Upon hearing the words of the white-clad man, Ye Yunfei did not speak but looked at him with calm, even somewhat indifferent, eyes.
Ever since he arrived here and encountered these descendants of the Sword Realm, he was first asked to hand over the sword heritage he cultivated, then questioned about the teleportation channel he used to enter. Moreover, these Sword Realm descendants acted as if it were only natural, which had already caused Ye Yunfei's attitude to turn somewhat cold.
"What are you doing? Hurry up and tell us the exact location of the Teleportation Formation you used to get in. We still need to report back to Elder Lu. Don't waste our time."
Seeing Ye Yunfei standing motionless, merely gazing at them with placid eyes, the two white-clad men grew impatient.
It was at this moment...
Swoosh...
A large number of invisible Puppet Soul Threads arrived through the air, each drilling into the Soul Seas of the two white-clad men.
At the same time, dozens of Formation light screens arose in the surrounding space, instantly encircling the two white-clad men and isolating them from the outside world.
"Kid, what are you trying to do?!"
The two white-clad men suddenly discovered their Soul Seas had been invaded by a mass of invisible threads, all exuding a strange and terrifying aura of Soul Power energy. They immediately realized something was wrong and stepped back simultaneously, shouting angrily at Ye Yunfei.
Ye Yunfei did not speak, continuing to execute the Puppet Soul Threads secret art, sending even more threads into the Soul Seas of the two men, instantly wrapping up their Soul Bodies.
At the same time, Ye Yunfei used his mind-reading technique to interfere with their thoughts and intentions.
Under the influence of the mind-reading technique, although the two white-clad men very much wanted to resist immediately and send out a call for help, a powerful urge to abandon resistance also welled up within their hearts.
By this time, a huge number of Puppet Soul Threads had already drilled into their Soul Bodies, completely enveloping them.
The two white-clad men initially mobilized all the energy in their Soul Bodies and used Soul Power artifacts to resist. Gradually, however, their gazes began to turn docile. From the depths of their Soul Bodies, a continuous stream of thoughts loyal to Ye Yunfei began to emerge, growing stronger and stronger until they began to dominate their very souls.
These two white-clad men were merely Heavenly Gods, far too weak in front of Ye Yunfei. Against him, they had no power to resist.
"We pay our respects to Master."
A moment later, the two white-clad men were completely controlled by the Puppet Soul Threads, standing respectfully before Ye Yunfei.
Ye Yunfei nodded, then waved a hand and retracted all the Formations he had just deployed.
He then proceeded to question the two men extensively.
This included their identities and backgrounds, the reason for their return to the Sword Realm, as well as the identities of other people currently in the Sword Realm.
After the interrogation, Ye Yunfei learned that these two white-clad men were from the Fifth Void.
In the Fifth Void, they were high-ranking members of a force called the Five Colors Sword Sect.
The Five Colors Sword Sect was a sect focused on sword cultivation. It had little reputation in the Fifth Void, occupying an ordinary world called the Five Colors Realm as its headquarters.
Furthermore, the Five Colors Sword Sect had always kept a low profile, with its members rarely clashing with other forces. Even when occasional conflicts arose with other factions, they preferred to exercise restraint. As such, the Five Colors Sword Sect was a force with little presence in the Fifth Void.
Although Ye Yunfei had led the Hunyuan Sect's army in a great war against the Guardian Faction's forces in the Fifth Void, and had ultimately essentially taken control of that entire void, he had never paid any attention to the Five Colors Sword Sect. He had never even heard the name of this sect.
In fact, the Five Colors Sword Sect was secretly developed by the Sword Realm as an external branch base.
"So, among the ancient Sword Realm sword cultivators who managed to escape, many have been hiding within the current eight voids, establishing secret bases and quietly nurturing descendants of the Sword Realm," Ye Yunfei mused inwardly after learning about the Five Colors Sword Sect from these two slaves.
Ye Yunfei also learned from these slaves that the reason they returned to the Sword Realm was because, not long ago, several sword cultivators suddenly arrived at the headquarters of the Five Colors Sword Sect. Claiming to also be descendants of the Sword Realm, they demanded that the Five Colors Sword Sect's upper echelons dispatch elite personnel back to the Sword Realm to participate in its reconstruction.
Those sword cultivators were all at the Sovereign God level, with exceptionally high attainment in sword Dao. More importantly, the sword heritage they cultivated was indeed an orthodox Sword Realm inheritance.
Knowing full well that the Sword Realm had established many secret branch bases outside, the upper echelons of the Five Colors Sword Sect harbored no suspicions. They immediately dispatched true elites to return to the Sword Realm alongside those sword cultivators.
"It seems these two are not traitors," Sword Elder said after listening to the two slaves' account.
"Indeed. They are not traitors. They genuinely returned to take part in the Sword Realm's reconstruction," Ye Yunfei nodded.
However, Ye Yunfei had no intention of removing the Puppet Soul Threads within the two white-clad men's Soul Bodies just yet. He still needed to use them to approach the other sword cultivators for further investigation.
"Over the years, our Sword Realm has continued to develop externally, but our overall strength is still far from sufficient to oppose the Blade Realm.
Now someone is actually gathering descendants of the Sword Realm back here openly, proclaiming they will rebuild the Sword Realm. This is equivalent to proactively exposing the Sword Realm's foundation to the Blade Realm, and will definitely attract encirclement and slaughter by the Blade Realm.
Whose idea is this?" Sword Elder said angrily.
"Martial Ancestor, I suspect this is very likely a conspiracy orchestrated from behind by the Blade Realm," Ye Yunfei thought for a moment before speaking.
"Yes. This looks exactly like a conspiracy," Sword Elder said.
"Therefore, if we can find out who exactly is calling the Sword Realm's descendants back here, we can unmask the Sword Realm's traitors," Ye Yunfei said solemnly.
"Martial Ancestor, your Remnant Soul is probably already aware of all these matters," Ye Yunfei said to Sword Elder.
The Sword Elder currently conversing with Ye Yunfei was merely a Soul Power imprint left behind in Ye Yunfei's longsword long ago. Sword Elder's actual Remnant Soul had always remained within the Sword Realm.
"I have already tried communicating with my Remnant Soul, but failed to establish a connection. My Remnant Soul should currently be in seclusion.
During that ancient battle, my Soul Body was shattered, with most of my soul fragments destroyed. Only one fragment remains. That fragment of mine requires periodic cultivation and nourishment using a secret place within the Sword Realm to maintain its existence for a long time. Otherwise, it would gradually wither, growing weaker and weaker.
Thus, these past few days, my fragment should be cultivating within that secret place. Moreover, once my fragment enters a cultivation state, it generally no longer actively perceives the affairs of the Sword Realm continent.
Since the Sword Realm continent has long been a deserted ruin, there was nothing worth paying attention to. Therefore, I suspect my fragment might still be unaware of the events occurring here," Sword Elder contemplated before replying.
"So that's how it is," Ye Yunfei said, understanding dawning on him.
"However, aside from my Remnant Soul, many other remnants of ancient sword Dao experts lie dormant within this Sword Realm. They might be aware of what has happened. You could quietly pay them a visit," Sword Elder added.
"Alright. First, let me deal with these Sword Realm descendants and see if I can root out some of the traitors to learn more from them. After that, I'll visit those other Seniors," Ye Yunfei said.
"Good. Identify the traitors first, and you can learn more from their mouths," Sword Elder nodded.
"From now on, you two will take me to find the others. But for now, first return to report back to those Elders," Ye Yunfei instructed the two white-clad men.
Ye Yunfei turned around, threw out some Formation flags, and laid down some Formations around the simple small courtyard assigned to him, thoroughly concealing the courtyard. He then entered the Shadow Tower and had one of the white-clad men carry it with him.
The two white-clad men soared into the sky, instantly leaving the simple courtyard.
Not long after, they returned to the previous palace.
Inside the palace, Elder Lu and the other four elders were still there.
"Did that kid tell you from which Teleportation Formation he entered?" Elder Lu asked immediately upon seeing the two white-clad men.
"Reporting to Elder Lu, he said he arrived in the absolute vacuum near our Sword Realm through a Teleportation Altar in the Fourth Void. He then traversed a stretch of absolute vacuum before entering the Sword Realm," reported one of the white-clad men named Zhang Yu.
"What? He didn't teleport directly into our Sword Realm, but arrived in the absolute vacuum near the Sword Realm first, and then entered from there?" Hearing this, Elder Lu and the other four elders all showed disappointed expressions. What they truly needed were those Teleportation Formations that allowed direct entry into the Sword Realm.
The first time Ye Yunfei came to the Sword Realm, he used a Teleportation Altar in the Fourth Void to arrive in the absolute vacuum near the Sword Realm. He then flew through the absolute vacuum for a period of time before entering the Sword Realm. That route was told to him at the time by Zhou Wanqing of the Wanmu Ancestral Land.
What Zhang Yu was now reporting was that Teleportation Altar in the Fourth Void. Of course, Ye Yunfei would not casually tell others about the Teleportation Formation he used this time, which allowed direct entry into the interior of the Sword Realm.
"Has he started engraving the sword heritage he cultivates yet?" Elder Lu asked again.
"We made it clear to him that once he settled down, he must immediately engrave all the sword Dao heritage he cultivates into a Message Jade Slip and submit it," Zhang Yu reported again.
"Good. The two of you keep an eye on him. For the time being, do not assign him any tasks. After he engraves all the sword heritage and submits it, you can then assign him some missions," Elder Lu nodded and said.