," Ye Yunfei suddenly said to Hun Lao.
As soon as he spoke, a great number of Soul Force weapons appeared in the space around Ye Yunfei's head, densely packed, numbering over seventeen hundred in total. Each one emitted a potent aura of Soul Force energy.
"And besides the Soul Armament Art, all the other Soul Force Martial Techniques I cultivate have also seen a significant increase in power. My Soul Force Star Art now possesses seventy Soul Force stars. Furthermore, when I use Mind Reading Art now, I can easily interfere with the thoughts and mental processes of a Ninth Heaven Godking, creating a massive restraint."
"If you encounter a Ninth Heaven Godking-level enemy now, the fight should go quite easily for you," Hun Lao said with a laugh.
"Esteemed Seniors, my seclusion has concluded," Ye Yunfei announced, ending this cultivation session. Emerging from the Phantom Tower, he stored away the small formation-enclosed space and flashed to appear before the four Ninth Heaven Godkings of the Hunyuan Sect.
These four Ninth Heaven Godkings were meditating with their eyes closed, having been waiting for Ye Yunfei all along.
"Excellent. Master Ye, let us depart immediately for the final core battlefield."
The four Hunyuan Sect Ninth Heaven Godkings had long grown impatient and immediately decided to set out.
In the Fourth Void now, the war situation between the two major powers, the Hunyuan Sect and the Guardian Faction, was already extremely clear: the Hunyuan Sect held a distinct upper hand.
If the Hunyuan Sect could achieve victory on the final core battlefield, it would mean achieving overall victory in the war across the entire Fourth Void.
In other words, the final core battlefield represented the ultimate decisive battle. Thus, these four Ninth Heaven Godkings from the Hunyuan Sect were both expectant and tense.
"Master Ye, if our Hunyuan Sect can emerge victorious on the final core battlefield, then the war in this void can pretty much be considered over," Eighth Level Sovereign Gods like Elder Song followed closely behind Ye Yunfei. Elder Song secretly transmitted his voice to Ye Yunfei, unable to conceal his excitement.
These Eighth Level Sovereign Gods had been following Ye Yunfei for some time now. They admired Ye Yunfei to the extreme and vaguely harbored a sense of looking to Ye Yunfei as their leader. Whether major or minor matters, they had grown accustomed to acting according to Ye Yunfei's commands.
"Rest assured. As long as the Guardian Faction doesn't send Chaos Gods here, the Hunyuan Sect will definitely achieve final victory in this era," Ye Yunfei said with a smile.
"Oh no! Our Guardian Faction has lost another void!"
At the same moment, in the true headquarters of the Guardian Faction in the First Void, an old man's expression changed dramatically in shock.