Boom! Boom!
That Ninth Heaven Godking tried several more times, each attempt stronger than the last. By the final one, he was exerting his full strength. The energy within his body, mighty as a rushing river, surged forth and crashed against the array of Formations up ahead.
To everyone's astonishment, however, not even the energy of a Ninth Heaven Godking could shatter those Formations.
"I truly hadn't expected the Formations here to be so sturdy!" the attacking Ninth Heaven Godking growled angrily. "It seems the Guardian Faction has been entrenched in the Fourth Void for so long that they've made ample preparations for defense."
"The strength of the Guardian Faction is by no means weak, and their foundations are terrifyingly deep. We must not underestimate them," Elder Dongfang said.
"From my perspective, the Guardian Faction isn't as strong as we imagined. Weren't they just routed and thoroughly defeated by the armies of our Hunyuan Sect? As long as we can break these Formations and fight our way in, we can destroy this headquarters of the Guardian Faction in the Fourth Void," another Ninth Heaven Godking spoke up.
"Actually, the reason we were able to defeat the Guardians in the Fourth Void so quickly is absolutely not because the Guardian Faction is weak, but because of Young Master Ye. Our victory owes a great deal to his merits," a different Ninth Heaven Godking suddenly interjected from the side.
"Indeed. Over this period, I have followed Young Master Ye, witnessing firsthand our Hunyuan Sect army's victories on one battlefield after another," another Ninth Heaven Godking spoke. This one was Elder Liu. "I dare say that these battlefields achieved victory, and total victory at that, primarily because of Young Master Ye's immense contribution. This is something we cannot deny."
"Earlier on the battlefield, was it Young Master Ye operating in the shadows that caused the continuous depletion of Sovereign Gods on the Guardian Faction's side?" Elder Dongfang suddenly asked.
"I've heard of Ye Yunfei's name, and everyone praises him as a young prodigy," a Ninth Heaven Godking beside him asked curiously. "But no matter how monstrous his talent, he is merely a junior. Could he truly cause the number of Sovereign Gods in a core battlefield to drop in such large quantities?"
Elder Dongfang was in command of what was originally the final core battlefield in the Fourth Void. Besides him, there were two other Ninth Heaven Godkings who were not as familiar with Ye Yunfei's strength. Deep down, they weren't entirely convinced that Ye Yunfei was as powerful as the four other Ninth Heaven Godkings claimed.
"It must have been Young Master Ye acting from the shadows," Elder Liu said firmly. "Because I've followed him across several core battlefields. On nearly every single battlefield, Ye Yunfei would secretly move to capture a large number of Sovereign Gods from the Guardian Faction. This is something I've witnessed with my own eyes, and everyone who has been following Young Master Ye during this time can vouch for it."
"If Elder Liu says so, it certainly cannot be false," Elder Dongfang remarked. "Earlier on the battlefield, I was already wondering why the number of Sovereign Gods on the Guardian Faction's side suddenly kept decreasing. So it was Young Master Ye taking action. He truly is as legendary as they say. To silently cause the Sovereign Gods on the Guardian Faction side to diminish in great numbers on the battlefield... even I, an old fellow, cannot do that." He couldn't help but express his admiration.
"Haha, this is a case of heroes emerging from among the young," Elder Liu laughed. "Elder Dongfang, wait until you meet Young Master Ye. You will know my words are true."
"But I wonder where Young Master Ye is now. Could it be he hasn't arrived yet?" Elder Jiang, standing nearby, spoke up with a puzzled tone. "An important matter like attacking the Guardian Faction's headquarters should, logically, not be something Young Master Ye would miss."
"Young Master Ye has definitely already come. I reckon he is hidden, plotting something, waiting for the opportune moment to reveal himself," Elder Liu thought for a moment and replied. Having followed Ye Yunfei for a while now, he knew Ye Yunfei would definitely be there.
Just then, a scout suddenly approached from afar and reported to Elder Dongfang, "Elder Dongfang, our sect's experts skilled in Formations, along with a group of hired Formation Masters, are about to arrive."
"Truly? That's excellent news!" All nine of Hunyuan Sect's Ninth Heaven Godkings were overjoyed upon hearing this.
"Once these Formations are broken, our army can charge straight in, flatten the headquarters of the Guardian Faction before us, and eradicate it completely!" Elder Dongfang stared coldly at the heavily-defended World Cluster ahead.
Meanwhile, within the Guardian Faction's headquarters, Ye Yunfei continued his covert operations. A vast number of the Heavenly Gods within this headquarters had already become Ye Yunfei's Clones.
The more Clones Ye Yunfei subdued, the greater his freedom of movement became. By now, Ye Yunfei had converted nearly three-fifths of the Heavenly Gods in this Guardian Faction headquarters into his own Clones. He could now move freely in the areas where these Heavenly Gods operated without any restraint.
Because this was the Guardian Faction's headquarters, Ye Yunfei had temporarily refrained from targeting the Guardian Faction's Sovereign Gods, as it would be easily detected.
"Master, can you use the Soul Purification Art to subdue a Sovereign God into becoming a Clone now?" Hu Miao asked. "If you can subdue Sovereign Gods, it would be much more useful. Get a bunch of Guardian Faction Sovereign Gods to become your Clones, then you could control over half of them. That would be really fun."
"If I use the Soul Body Purification Art now, I can probably purify the Soul Body of a low-level Sovereign God. But attempting to imprint it with my Soul Power seal and control it into becoming my Clone... I'm afraid that wouldn't be successful. After all, a Sovereign God's Soul Body is on a different level. Destroying it is possible, but trying to completely control one... that's a bit too difficult. However, I could give it a try when I have time," Ye Yunfei answered.
"What about the Puppet Soul Threads secret technique, Master? If you use it, can you control a Sovereign God?" Hu Miao asked again.
"I haven't tried that yet. I should find a time to attempt it," Ye Yunfei replied.
"Master, if you can use the Puppet Soul Threads technique to control Sovereign Gods, you could still subdue a group of Guardian Faction Sovereign Gods to be your slaves. The effect would be the same," Hu Miao said.
"That is something worth trying," Hun Lao chimed in, clearly interested. "Your current Soul Power level is equivalent to that of a Ninth Heaven Godking. You could indeed test the power of the Puppet Soul Threads. You might really be able to control Sovereign Gods."
"Alright then, I'll try it immediately," Ye Yunfei nodded upon hearing this.
He immediately entered a cultivation chamber, set up a small Formation space, entered that space, and then stepped inside the Phantom Tower.
On the previous core battlefield, Ye Yunfei had captured no fewer than three hundred Guardian Faction Sovereign Gods, all now imprisoned within the Phantom Tower.
"I'll start with a First-Level Sovereign God," Ye Yunfei reached out and grabbed one. The First-Level Sovereign God was already sealed, unable to move. Facing the terrifying energy radiating from Ye Yunfei, a deep-seated fear arose from the depths of his Soul Body. After all, Ye Yunfei was now a Fourth-Level Sovereign God, and possessing Chaos God veins made his divine energy exceptionally formidable. How could a mere First-Level Sovereign God withstand it?
Ye Yunfei directly activated the Puppet Soul Threads secret technique.
Rustle...
A massive number of red Puppet Soul Threads continuously shot out, plunging directly into the target's Sea of Consciousness and densely wrapping toward his Soul Body. Soon, countless threads bound his Soul Body like a tightly packed zongzi.
"What are you doing?! Release me! Ye Yunfei, no, Young Master Ye, I beg you, spare me..." The First-Level Sovereign God was scared out of his wits, shouting in terror and beginning to plead incoherently.
Ye Yunfei ignored him, continuing to cast the Puppet Soul Threads technique, producing even more threads. These threads constantly drilled deeper into the First-Level Sovereign God's Soul Body.
"Ah..." The man felt immense pain and began to scream.
*A Sovereign God's Soul Body truly is on a much higher level. Its quality isn't something a Heavenly God's Soul Body can compare to*, Ye Yunfei mused inwardly as he controlled the swarm of Puppet Soul Threads to delve deep.
"How is it, Master? Can you control him using the Puppet Soul Threads now?" Hu Miao watched from the side, a little impatient.