An elder was seated cross-legged upon an ancient altar. He wore an apricot-yellow Taoist robe, held a horsetail whisk in his arms, and had three long strands of white beard hanging down his chest, appearing sage-like and untethered to earthly desires.
However, his expression was extremely ugly at this moment.
Surrounding this ancient altar sat five other elders of similar age. Each was dressed as a Taoist, their hair tied in Taoist buns, and they exuded an aura that was profoundly mysterious.
"Elder Brother, how are the current circumstances?" one of the elders asked the one seated upon the altar.
"The current circumstances are not good. The Guardian Faction has already suffered defeat in at least five voids: the Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, Seventh, and Eighth," the elder seated on the altar, the 'Elder Brother,' said.
"What? Our Guardian Faction has failed in the Fourth Void as well?" The five elders around the altar all had their expressions drastically change upon hearing this.
"Indeed. According to the news I have just received from the Fourth Void and my own deductions, our Guardian Faction's forces in the Fourth Void have suffered heavy casualties. The overall situation is now lost," the Elder Brother sighed and shook his head.
"How could this happen? Out of the eight voids, our Guardian Faction has actually been defeated in five of them? We truly never imagined the Hunyuan Sect's strength to be so formidable. It seems the Hunyuan Sect has been developing its power covertly all along, waiting for precisely this kind of opportunity to settle the score with our Guardian Faction," the five elders were both shocked and furious.
"The Hunyuan Sect's strength is indeed greater than we imagined. However, there is also the involvement of a certain young man involved... Ye Yunfei. Based on current information and my deductions, the reason our Guardian Faction's armies in those five voids failed is all related to this young man named Ye Yunfei," the Elder Brother said slowly, his face gloomy.
"What? Ye Yunfei... is he the youngster who earlier annihilated our Guardian Faction's branch headquarters in the Sixth, Seventh, and Eighth Voids? Can it be that the defeat of our armies in the Fourth and Fifth Voids is also related to him?" Upon hearing the Elder Brother's words, the five elders all wore expressions of astonishment.
"The strength of our branch headquarters in the Sixth, Seventh, and Eighth Voids was quite weak, so it's understandable they could be wiped out by that youngster Ye Yunfei. But the overall strength of our armies in the Fourth and Fifth Voids was relatively strong. How can the failures in these two voids also be related to him? Can he really be that capable?" one of the five elders said, sounding somewhat unconvinced.
"In fact, I have performed several deductions. Although that youngster surnamed Ye is merely a youth of the younger generation, he is not simple. We absolutely must not underestimate him. First, his speed of growth is incredibly fast; within a short time, he has grown into a young expert capable of rivaling a Greater Sovereign God. Second, his luck is too good. I deduced some aspects of his past. He should belong to the type spoken of in ancient legends—a person blessed with Great Fortune. Although the concept of Fortune is abstract and elusive, there indeed exist people whose luck is particularly exceptional. Inscrutably, every good thing seems to pile upon them. For instance, when entering a secret realm to explore and seek treasures, in the end, it is often these individuals blessed with Great Fortune who gain the most, or acquire the primary treasure. As for why it must be them while others lack such fortune, the only explanation is that these people possess Great Fortune; no matter what they do, they will always be a bit luckier than others," the Elder Brother explained.
"Take this youngster surnamed Ye, for example. From my deductions, he seems to have emerged from a small, remote place, having endured layer upon layer of tribulations—one could even say having survived many narrow brushes with death. Yet his luck is exceptionally good, allowing him to grow continuously. Today, he can already challenge our Guardian Faction and has even inflicted significant losses upon us," the Elder Brother continued.
"However, for our Guardian Faction, regardless of whether that youngster surnamed Ye is truly a person of Great Fortune from ancient legend, we must devise a way to kill him. Otherwise, in the future, he will bring even greater losses to our Guardian Faction. So, this youngster surnamed Ye must die," the Elder Brother's voice suddenly turned icy.
"No matter how monstrous this Ye Yunfei is, he is still just a junior. Sending a few more Ninth Heaven Godkings, or even Eighth Heaven Godkings, should be enough to deal with him," one of the elders suggested to the Elder Brother.
"No. Not long ago, we dispatched a prince from the Start Thunder Clan, accompanied by one of our Guardian Faction's Chaos Gods. The result was still a failure to kill that youngster; they returned empty-handed," the Elder Brother stated.
"What? How is that possible? Even the Chaos God-level expert we dispatched couldn't kill him? Has that youngster surnamed Ye already attained combat power at the Chaos God level? That's too outrageous!" The other five elders were utterly shocked.
"No, it's not because that youngster surnamed Ye possesses Chaos God-level combat power. It's because a Chaos God from the Hunyuan Sect intervened to protect him. The Chaos Gods of the Hunyuan Sect are now aware that our Guardian Faction wants to kill Ye Yunfei. They have been secretly protecting him all along. Otherwise, that youngster would have long been dead," the Elder Brother shook his head and said.
"So that's how it is. I thought that youngster had somehow attained Chaos God-level combat prowess at such a young age. Turns out it's those fellows from the Hunyuan Sect meddling in affairs," the five elders around the altar suddenly understood.
"In that case, we should go find the Prison Master right now to discuss how to deal with this youngster surnamed Ye. Although he does not yet possess Chaos God-level combat strength, given his various dazzling performances so far, he is bound to cause even greater losses to our Guardian Faction. Moreover, in the future, he might even become a key figure affecting the survival of our Guardian Faction," the Elder Brother suddenly stood up and declared.
"Very well. Let us go find the Prison Master immediately." The other five elders around the altar also rose, having heard the Elder Brother's words. They could tell the Elder Brother placed great importance on Ye Yunfei. For the Elder Brother to value him so highly meant the matter was undoubtedly of grave significance.
The Elder Brother then led the five elders away from the ancient altar. They soared into the air, rushing towards the cave abode within the headquarters where the Prison Master was secluded in cultivation.
At this moment, the four Ninth Heaven Godkings of the Hunyuan Sect, along with Ye Yunfei, leading a vast army, had already arrived at the final core battlefield in the Fourth Void.
On this core battlefield, the Guardian Faction side had three Ninth Heaven Godkings, while the Hunyuan Sect side also had three Ninth Heaven Godkings.
The Ninth Heaven Godkings were already the top-tier powerhouses for both sides within the Fourth Void.