"Guild Leader!"
At that moment, the elder from earlier hurriedly returned, his expression anxious.
"What is it? Can't you see I'm cultivating?"
The white-robed man had no choice but to halt his cultivation, speaking in a displeased tone.
If this elder weren't one of his core trusted aides, he would have already lashed out and devoured him. Among the Soul Race, there was a strict hierarchy and clear demarcation of rank. A Soul Race member of higher status and standing, when slightly displeased with an inferior tribesman, would often resort to scolding, beating, or even directly devouring them. Such things were commonplace.
"Guild Leader, I've just received news. It's highly likely that there is a Soul Palace somewhere in this First Void," the elder reported.
"What? Truly? Is the news reliable? Where did it come from?"
Upon hearing this, the white-robed man abruptly stood up, his breathing instantly growing ragged as he asked loudly.
"Guild Leader, the news is reportedly divined by the Great Soul-Ancient Master. For many years now, the Great Soul-Ancient Master has been divining the locations of those few lost Soul Palaces. Only recently has he finally determined that one of them is highly likely to be right here in this First Void. The news has spread, and many powerful members of our Soul Race have begun rushing towards this void."
The elder answered.
"The Great Soul-Ancient Master is the master with the highest divination skill in our entire Soul Race. There is no reason to doubt his results. So it seems my coming to this First Void was the right move. Relay my orders: from now on, divert all energy and time to searching for the Soul Palace. We must find that palace in this First Void before anyone else."
The white-robed man's face flushed with excitement, and his voice rose.
One brilliant ring of soul radiance after another continuously bloomed from his head, spreading outward, making the surrounding heavens and earth even more dazzling.
"Pass the order immediately. Cease all other affairs from now on. Concentrate all manpower and resources on finding that Soul Palace in this First Void. I will personally join the search from now on. If I can find that Soul Palace before others, I will surely rise with unstoppable force. Perhaps one day, I might become the most powerful entity within our Soul Race. Then, you too can follow me and rule the entire Soul Race, even the entire Chaotic Void Sea. We will bask in unlimited glory and splendor!"
The white-robed man proclaimed loudly.
"Guild Leader, rest assured, I will issue the command right away. We will spare no effort from now on to find that Soul Palace."
The elder hurriedly replied.
"Forget it. I will personally organize and lead all the slaves to set out and search for that Soul Palace," the white-robed man declared, having lost all interest in cultivating.
Then, with a flicker, his figure rose into the air, and he strode away from the mountain peak.
The elder quickly followed behind him.
At the same time, within another spatial realm, a young man sat cross-legged on a large altar, cultivating with his eyes closed.
Rings of soul radiance bloomed from his head, glowing brilliantly and illuminating the entire altar.
"Report, Sir! Just received word. According to the Great Soul-Ancient Master's divination, one of the lost Soul Palaces from our Soul Race's ancient times should be in the First Void."
A tall, burly man rushed over from afar, landed before the altar, and reported loudly.
"What? Are you telling the truth? Excellent! Finally, we have a lead on a Soul Palace! All my bitter searching over the years hasn't been in vain! Good. Since the Soul Palace is in this First Void, I must absolutely find it before anyone else."
The young man could no longer remain composed. He practically jumped up, his expression ecstatic as he laughed heartily.
"Now, pass on my order. All my followers and slaves are to cease any other affairs and concentrate all our strength on searching for clues about the Soul Palace's location," the young man declared clearly.
"I understand, Sir. I will go gather the troops immediately," the burly man dared not delay and turned to leave.
At this time, many other Soul Race powerhouses also received this news. Every one of them became as excited as if injected with potent stimulants, immediately ceasing whatever else they were doing to begin searching for the Soul Palace in the First Void.
In the First Void at this moment, Ye Yunfei arrived near a world cluster.
For most of the journey, Ye Yunfei had stayed hidden inside the Phantom Tower, letting the Fourth-Level Primal Master slave carry it forward.
While this slave's movement speed was far inferior to Ye Yunfei's, he would absolutely not attract suspicion and would not summon the Chaos Gods hunting Ye Yunfei.
"Master, the battlefield between the Hunyuan Sect and the Guardian Faction lies just ahead," the Fourth-Level Primal Master slave, upon reaching the vicinity of the world cluster, stopped and sent a message to Ye Yunfei.
This Fourth-Level Primal Master originally belonged to the Guardian Faction, but after being controlled by Ye Yunfei's Puppet Soul Threads, he had become utterly loyal. His every thought revolved solely around the interests of his master, Ye Yunfei.
Therefore, now he had no regard for the Guardian Faction whatsoever. Instead, because of Ye Yunfei, he regarded the Guardian Faction as an enemy.
"Good."
Ye Yunfei's figure flickered, emerging from the Phantom Tower. He then released his Soul Force Energy and Mental Force energy, sensing the world cluster ahead.
Inside and around this world cluster, intense battles raged. The two sides clashing were precisely the Hunyuan Sect and the Guardian Faction.
After sensing for a while, Ye Yunfei found that the strongest fighters on both sides of this battlefield were Advanced Chaos Gods—only one on each side—while the rest were comprised of Primary and Intermediate Chaos Gods.
"It seems the overall strength of this battlefield is similar to the first one we participated in," Hun Lao commented.
"Yes," Ye Yunfei nodded.
Subsequently, Ye Yunfei altered his appearance and Soul Body aura, and employed his Concealment Secret Art to suppress his energy. He then secretly infiltrated the battlefield.
After entering, Ye Yunfei still followed his previous combat strategy: first dealing with the common troops of the Guardian Faction.
With Ye Yunfei's current Soul Force Energy level, employing Soul Force martial techniques against Sovereign Gods was far too easy. In moments, he could turn a First- to Fourth-Level Primal Master into a slave.
When Ye Yunfei employed his Soul Purification Art, he could purify the Soul Bodies of a large group of Heavenly Gods simultaneously, then brand them with his own Soul Force mark.
Ye Yunfei acted with extreme discretion. Combined with his astonishingly fast movement speed, in such a chaotic battlefield environment, no one paid attention to a near-transparent silhouette.
Moreover, the energy aura he emitted was only that of a Seventh-Level Primal Master. There were many Seventh-Level Primal Masters on both sides of the battlefield; no expert would deliberately focus on one.
As time passed, the number of clones and slaves Ye Yunfei subjugated on this battlefield steadily increased.
Suddenly, Ye Yunfei's expression shifted. His gaze landed on a Sovereign God not far away.
This was a First-Level Sovereign God from the Hunyuan Sect.
The reason Ye Yunfei suddenly paid attention to this Hunyuan Sect First-Level Sovereign God was because Ye Yunfei noticed that this Sovereign God, who had been battling an enemy moments ago, suddenly stood there motionless, a struggling expression appearing on his face.
Many comrades nearby assumed this First-Level Sovereign God had been attacked by a Soul Force martial technique. They didn't pay him much heed, as on the battlefield, all kinds of martial techniques were employed by someone or other.
"Old Wu, have you suffered a potent Soul Force attack? Do you need my help? I have several powerful Soul Force-type magic treasures. Open your Soul Sea; I'll send them in right now to help you resist," a fellow First-Level Sovereign God next to him asked the motionless Hunyuan Sect Sovereign God.
However, the First-Level Sovereign God gave no response. He remained standing there, looking pained.
Seeing Old Wu's lack of reaction, the asking comrade could only shake his head and turn to deal with his own enemy.
After all, on such a deadly battlefield, even a Sovereign God could fall at any moment. As First-Level Sovereign Gods, everyone was struggling for their own survival; helping others was extremely difficult. Moreover, since Old Wu gave no response, his comrade, even if he wanted to help, wouldn't know how to intervene. So, he could only leave him be.
Besides, several Sovereign Gods from the Guardian Faction were now charging towards him with murderous intent.
Ye Yunfei focused on Old Wu because he sensed a familiar aura.
Ye Yunfei immediately released his Soul Force Energy and Mental Force energy, while simultaneously activating the Divine Pupil between his brows to inspect Old Wu's Soul Sea.
Soon, Ye Yunfei saw that within Old Wu's Soul Sea, numerous threads emitting bizarre Soul Force auras were binding Old Wu's Soul Body tightly, wrapping it up securely.
Sensing the Soul Force auras emanating from those threads, Ye Yunfei finally confirmed.
"It seems there is a member of the Soul Race in this battlefield, employing the Puppet Soul Thread Secret Art like I do, turning Sovereign Gods into slaves. However, this Soul Race member is targeting Sovereign Gods on the Hunyuan Sect's side," Ye Yunfei conveyed to Hun Lao via message.
"What? There's a Soul Race member here using the Puppet Soul Thread Secret Art against a Hunyuan Sect Sovereign God?" Hun Lao was somewhat shocked upon hearing this.
"That means this Soul Race individual possesses Sovereign God-level strength," the Golden-Horned Dragon Silkworm chimed in.
"Yes. Since this Soul Race member is targeting a First-Level Sovereign God, it indicates they possess strength at the Sovereign God level," Ye Yunfei nodded.
As he spoke, Ye Yunfei had already begun searching for that Soul Race member's whereabouts.
Ye Yunfei knew that Soul Race members typically resided within the Soul Sea of beings from other races. They generally used two methods. The first was to use Puppet Soul Threads to control a creature's Soul Body, turning it into a slave. Then, the Soul Race member would hide within the slave's Soul Sea, controlling the slave to act.
The second method was to directly devour a creature's Soul Body, then commandeer its physical body to move through the world.
Ye Yunfei rapidly used his Soul Force Energy to sense the other creatures nearby but found nothing unusual.
"This Soul Race member is no simple figure. Even I can't detect their aura," Ye Yunfei inwardly gasped.
Ye Yunfei's current Soul Force Energy level already surpassed that of an ordinary Intermediate Chaos God, approaching Advanced Chaos God level. If such Soul Force Energy couldn't locate that Soul Race member, it indicated this individual was extraordinary.
Then, Ye Yunfei attempted to use Mental Force as an auxiliary but still couldn't sense anything.
"My Mental Force level hasn't improved much; progress has been slow!" Ye Yunfei couldn't help but smile wryly.
Recently, Ye Yunfei's Soul Force Energy level had improved rapidly, but the progress of his Mental Force had been very sluggish, starting to feel insufficient.
Next, Ye Yunfei opened the Divine Pupil on his brow, continuing his search for that Soul Race member's figure in the surroundings.
Finally, with the combined use of his Soul Force Energy, Mental Force, and the Divine Pupil, Ye Yunfei ultimately locked onto another Hunyuan Sect Sovereign God not far away.