"Not good, we need to retreat immediately!"
The seven blade cultivators all knew things had taken a terrible turn. The sword energy emanating from the direction of the Tianjian Sect headquarters was far too terrifying; it was simply not something they could oppose.
All seven blade cultivators retreated simultaneously, wanting to escape back into the ruins of the Divine Sword Sect.
The ruins of the Divine Sword Sect headquarters erupted with a vast, sky-piercing dark golden light at that moment. Dense clusters of sword shadows manifested, making the entire ruins look like an expansive ocean of dark golden sword radiance.
The number of sword beams inside numbered in the tens of thousands—they were dazzling to the extreme, seemingly coming out to receive the seven blade cultivators.
"A sect clearly from the Sword Realm, yet colluding and mingling with blade cultivators from the Blade Realm? The Divine Sword Sect must be exterminated!"
Watching the Divine Sword Sect ruins before him erupt with rolling waves of dark golden sword radiance, Ye Yunfei let out a furious roar.
Boom! Ye Yunfei pushed his movement speed to its absolute limit, instantly closing the distance to the back of one of the blade cultivators. The long sword in his hand cleaved the cultivator in two.
Simultaneously, Ye Yunfei unleashed a barrage of Soul Power techniques and Mental Force techniques, continuously bombarding the seven blade cultivators.
The Soul Power and Mental Force techniques Ye Yunfei employed exerted immense pressure on the seven, forcefully suppressing their Soul Seas and Soul Bodies.
"All of you, stay right there! None shall escape!" Ye Yunfei roared.
The long sword in his hand danced repeatedly, cleaving several more blade cultivators in half in quick succession.
Boom! Right at this moment, an enormous golden long sword shot out from within the Divine Sword Sect ruins, slashing down viciously towards Ye Yunfei.
This giant golden long sword was not a mere sword aura, but a solid, physical divine weapon, radiating terrifying sword energy fluctuations.
Seeing the golden long sword aiming for him, Ye Yunfei's eyelids twitched, and he immediately sensed an aura of danger. With no other choice, he could only stop his pursuit.
"Be careful. That sword is a divine weapon from the ancient Divine Sword Sect. It's extremely sharp and possesses terrifying destructive power."
Sword Elder's voice rang out again within Ye Yunfei's Soul Sea.
With a thought, Ye Yunfei concentrated all his Soul Power energy and Mental Force energy, unleashing several specific Soul Power and Mental Force techniques solely against one of the blade cultivators.
This blade cultivator had already had his body severed twice by Ye Yunfei earlier. Though he had reformed, he was severely injured and extremely weakened. Now, suffering a concentrated assault of Soul Power and Mental Force energy from Ye Yunfei, his body trembled, and he began to scream.
His Soul Body was then chopped into several segments by Ye Yunfei's Heart Sword techniques and Soul Power attacks.
But just as Ye Yunfei was about to completely annihilate this blade cultivator's Soul Body, that enormous golden long sword came howling towards Ye Yunfei's head.
Ye Yunfei had no choice but to immediately retreat. As he did, his sleeves swept out, scooping up both Chief Elders and all the Sword Realm inheritors, instantly transporting them far away from the Divine Sword Sect ruins.
While Ye Yunfei was retreating, the seven blade cultivators and that enormous golden long sword shot back into the ruins of the Divine Sword Sect headquarters and vanished.
Then, all the sword radiance within the Divine Sword Sect ruins also faded, and peace returned.
"It seems quite a few blade cultivators are hiding within these Divine Sword Sect headquarters ruins. If they aren't eliminated, it will breed endless trouble."
Hun Lao couldn't help but speak up.
"Indeed. It's now pretty much confirmed that this Divine Sword Sect must have been the traitors in the ancient Sword Realm Continent. That sudden surprise attack and invasion from outsiders that ultimately destroyed the Sword Realm back then definitely had something to do with this Divine Sword Sect."
The Golden-Horned Dragon Silkworm chimed in.
"Master, I find it a bit strange. Didn't you say before that there are many powerful remnant souls left from ancient times scattered across this Sword Realm Continent?
So why, when those blade cultivators appeared on this continent, did the remnant souls from other sword sects turn a blind eye?
The sudden emergence of so many blade cultivators on the Sword Realm Continent is in itself a highly conspicuous event. Why didn't those ancient remnant souls come out to intervene?"
Hu Miao suddenly asked.
"The ancient Sword Realm Continent had many different sword sects. Apart from the Tianjian Sect and the Divine Sword Sect, the other sword sects must have also left quite a few remnant souls behind.
As for why those other sects' remnant souls didn't come out to deal with the blade cultivators just now, I'm not sure of the reason."
After hearing Hu Miao's words, Ye Yunfei thought for a moment before replying.
"That's because, when those seven blade cultivators charged out from the Divine Sword Sect ruins, the space surrounding the headquarters ruins was enveloped by a powerful barrier aura, cutting off external perception.
In other words, only your group was able to see those blade cultivators just now.
The reason I was able to detect them promptly is because I have been using some special methods linked to our Tianjian Sect headquarters to monitor the Divine Sword Sect headquarters all along. That's why I discovered those blade cultivators the moment they appeared and intervened to assist you."
Before Ye Yunfei could answer Hu Miao's question, Sword Elder's voice once again sounded in Ye Yunfei's Soul Sea.
"So that's why. It seems truly fearsome experts indeed hide within the Divine Sword Sect headquarters. They were actually able to seal off external perception in an instant earlier, which is why those seven blade cultivators dared to charge out and kill."
Ye Yunfei was enlightened after hearing Sword Elder's explanation.
"Elders Zheng and Qin, have your men continue to keep watch over the Divine Sword Sect headquarters ruins, but don't get too close."
After placing both Chief Elders and the other Sword Realm inheritors on a flat area, Ye Yunfei gave the order.
"Understood."
The two Chief Elders felt lingering fear recalling the recent events. The terrifying sword energy that had suddenly erupted from the Divine Sword Sect ruins was truly dreadful; they had all felt the danger of death in that instant.
If Ye Yunfei hadn't taken them away promptly, they, as Sword Realm inheritors, might have already been annihilated and reduced to nothing by that terrifying sword energy.
At the same time, the two Elders felt even greater admiration for Ye Yunfei. They realized that his strength seemed even more formidable than they had previously anticipated. "Young Master Ye's power is truly unfathomably deep," Elder Qin sent a sound transmission to Elder Zheng, his voice tinged with bitter laughter. "Us two old fellows are far too weak before him. It's laughable that we even considered making a move against Young Master Ye earlier."
"Divine Sword Sect, just you wait!"
Ye Yunfei glanced back at the ruins where the Divine Sword Sect headquarters lay, his voice cold.
"My Remnant Soul is about to emerge from seclusion."
Right then, Ye Yunfei received Hun Lao's sound transmission again and couldn't help but rejoice.
Ye Yunfei immediately employed his movement technique and sped back towards the Tianjian Sect headquarters at the fastest possible speed.
As soon as Ye Yunfei entered the Tianjian Sect headquarters, he sensed an intense surge of sword energy fluctuations emanating from a certain location within the headquarters ruins.
Immediately, all the sword energy and sword laws within this region of heaven and earth grew turbulent, churning and rolling violently. An overwhelming aura of sword energy radiated outward from the Tianjian Sect headquarters ruins, spreading across the entire Sword Realm Continent.
"It's Sword Elder of the Tianjian Sect emerging from seclusion!"
All across the Sword Realm Continent, numerous consciousnesses began paying attention to the sword energy manifestations appearing from the Tianjian Sect headquarters ruins.
"To think that old fellow would emerge."
At this moment, within the interior of the Divine Sword Sect headquarters ruins, a cold snort could be heard.
"I shouldn't have sent those blade cultivators out to act earlier, exposing our hand to Sword Elder.
He has most likely guessed the various deeds our Divine Sword Sect performed back then. From now on, our Divine Sword Sect will definitely find it extremely difficult to move within this Sword Realm Continent, facing severe ostracism, and might even be driven out."
The voice continued, laced with regret.
He had initially intended for those blade cultivators to go out and kill Ye Yunfei.
Although the owner of this voice knew the blade cultivators weren't powerful enough to kill Ye Yunfei on their own, he planned to suppress Ye Yunfei covertly, creating an opening for the blade cultivators to land the killing blow.
But he hadn't expected Sword Elder to detect them promptly, using his means to protect Ye Yunfei, thus foiling his attempt to kill Ye Yunfei.
"We'll just have to take it one step at a time. Our Divine Sword Sect was one of the three great sects of the Sword Realm Continent back in the day. Moreover, in that great war back then, our Divine Sword Sect merely pretended to participate and still retains a great deal of our strength.
We don't need to fear opposing the Tianjian Sect, let alone the entire Sword Realm Continent.
Furthermore, only Sword Elder detected the auras of those blade cultivators. The other sects of the Sword Realm Continent might not have detected them, so there's no need to worry."
Suddenly, another voice spoke up.
"That's also true. Our Divine Sword Sect did not truly fight against the invading enemies in that great war back then, so we preserved the majority of our strength.
With the strength our Divine Sword Sect still retains, we don't need to fear confronting the entire Sword Realm Continent.
If Sword Elder dares declare war on our Divine Sword Sect, then our sect won't need to pretend anymore. We can truly step forward and take control of the entire Sword Realm Continent."
Hearing this, the first voice laughed involuntarily and spoke again.
Meanwhile, back at the Tianjian Sect headquarters, an ancient-style long sword slowly began manifesting at a certain location within the headquarters ruins.
The sword's blade emanated the same aura as Sword Elder's Soul Power Imprint, though thousands of times more powerful.
Then, a figure slowly stepped out from within the blade of the long sword—it was Sword Elder.
As Sword Elder emerged, his Soul Power Imprint immediately merged into his body. Through this, Sword Elder learned of all the recent events that had occurred while traveling with Ye Yunfei.
"Truly, one can guard against thieves day and night, but never a traitor within one's own walls. To think that back then, it was actually the Divine Sword Sect who betrayed our Sword Realm Continent and colluded with outsiders."
Sword Elder's gaze turned towards the location of the Divine Sword Sect headquarters ruins, his words uttered through gritted teeth.
"Elder Ancestor, a Remnant Soul escaped earlier back to the Divine Sword Sect headquarters ruins from the Soul Sea of a traitor. Do you recognize that Remnant Soul, Ancestor?"
Ye Yunfei asked.
"Of course I recognize him. That fellow is the Grand Elder of the Divine Sword Sect, Mo Chenzi.
Before the Sword Realm Continent was invaded by powerful enemies, my relationship with him was actually quite good. We would occasionally gather to drink tea and discuss sword arts.
He was a genius on the sword path, considered one of the ten greatest sword masters in the Sword Realm Continent at the time.
Yet who would have thought their Divine Sword Sect would betray the Sword Realm, collude with the Blade Realm, working from within and without, ultimately destroying our Sword Realm Continent."
Hearing Ye Yunfei's question, Sword Elder sighed and explained.
"So it was the Grand Elder of the Divine Sword Sect."
Ye Yunfei said after hearing Sword Elder's words.