The radiant blade forged from Ye Yunfei's strike cleaved through the void, carrying an edge so sharp it could tear heaven and earth, and slammed viciously into the rapidly fleeing speck of dark gold light.
Ye Yunfei's sword energy surged violently around him, his longsword humming and vibrating. The blade itself shimmered with pale-gold Sword Dao principles, every inch of its radiance containing world-shattering power.
At the same time, countless invisible Puppet Soul Threads interwove once more into a net. They unfurled like a heavenly net across the land, sealing off all possible escape routes for the dark gold light speck.
The threads coiled with dense fluctuations of Soul Power, each one as fine and sharp as a filament of hair. They could easily pierce the soul bodies of ordinary Fourth Level Sovereign Gods. Even if this light speck was formidably strong, it might not break free from this entanglement with ease.
"This aura feels somewhat familiar!"
Sword Elder's Soul Power imprint suddenly manifested, hovering in mid-air. The golden sword light around him grew increasingly intense as his hands rapidly formed seals. With a low shout, an ancient and weighty phantom sword shadow suddenly took shape. This was a swordsmanship secret technique from the ancient Tianjian Sect, specifically used for suppressing and capturing souls and remnants. The sword shadow was covered in archaic sword runes, exuding an oppressive pressure that caused hearts to tremble as it crashed down toward the dark gold light speck.
"Hmph!"
A voice both icy and hoarse, filled with profound disdain and resentment as if it had crossed eons, emanated from the dark gold light speck. It seemed to come from countless ages past, piercing the barrier of time and space to reverberate through the void of the Sword Realm.
"I might have known this fellow in ancient times! Alas, not only is the energy of my Soul Power imprint feeble, but my memories are also incomplete!" Sword Elder transmitted his voice to Ye Yunfei.
Immediately after, the dark gold light speck erupted with an even more dazzling radiance. Its size expanded several-fold in an instant, transforming into a sword shadow of dark gold around ten feet long. Around this sword shadow swirled bizarre undulations of soul power, fundamentally different from Tianjian Sect's Sword Dao energy yet equally profound in its underlying sword heritage.
*Clang…*
The dark gold sword shadow abruptly reversed direction and violently collided with Ye Yunfei's brilliant sword light. An earth-shattering thunderclap instantly exploded. A powerful shockwave of energy instantly expanded, shaking the surrounding void violently. Countless shards of shattered space fell like a meteor shower, raining down on the clusters of newly constructed buildings below, stirring up clouds of dust and debris.
Ye Yunfei felt his arm go numb as a mighty rebounding force traveled up the blade and into his body, forcing him a step back.
Disbelief filled Ye Yunfei's eyes. At his current level of strength, even he had been forced back a step by the power unleashed by that dark gold sword shadow.
He had to remember, that golden light speck was merely a remnant soul at best, not a complete life entity. If its soul body were fully restored, its power would likely be terrifyingly greater.
The sword phantom unleashed by Sword Elder also trembled slightly from the impact of this colossal force, its radiance dimming somewhat. Sword Elder's Soul Power imprint itself couldn't help but waver.
"This particular kind of Soul Power fluctuation… and this Sword Dao style… I feel I have seen them somewhere before…" Sword Elder said, trying hard to recall.
Seizing the brief moment when Ye Yunfei and Sword Elder were both hindered by the rebounding force, the dark gold light speck wasted no time. It tore violently through the net of Puppet Soul Threads and transformed into a streak of light, streaking at top speed into the distant void.
Its speed increased relentlessly. The dark gold radiance surrounding it gradually shrank back, growing more and more obscure and indistinct. Clearly, it was activating some secret technique for concealing its aura, attempting to shed Ye Yunfei and Sword Elder's pursuit completely.
"Don't think you can get away!" Ye Yunfei's eyes narrowed. His form blurred and he transformed instantly into a startlingly swift streak of sword radiance, chasing straight toward the direction of the dark gold light speck's flight.
Ye Yunfei unleashed a movement technique from the inherited legacy of the Fengmo God. Raging winds gathered beneath his feet, his Wind God Garment activated, augmented by his formidable physical strength and combined with various other high-level movement techniques. His resulting speed was unimaginable.
Yet the speed of the dark gold light speck ahead was also terrifyingly swift, in no way slower than Ye Yunfei's. Ye Yunfei could only remain fixed to its tail, unable, for the moment, to overtake or intercept it.
Combining Soul Power energy, Heart Power energy, and the divine pupil in his forehead, Ye Yunfei locked onto the dark gold speck with unshakable focus, preventing it from truly escaping his senses.
At the same time, he transmitted orders to his Sovereign God slaves, instructing them to disperse, begin laying down defensive perimeters throughout the Sword Realm, and form layer upon layer of blockade.
Sensing Ye Yunfei and Sword Elder remaining doggedly on his heels, the dark gold light speck ahead accelerated even further. The dark gold radiance around it grew ever more bizarre. As it passed, it left behind faint trails of subtle, dark gold runic symbols. These symbols fused into the surrounding void and vanished, clearly a deliberate effort to obscure its path and hinder Ye Yunfei's ability to trace it.
However, Ye Yunfei's ability to track targets was too powerful. It clung like flesh to bone, deploying every method to maintain his lock on the dark gold speck. No matter how it tried to conceal itself, it could not throw him off completely.
The pursuit lasted a full hour, the dark gold light streaking unerringly until finally it plunged into a ruined expanse located in the northern reaches of the Sword Realm Continent.
As far as the eye could see, this ruin was strewn with shattered sword marks and the marks of long ages, clearly a location left behind from the great war of the Ancient Sword World.
Within the ruins, Yin energy coiled and heavy mists writhed. Energies and laws were chaotic and turbulent. Countless discarded weapons lay embedded in the ground—fields of broken sword fragments that emitted a faint odor of decay and age. Shattered architectural remnants could be faintly discerned, making the whole place appear sinister and eerie.
*Hummm….*
As Ye Yunfei pursued the target into these ruins, layer upon layer of dense, heavy spatial restrictions suddenly appeared up ahead, coiled with potent, ancient fluctuations of Sword Dao energy.
*Whoosh!*
The dark gold light speck shot straight into the ruined expanse ahead without hesitation, its figure swiftly swallowed by the dense Yin energy and thick mist.
*BOOM… BOOM…*
The instant Ye Yunfei's footstep touched the boundary of the ruin ahead, one sinisterly black, oversized sword after another manifested in the sky above, dense and innumerable as an ocean, blocking the path forward.
Even Ye Yunfei felt a powerful sense of danger from this.
He halted his advance, refusing to venture rashly inside.
"The restrictions here are exceedingly ancient, containing powerful Sword Dao energy fluctuations. It seems to be the ruins of some ancient Sword Dao sect's mountain gate," Ye Yunfei commented aloud.
"Yes, this is indeed the headquarters ruins of one of the ancient Sword Faction powers from the Sword Realm Continent," Sword Elder's Soul Power imprint floated beside Ye Yunfei, its energy trying to sense the ruins ahead. Its Soul Power slowly probed outward, yet was firmly blocked by the restrictions of the ruin zone, unable to penetrate for deeper exploration.
"Moreover, the style of these restrictions feels quite familiar, reminiscent of one particular sect in my memories. I simply cannot recall for the moment exactly which sect it might be." Sword Elder strove to recall.
This Sword Elder was merely a Soul Power imprint—his energy weak and his memories fragmented and incomplete—so he was unable to recall, after all, which specific ancient Sword Faction this ruin once belonged to.
"Ancestral Master, since that fellow fled here, this should serve as its hiding place. Alternatively, it's possible that fellow is a remnant of this ancient sword power. Even I sense danger here. My suggestion is that we first await your full emergence from seclusion, determine the origins of these ruins, and then make a plan."
"The sword path of that fellow from earlier, though also an orthodox inheritance of the Sword Realm, differs from our Tianjian Sect's tradition. It seems connected to another major sword faction in the Ancient Sword Realm Continent besides Tianjian Sect. Back then on the Sword Realm Continent, besides our Tianjian Sect, there were quite a few other Sword Faction powers comparable in strength to us. Unfortunately, I cannot bring the specifics to mind at the moment." Sword Elder nodded solemnly, a trace of gravity in his tone. "Let me concentrate and try to recall things clearly." As he said this, Sword Elder seemed to be recollecting something.
"Ancestral Master, these are Divine Pills specially formulated for replenishing Soul Power. Please ingest some." Ye Yunfei waved his hand, retrieving a flask of Divine Pills and handing it to Sword Elder. These pills had been specifically refined for Sword Elder's Soul Power imprint.
"Very well. I shall consume them now." Knowing Ye Yunfei's peerless skill in alchemy, Sword Elder accepted the flask immediately and began swallowing the pills. Even as he absorbed their power, he delved into his own memory. "At last, I have recalled one sword faction from the Ancient Sword Realm Continent… the Divine Sword Sect! These very ruins before us must be the headquarters of the ancient Divine Sword Sect!"
"Divine Sword Sect?" Ye Yunfei frowned slightly, never having heard of this name before.
"Yes, the Divine Sword Sect! In that era on the Sword Realm Continent, it was hailed as one of the Three Great Sword Sects!" Sword Elder's voice carried the timbre of distant memory. "The Divine Sword Sect—an ancient super-power on the Sword Realm Continent. Alongside our Tianjian Sect, they stood at the very pinnacle of swordsmanship strength in the Sword Realm, possessing deep heritage and innumerable talented disciples. The Divine Sword Sect had unique Sword Dao transmissions and excelled in forging divine armaments, especially divine swords. Their sect held many formidable masters. In fact, the strength of some among their high-ranking cultivators even approached that of the High Elders within our Tianjian Sect." Sword Elder fell deeper into memory as he slowly narrated.
"One of the Three Great Sword Sects of the Sword Realm—the Divine Sword Sect…" Ye Yunfei felt a jolt of surprise, unaware that this Divine Sword Sect was as powerful as his own Tianjian Sect.
"In the Great War of that era, our Tianjian Sect was eradicated. So too was the Divine Sword Sect eliminated. The remaining Great Sword Sect was also destroyed. The Three Great Sword Sects—all annihilated—symbolizing the complete fall of the Sword Realm itself." Sword Elder's tone grew heavy. "However, there remains an internal truth: Though Tianjian Sect and Divine Sword Sect were both top powers of the Sword Realm, the Divine Sword Sect perpetually lay beneath the shadow of our Tianjian Sect—whether in terms of inherent sect foundations, depth of Sword Dao legacies, or the overall aptitude and cultivation of disciples, Tianjian Sect always held a slight advantage. Even authority over the Sword Realm was largely vested in the hands of Tianjian Sect. Over time, dissatisfaction began to ferment among certain high-level figures of the Divine Sword Sect toward us. Back in those days, minor friction would frequently arise between Divine Sword Sect and our Tianjian Sect."
"Ancestral Master, are you implying that the dark gold light speck we fought is somehow linked to that former Divine Sword Sect?" Ye Yunfei asked.
"It is a possibility," Sword Elder nodded. "Because I recall something now. The Sword Dao style employed by that fellow was strikingly similar to that of the Divine Sword Sect from that ancient epoch. Even its aura seems very familiar—most likely the aura of one among the higher echelons of Divine Sword Sect. My notice would not have registered ordinary members, after all. Those who would still feel familiar to me after so long were probably among their senior leadership, possibly one of several core high-ranking figures."
"When the Great War erupted across the Sword Realm, the leaders of Divine Sword Sect were killed or disappeared, and the sect was destroyed along with the rest. Once the final battle was over, I went to survey the ruins of the Divine Sword Sect's headquarters. Back then, I perceived no lingering soul presence left behind and thought this a great pity. For many years, I remained under the impression that all members of the Divine Sword Sect had perished completely. I never imagined some remnants could survive to this era. Yet… why have I never sensed them throughout all these years? Could it be that the remnant souls of Divine Sword Sect deliberately kept their existence hidden?" As he arrived at this point, Sword Elder's tone carried a note of confusion.
"Hmph!" Ye Yunfei scoffed. "This Divine Sword Sect acts so secretively, as if they have much to hide and fear being exposed to light. I suspect there's probably something profoundly peculiar going on! Ancestral Master, what do you say: Could it be that individuals within Divine Sword Sect were the very traitors who colluded with the Blade Realm?"
"I dare not draw that conclusion definitively. I saw Divine Sword Sect's experts personally fight back invading foes during the Great War without hesitation or retreat," Sword Elder replied. "Nevertheless, the ease with which the external enemy broke through Sword Realm's defensive perimeters and penetrated deep into the Realm's heartlands in that ancient war always seemed suspicious, fraught with oddities. Our Tianjian Sect, along with countless other Sword Dao factions across the Sword Realm Continent, held the front lines unyieldingly with not a single incident of treachery reported. Plainly, there were traitors who conspired with external powers, leaking secrets concerning Sword Realm's defensive layout and restriction configurations. Even in those times, I suspected the reality of covert betrayal, but amid the chaos of battle, bereft of any solid evidence, the issue was ultimately left unresolved." Sword Elder continued solemnly.