At this moment, seeing that Sword Elder had left, the other Remnant Souls lingering around the headquarters of the Divine Sword Sect didn't linger either. They turned and departed one after another.
Some of the Remnant Souls who had known Mo Chenzi in the past merely acknowledged him with a greeting before hurriedly leaving, not daring to have any deeper contact. Everyone knew that conflict had arisen between the Tianjian Sect and the Divine Sword Sect, and it would be unwise to involve themselves too much with either side at this juncture. Carelessness could easily drag one into the strife between the two great sword sects.
"Sword Elder, just wait. The day your Tianjian Sect truly faces annihilation will come soon. When that time arrives, you'll learn what kind of fate awaits those who provoke our Divine Sword Sect!"
After all the Remnant Souls had departed, Mo Chenzi's gaze turned towards the direction of the Tianjian Sect. A cold sneer appeared on his face as he spoke in a voice so low it was nearly imperceptible.
Then, Mo Chenzi's figure slowly faded away, vanishing within the ruins of the Divine Sword Sect headquarters.
Meanwhile, Sword Elder had already taken Ye Yunfei back to the Tianjian Sect headquarters.
Sword Elder walked to a specific spot within the ruins of the Tianjian Sect headquarters, took a step forward, and immediately, ripples of a Formation spread out before him as space began to gently undulate.
Ye Yunfei recognized at a glance that the space ahead was concealed by layers upon layers of Formations. Sword Elder was now entering within the Formations, and Ye Yunfei quickly followed.
After consecutively passing through six or seven grand Formations, Ye Yunfei felt his vision brighten as an expansive scene unfolded before him.
A sprawling complex of palaces appeared, alongside several enormous plazas. Towering sword-shaped sculptures stood in these plazas, each of which was filled with pure, dense Sword Dao energy and Sword Dao laws. Vaguely, phantom silhouettes of sword cultivators could be seen practicing their sword arts within the plazas.
"So there's such a Small World hidden within the Tianjian Sect headquarters," Hun Lao said in surprise as he looked at the intact complex of buildings before them.
"But there's nothing strange about that. The Tianjian Sect was one of the three strongest sword sects on the ancient Sword Realm Continent. This is their headquarters—it was bound to have many hidden depths unknown to outsiders. Even though the Tianjian Sect headquarters was destroyed during that ancient war, it's highly likely some secret realms or small spaces were preserved," Hun Lao added.
"That's indeed true. In fact, I'd already guessed before that a concealed small space like this might be preserved within the Tianjian Sect headquarters. The ancient higher-ups of the Tianjian Sect surely had many Chaos Gods among them. For Chaos Gods, creating and preserving a small space like this would be a simple matter," the Golden-Horned Dragon Silkworm chimed in.
Sword Elder brought Ye Yunfei into one of the palaces, where he sat down cross-legged, his expression somewhat grim.
"Martial Ancestor, if we want the other powers on the Sword Realm Continent to believe that the Divine Sword Sect are the traitors, we must find proof. If we can break into the Divine Sword Sect headquarters and drag those blade cultivators out into the open, that should prove their collusion with the Blade Realm," Ye Yunfei spoke.
Sword Elder shook his head after hearing Ye Yunfei's words. "Breaking into the Divine Sword Sect's headquarters will be difficult. Their Gengjin Sword Formation is tremendously powerful, and the Divine Sword Sect must certainly have preserved most of their ancient foundations and strength. Our Tianjian Sect, in its current state, may not be a match for them. Moreover, the Divine Sword Sect's influence on the Sword Realm Continent is no less than ours, perhaps even greater. Some factions even have intricate, tangled relationships with them. Convincing them the Divine Sword Sect are traitors won't be easy."
As he spoke, a turtle-shaped token flew out from within Sword Elder's body. It was the same Heavenly Turtle Token from before. Active scenes began to materialize within the token once more—various scenes from that ancient battle.
Soon, Ye Yunfei saw again, in one such scene from the battlefield, a large number of sword cultivators suddenly beginning to covertly attack their own comrades from behind. The poor sword cultivators, who were desperately resisting the invading enemy, had never expected an attack from their own ranks, so many were quickly slain on the spot due to the treacherous assault.
However, in these projected scenes, those who launched sneak attacks against their own all concealed their true appearances and Soul Body auras. This was clearly a premeditated measure to prevent anyone from recognizing their true identities.
"By the way, Martial Ancestor, didn't you say before that there were four Heavenly Turtle Tokens in total? This is only one of them. If we could find the other three, compare them, we might uncover more clues," Ye Yunfei suddenly thought of this and voiced his idea.
"If we can find the other three Heavenly Turtle Tokens, of course we could investigate more clues, perhaps even fully reconstruct the various details of that battle that ravaged our Sword Realm Continent long ago. We might even find concrete evidence that the Divine Sword Sect were the traitors. But these past years, I've searched the entire Sword Realm Continent, scoured every possible place, and ultimately only found this single Heavenly Turtle Token. The other three are nowhere to be found," Sword Elder shook his head again, a hint of resignation in his tone.
"Try using the pupil technique inheritance of Tianmu Shenjun that you cultivate. The inheritance of Tianmu Shenjun's pupil technique is said to be capable of seeing through everything in the world and can even deduce things past and future. It might be of some help," Hun Lao suddenly sent a transmission to Ye Yunfei.
"That makes sense. I'll try it now," Ye Yunfei immediately nodded upon hearing Hun Lao's words. He then started to mobilize Soul Power energy, Heart Energy, and activated his Divine Pupil between his brows. Focusing on the Heavenly Turtle Token, he began to study and deduce.
Immediately, intangible yet profoundly mystical beams of light began to shoot out from the Divine Pupil on Ye Yunfei's forehead, falling upon the Heavenly Turtle Token.
Sword Elder immediately turned his head and glanced in surprise at Ye Yunfei's brow. He didn't say anything, but the flash of astonishment in his eyes was brief. It was clear Sword Elder had noticed the anomaly at Ye Yunfei's forehead. "It seems my martial grandson must have cultivated some rare, ancient pupil technique," Sword Elder thought inwardly, feeling a touch of gratification.
He remained seated without moving, calmly continuing to watch the scenes that endlessly emerged from the Heavenly Turtle Token.
Meanwhile, Ye Yunfei concentrated on observing, studying, and deducing the Heavenly Turtle Token using a combination of Soul Power energy, Heart Energy, and his Divine Pupil. Even his sixty Soul Power Star-Realms were all harnessed, participating collectively in the analysis.
Soon, Ye Yunfei plunged into a state of profoundly enigmatic meditation. A profound, mystical aura began to emanate from his body.
"This is a state of deep enlightenment. That he can enter such an enlightened state at any time and place means he can achieve twice the result with half the effort regardless of what technique or secret art he cultivates. Such aptitude is truly remarkable," Sword Elder, sensing the profound aura Ye Yunfei emitted, couldn't help but nod in repeated praise.
An unknowable amount of time passed. Suddenly, Ye Yunfei's heart stirred as he saw something useful, and an expression of pleasant surprise appeared on his face.
"Martial Ancestor, I see three faint, almost imperceptible, fine lines inside the Heavenly Turtle Token. These three lines extend from within the token into the surrounding void, stretching towards other directions. However, for now, I cannot accurately determine exactly where they reach," Ye Yunfei announced.
Sword Elder felt a surge of pleasant surprise upon hearing this. He had not expected Ye Yunfei to be able to see the connecting lines of energy between this Heavenly Turtle Token and the other three tokens. "There are four Heavenly Turtle Tokens in total. Master Tianwu Old Man embedded them in four different locations on the Sword Realm Continent, but these four tokens are not independent; they are connected by shared energy, forming a cohesive whole that collectively records all major events occurring on the continent. The three fine lines you saw must be the energy threads linking this token to the other three. If you can determine the exact location where the other ends of these three threads are, then we have a chance of finding those three tokens."
"Martial Ancestor, at the moment, I can only deduce the approximate directions where the other ends of these three threads are located: east, south, and north of the Sword Realm Continent. But I can't pinpoint their specific locations," Ye Yunfei said after listening to Sword Elder. He utilized his Divine Pupil again, coordinating with his two Soul Bodies and sixty Soul Power Star-Realms to deduce a moment before speaking.
"I found this token long ago in the west of the Sword Realm Continent. If the other ends you see are in the east, south, and north, then it perfectly aligns with the locations. Legend says Master Tianwu Old Man separately embedded the four Heavenly Turtle Tokens in four different locations on the continent, corresponding precisely to the four cardinal directions—east, west, south, and north. Good then. Let's spend some time searching to see if we can locate the other three tokens. If we can find them, many secrets of the ancient Sword Realm Continent can be uncovered, including the entire detailed sequence of events of that ancient war," Sword Elder continued.
"Alright, Martial Ancestor. From now on, I'll search for the other three Heavenly Turtle Tokens," Ye Yunfei nodded.
He then concentrated briefly with his Divine Pupil. "Let's start with the eastern part of the continent. The energy thread leading eastwards seems slightly more defined, so it might be relatively easier to trace."
"Then it's settled. Proceed according to your perception and intuition," Sword Elder nodded.
Right at that moment, Elder Zheng and Elder Qin rushed into the area of the Tianjian Sect headquarters leading a group of inheritors from the Sword Realm.
Ye Yunfei's figure flickered as he appeared before Elders Zheng and Qin.
"Young Master Ye! Several more of our people have been slain! The enemy attacked from hiding—we couldn't even see who did it!" the two elders cried out in anger as soon as they saw Ye Yunfei.
Sword Elder also appeared beside Ye Yunfei, his gaze turning towards the Divine Sword Sect headquarters as he said, "Most likely the doing of Mo Chenzi of the Divine Sword Sect."
"Young Master Ye, not long ago, a significant number of the returned inheritors from the Sword Realm were taken back by the sword sects they have connections with. However, there are still many who haven't yet found their affiliated sword sects. You see, in that great war of old, many sword sects across the Sword Realm Continent were utterly destroyed—wiped out of existence without a single Remnant Soul left behind—with only some surviving members fleeing to worlds beyond. For instance, even Elder Zheng and I, after being on the Sword Realm Continent for so long, still haven't discovered any trace of the ancient sword sects we once belonged to," Elder Qin explained, his expression somewhat dejected as he spoke.