During the previous battle, the army of the Guardian Faction had been utterly defeated and suffered heavy losses. A significant portion of the troops now fleeing were wounded, with some injuries quite severe.
"Forget it, everyone, board the flying ship. Let's travel using the ship instead," the Ninth Heaven Godking of the Watchers said after sensing their surroundings and noticing that the Hunyuan Sect's pursuing army had fallen far behind.
Earlier, the Guardian Faction's troops hadn't used a flying vessel to escape because their numbers were vast. Stopping suddenly, retrieving a ship, and organizing the mass boarding would have taken time, and they'd likely have been surrounded by the Hunyuan Sect's forces before even getting inside.
But now, with the pursuing Hunyuan Sect army slowing down more and more, this Guardian Faction's Ninth Heaven Godking decided it was time to let everyone board a vessel. With a wave of his hand, he produced a high-level flying ship.
"Everyone, quickly get inside the ship now!" he shouted, then began directing the troops to board swiftly. This action brought the entire fleeing force to a halt.
Young Master Ye Yunfei's movement speed was incredibly fast; he caught up in an instant and stealthily infiltrated the mass of soldiers. Since there were already many of Ye Yunfei's Clones among this army, infiltrating was a simple matter for him. Once inside, Ye Yunfei entered the Phantom Tower, letting one of his Clones carry the tower and follow the Guardian Faction's forces into the flying ship.
These Clones of Ye Yunfei had only had their memories and consciousness purified by his Soul Purification Art. Their physical and Soul Bodies remained intact, and the aura of their Soul Bodies was identical to the originals. Even a Ninth Heaven Godking would find no flaw.
Soon, the Ninth Heaven Godking had all Guardian Faction troops boarded. With a loud rumble, the flying ship lifted into the air and sped off into the distant void.
Not long after, the ship returned to the Guardian Faction's headquarters in the Fourth Void. The headquarters was composed of a fairly large cluster of Small Worlds, long since encircled by densely packed Formations.
Having operated in the Fourth Void for an extremely long time, the Guardian Faction had accumulated numerous defensive measures at their headquarters over the ages. Of course, the most critical were the series of grand formations passed down from ancient times. Even Eighth or Ninth Heaven Godkings might struggle to breach them quickly.
"We're finally inside the Guardian Faction's headquarters," Golden-Horned Dragon Silkworm said with a laugh.
"Indeed. Now that I'm here, I can really set loose and act freely," Ye Yunfei replied, also smiling.
In the time that followed, Ye Yunfei began moving covertly within the Guardian Faction headquarters. His first objective was to convert every Heavenly God he encountered into his Clones.
With Ye Yunfei's current level of Soul Power, covertly controlling a Heavenly God, purifying his Soul Body, and imprinting it with his own soul signature was both simple and extremely fast, completed in an instant. He could even purify the souls of several Heavenly Gods at once, imprinting them simultaneously.
As time passed, more and more Heavenly Gods within the Guardian Faction headquarters became Ye Yunfei's Clones. The more Clones he had, the freer his movements became within the compound.
Meanwhile, the atmosphere throughout the headquarters was tense. The high-level members were busy deploying troops and making preparations to confront the soon-to-arrive Hunyuan Sect army.
Not long after, the Guardian Faction's other two army groups returned. Though they had fled in different directions, both ended up back at headquarters.
The three-pronged Hunyuan Sect forces, after their pursuit, also converged upon the Guardian Faction's headquarters, completely surrounding it.
"Young Master Ye? Has he not arrived yet?" Elder Liu of the Hunyuan Sect asked as he led his troops into position, trying to contact Ye Yunfei. After searching around fruitlessly and failing to establish contact, he couldn't help but voice his concern. Earlier, he had led his men chasing another Guardian Faction army group and had been separated from Ye Yunfei.
A Ninth Heaven Godking of the Hunyuan Sect explained, "Young Master Ye was with us initially, but later he told us two to deliberately slow down the army's pursuit speed. He said he intended to catch up to the Guardian Faction forces ahead of us on his own. We followed his instructions and then lost contact with him. Up until now, we haven't been able to re-establish communication."
"I see... It seems Young Master Ye has his own plan. With his abilities, he should be fine," Elder Liu nodded.
"Elder Dongfang, let's charge straight in. Destroying this headquarters would be like uprooting the Guardian Faction's foundation in the Fourth Void," one Ninth Heaven Godking suggested to Elder Dongfang.
Several others chimed in agreement. "Exactly, Elder Dongfang. We should attack directly. The Guardian Faction's forces have suffered heavy casualties recently; their strength has plummeted and they're no match for our Hunyuan Sect. While they're weakened, we must finish them off. We can't give them time to recover."
"Everyone, rest assured, since we've pursued them here, we are certainly determined to destroy this Guardian Faction headquarters. However, their headquarters possesses numerous defensive measures, including many ancient Formations. To breach them, we first need to break these formations. I have already issued orders summoning all our sect's experts skilled in breaking formations. I've also sent people to contact renowned formation masters to request their help. Let's wait a moment, no need to rush," Elder Dongfang stated.
"How about this: let me first test just how formidable these Guardian Faction formations are," said another Ninth Heaven Godking of the Hunyuan Sect, stepping forward.
With a rumble, he extended an energy hand that rapidly enlarged, striking towards the front.
The next instant, one enormous Formation barrier after another manifested, overlapping like giant radiant umbrellas, unleashing waves of powerful formation energy.
An immense explosion of energy erupted as the energy hand collided with the glowing barriers.
"These formations are indeed remarkably sturdy," the Ninth Heaven Godking noted with surprise, finding his energy hand not only blocked but forcefully repelled.