At the same time.
Within the Great Qin Empire, at the Tianyuan Sect headquarters in the Eastern Region.
In the council hall.
Elder Ren, Shi Zongyang, Ren Xuantang, Elder Wu, the ancestor of Shenyao Valley, Ye Tianpeng, Fengyun Jue, the Empress of the Great Qin Empire, the Emperor, and other higher-ups were all gathered in the hall, discussing the current situation in the Eastern Region.
"Report!"
Suddenly, a steward hurried into the hall.
"Elder Ren! The capital city of the Ziyue Empire has been captured by the Otherworldly Army! Most of the Ziyue Empire's territory is now under their control!"
The steward announced loudly.
Upon hearing this, everyone in the hall felt their hearts sink.
The Ziyue Empire was a neighboring country to the Great Qin Empire.
Now that Ziyue had fallen, the next target of the Otherworldly Army would undoubtedly be the Great Qin Empire.
"We must prepare ourselves to engage the Otherworldly Army at any moment," Elder Ren said slowly, breaking the silence.
"The strength of the Otherworldly Army is far too terrifying. Given our current power, I'm afraid holding the Great Qin Empire will be very difficult," Ren Xuantang said. "I suggest we prepare to retreat the moment the situation turns dire. We should not try to clash head-on with them."
"He's right," Fengyun Jue said solemnly. "I heard the force attacking the Ziyue Empire was personally led by at least three Grotto-Heaven Realm experts. With our power, it's impossible for us to withstand that. In fact, we should withdraw now. With three Grotto-Heaven Realm experts coming, numbers alone won't save us, no matter how many we have."
For a moment, the hall fell into a heavy silence.
The Emperor of the Great Qin Empire suddenly spoke up. "If we retreat, what will happen to the ordinary citizens of the Great Qin Empire? Will they be left to the slaughter of the Otherworldly Army?"
"There's nothing we can do about that," the ancestor of Shenyao Valley said with a sigh. "Ordinary folks… in times of chaos like this, slaughter is their only fate. Especially since those Ancient Demon Race beings are our mortal enemies. I've heard they leave no survivors in any city they take."
"Report!"
Another steward entered the hall urgently. "Elder Ren! The old city lord of Hujie City, Gu Chengzhu, has dispatched experts and is establishing an alliance in our Eastern Region! He's calling for all forces in the Eastern Region to join this Eastern Alliance to resist the Otherworldly Army together. The Ziyang Sect and the Zhencang Sect have already left the Great Qin Empire to join the alliance!"
The Great Qin Empire originally had four major sects: the Ziyang Sect, the Tianyuan Sect, the Zhencang Sect, and the Xiaoyao Pavilion. With the Xiaoyao Pavilion eradicated by Ye Yunfei, only three major sects remained.
"Good!" Elder Ren's eyes brightened. "In that case, we'll also go and join the Eastern Alliance to fight the Otherworldly Army together. United, we'll be far stronger than fighting alone! What do you all think?"
"That sounds like a wise idea," Fengyun Jue nodded.
The others also nodded in agreement one after another.
"Send the order!" Elder Ren commanded. "Everyone should pack their belongings. We depart in half a day's time!"
"I wonder… whether Fei'er is alive or dead…" Ye Tianpeng sighed softly.
The events that occurred in the space abyss near Hujie City had long since been relayed back to the Tianyuan Sect headquarters.
"Head of the Ye Family, rest assured. The Master is not dead," Fengyun Jue said immediately.
"That's right," Ren Xuantang added. "I can confirm that Young Master Ye is still alive."
Elder Wu, the ancestor of Shenyao Valley, and others also voiced their assurance that Ye Yunfei was alive.
Within their soul seas, they each bore a soul restriction planted by Ye Yunfei.
If Ye Yunfei died, that restriction would dissipate.
Right now, however, the soul restrictions within their soul seas still existed.
This proved Ye Yunfei was still alive.
And they were the only ones who could confirm this with such certainty.
"Everyone… Is Fei'er truly… still alive?" Ye Tianpeng's gaze shifted to Fengyun Jue, the ancestor of Shenyao Valley, Ren Xuantang, and Elder Wu as he asked.
In truth, he had asked this question countless times during this period, yet he still couldn't bring himself to fully believe the words of Fengyun Jue and the others.
After all, within that space abyss, Ye Yunfei had been simultaneously besieged by over seventy Grotto-Heaven Realm experts.
In such a situation, the chances of survival were incredibly low.
"It's true," Fengyun Jue affirmed once more, his voice firm. "The Master is still alive."
At that moment.
Within the Small World.
Ye Yunfei sat cross-legged before the black altar, absorbing the energy contained within the Nightmare Stones.
Whoosh…
Vast streams of Soul Force Energy were drawn from the Nightmare Stones, converging into Ye Yunfei's soul sea like mighty rivers.
As he absorbed more and more Soul Power energy, the soul pressure emanating from within his skull grew increasingly potent.
In the blink of an eye, half a month passed.
At a certain moment…
Crackle…
The black altar before Ye Yunfei suddenly crumbled. The Nightmare Stones that composed the altar had all been drained of their Soul Force Energy by Ye Yunfei, now reduced to a hill-like pile of worthless, powdery residue.
And now, Ye Yunfei's Soul Power had risen to a truly terrifying level!
One must remember, that black altar was five meters tall and ten meters wide, composed of at least tens of thousands of Nightmare Stones. The sheer amount of Soul Force Energy such a quantity could provide was undeniably monstrous.
With a thought from Ye Yunfei—
Whoosh!
A small sword shot out from between his brows, hovering in the air before him.
An astonishing surge of Soul Power energy radiated from the blade of this small sword.
It was the Heavenly Soul Sword!
*Szzrt!*
Suddenly, the Heavenly Soul Sword slashed forward, traversing dozens of miles in a mere quarter of a breath, reaching the very edge of this Small World.
With another soft *szzrt*, the sword returned to hover before Ye Yunfei.
Its speed was such that not even the naked eye could track it, and even sensing it with Soul Power would be difficult.
*Szzrt!*
With another mental command, the Heavenly Soul Sword abruptly slashed down towards the ground.
Boom…!
A huge crater, tens of meters deep, appeared on the ground!
The Heavenly Soul Sword was formed through the compression and condensation of sword intent and Soul Power, controlled by the soul itself. Not only could it be used to attack an opponent's soul body, but it could also assail their physical form.
It could even be used to attack all tangible matter!
This was one of the wondrous uses of the Heavenly Soul Sword.
"With just this Heavenly Soul Sword alone, I can now easily do battle with experts at the Fifth Level of the Grotto-Heaven Realm," Ye Yunfei declared confidently.
This session of cultivation had undoubtedly led to a substantial increase in his strength!
"Alright.
Now, the only things left are these spirit herbs, premium herbs, and dao herbs," Ye Yunfei said to himself, his gaze sweeping over the fields of medicinal plants that carpeted the Small World.
As far as the eye could see, there were spirit herbs, premium herbs, and dao herbs. Particularly the spirit herbs and premium herbs grew like wild grass—dense clusters of them, an extremely vast quantity.
"Great Yin Chaos Soul Grass, Earthroot Vine, Icesoul Bloom, Verdant Wood Fruit, Heaven-Mending Mushroom…" Ye Yunfei slowly recited the names, his eyes appraising each of the five Dao Herbs one by one.
Each and every one of these five Dao Herbs was priceless.
"Huang Lao, I'll refine a 'Three Corpse Soul Pill' for you. It can allow your strength to break through to the Grotto-Heaven Realm in one go.
"Hu Miao, I'll refine a 'Chaos Profound Demon Pill' for you. It can also let your strength break through to the Grotto-Heaven Realm in a single step."
After examining all the spirit herbs, premium herbs, and dao herbs, Ye Yunfei found that all the medicinal plants required to refine the Three Corpse Soul Pill and the Chaos Profound Demon Pill were present in full.
Huang Lao was a ghost cultivator, and Hu Miao was an ancient divine beast descendant. Their paths of cultivation differed from human martial artists; consuming large amounts of pills wouldn't result in any adverse side effects for them.
Therefore, Huang Lao and Hu Miao could rely on pills to steadily push their realms higher without fear.
"Really?! That's wonderful!" Both Huang Lao and Hu Miao exclaimed, their voices filled with equal parts shock and ecstasy.
"Of course, it's true," Ye Yunfei smiled faintly.
As a Dan Zun (Alchemy Venerable), Ye Yunfei possessed an immense collection of high-level pill formulas, each with remarkable effects.
Thus, Ye Yunfei took out the Chaos Cauldron and began refining pills.
He had received this Chaos Cauldron within the small Sky Shadow World—a gift from the remnant soul of the Tianyuan Sect's Elder Dan.
Among all the alchemy cauldrons Ye Yunfei possessed, this one was the most effective to use.
"Once both of you have broken through to the Grotto-Heaven Realm, it will be time for us to return to the Tianxuan Continent. I wonder how the situation on the continent is now…" Ye Yunfei murmured as he refined the pills.
For some reason, he couldn't shake off a feeling of foreboding.
The Otherworldly Army had come with overwhelming ferocity; they absolutely would not give up easily.