This mid-stage Minor Mystic Pill Realm cultivator had lost the right half of his body and was at death's door.
"Don't kill me! I'll talk! We're from the Ouyang Family! Spare my life, please!"
His voice was weak, his eyes filled with terror and pleading.
"So it's the Ouyang Family!"
Ye Yunfei sneered.
"Since you know he's from our Ouyang Family, release him immediately!"
The grey-robed elder had already rushed over with the remaining four mid-stage Minor Mystic Pill Realm followers, his voice harsh and berating.
*Bang!*
A cold smile touched Ye Yunfei's lips as he gave his right hand a sudden, fierce shake, exploding the mid-stage Small Core Formation cultivator into a bloody mist on the spot.
"You dare kill someone from my Ouyang Family?! You're asking for death!"
The grey-robed elder roared furiously, charging towards Ye Yunfei madly.
*Rumble...*
An intimidating amount of energy pressure, terrifying to the extreme, came bearing down on Ye Yunfei in a mighty torrent.
Ye Yunfei felt his body grow heavy, as if he were carrying a great mountain, and his movements became difficult.
*A Great Mystic Pill Realm master is indeed fearsome!*
Ye Yunfei roused his physical body, the power contained within his flesh pouring forth. Simultaneously, a dazzling round wheel manifested behind his back, nine divine beasts roaring together and releasing a powerful ancient aura of primitive wilderness.
Instantly, Ye Yunfei felt light all over his body.
"The Ouyang Family... I remember it."
Ye Yunfei shot a glance at the grey-robed elder and spoke coldly.
Then, Ye Yunfei activated the Heavenly Shadow Robe. Moving at ten times his normal speed, he vanished into the distance in an instant.
"How is this possible?!"
The grey-robed elder was both shocked and enraged to see Ye Yunfei so effortlessly shake off the energy pressure he had released.
"Halt!"
The grey-robed elder gave chase.
However, after putting some distance behind him, Ye Yunfei simply traversed directly into the space itself, disappearing completely from sight.
Ye Yunfei understood that with his current strength, taking on a Great Mystic Pill Realm cultivator was still beyond him.
"Su Ye! Just you wait! My Ouyang Family will never let you off!"
The grey-robed elder's low, thunderous roar echoed through the night.
"Damn it! How could this brat's movement technique be so bizarre? Surely I can't have been seeing things—he seemed to be able to pass through space itself!"
A moment later, the same grey-robed elder muttered in confusion.
By that time, Ye Yunfei had already returned to the Branch Stronghold.
Earlier, just before he made his move, Ye Yunfei had teleported Da Di Daozhang inside the Phantom Shadow Tower. This was because Da Di Daozhang was only at the Grotto-Heaven Tenth Level in strength, making him fundamentally no match for those in the Minor Mystic Pill Realm.
After returning to the Branch Stronghold and entering his room, Ye Yunfei brought Da Di Daozhang back out.
"Those men just now... they were from the Ouyang Family."
Ye Yunfei briefly recounted the situation.
"Ouyang Feng! It must have been Ouyang Feng who had his family come kill us!"
Da Di Daozhang was furious.
"Correct," Ye Yunfei said.
"We'll settle this with Ouyang Feng when he gets back!"
Da Di Daozhang grew angrier the more he thought about it.
Only, after waiting the whole night, Ouyang Feng did not return to this Branch Stronghold.
The next day, a piece of news arrived: The formations surrounding the Dongzhuo True Monarch's Cave Mansion had finally entered their period of weakness!
Once the news reached Zhudan City, innumerable sharp, powerful figures instantly shot up into the sky like streaks of rainbow, streaking towards the mountain range that housed the Dongzhuo True Monarch's Cave Mansion.
"You all must move immediately as well!"
The two elders of the Houtu Sect shouted sternly.
The Houtu Sect's elite disciples thus also stirred into action, deploying their movement techniques to hasten towards the Dongzhuo True Monarch's Cave Mansion's location.
By this point, the majority of the martial artists in Zhudan City had mobilized en masse.
From further afield, one flying ship after another sliced across the sky, arriving. These were martial artists who had just managed to reach the area.
Ever since news of the Dongzhuo True Monarch's Cave Mansion had spread, numerous young martial artists from the Northern Wastes Domain had learned of the news and came rushing to the area, their numbers immense.
Ye Yunfei and Da Di Daozhang traveled closely to the ground, maneuvering the earth qi as they journeyed deeper and deeper into the mountain range.
Gradually, many formations began to appear along the mountain's terrain.
These formations had been personally set down by the True Lord Dongzhuo all those years ago and could definitely be considered top-tier arrays within the Xuanhuang Star Domain. However, the passage of countless days had drained away over half of their power.
Moreover, this was precisely the formations' period of weakness.
Consequently, these formations could not hinder the advancing footsteps of the many martial artists.
If they occasionally encountered a formation with stronger residual power, the crowd would surge forward together and combine their efforts to break it.
However, a select few heaven's favorites possessing particularly formidable strength utterly disdained mixing with the common crowd. Relying purely on their own abilities, they could easily smash through the formations.
And there were some young talents of exceedingly grand backgrounds, who carried extremely powerful formation-breaking treasures with them. They passed through those arrays as if they weren't even there, as if entering a land without people!
Ye Yunfei and Da Di Daozhang proceeded at a steady, unhurried pace along their way.
No matter what formation he encountered, Ye Yunfei completely disregarded it, simply passing straight through.
Given Ye Yunfei's mastery in formations, it didn't matter even if the potency of these formations had declined to one-tenth of their original power. Even at the absolute peak of their power, Ye Yunfei would have been able to break them!
Following right by Ye Yunfei's side, easily traversing formation after formation, Da Di Daozhang couldn't help but shout out in exhilaration.
Half a day later.
Up ahead, within a certain mountain valley, a gate towered ten meters tall stood revealed.
That gate was made with a sense of ancient simplicity, emanating fluctuating waves of time and space essence. Upon the gate hung a nameplate inscribed with two large characters: Dongzhuo.
They had arrived at the Dongzhuo True Monarch's Cave Mansion!
"So, it's a Small World."
As he sensed the aura radiating from that giant gate, Ye Yunfei remarked inwardly.
"The True Lord's cave abode here was discovered half a month ago," Da Di Daozhang began explaining. "Many older, powerful masters of our Northern Wastes Domain attempted to enter back then but they all failed. Afterwards, it was discovered that only martial artists at the Minor Mystic Pill Realm or below could enter this cave mansion. Otherwise, it would forcibly repel them. Word has it that several old masters tried to force their way in, only to be grievously wounded by the restrictive formations inside and fleeing back out, thoroughly discomfited. Later on, all the various clans and sects sent down the order, having the young talents with Minor Mystic Pill Realm strength within their ranks come explore this cave mansion."
"Mn," Ye Yunfei nodded.
Many Small Worlds would automatically repel the stronger experts of the world. This was a common phenomenon. It was somewhat like the way Tianxuan Continent also repelled foreign strong cultivators—except, of course, Tianxuan Continent wasn't a Small World, but a lower-grade main continent.
By now, a considerable number of people had already passed through that imposing gate. Even more martial artists were arriving in a hurry, one fierce silhouette after another swooping in, making the valley exceedingly lively.
"Look! Zou Tianshan, that inner court disciple of the Heavenly Dao Academy, is here!"
Suddenly, someone exclaimed in a hushed tone.
Coming into view was a young man in purple robes, of dignified and imposing bearing, whose eyes shone like lightning as he strode forward. He was flanked and escorted by several tens of other young people, all possessing strength at the Minor Mystic Pill Realm.
"An inner disciple of the Heavenly Dao Academy...?"
Feeling a stir of interest, Ye Yunfei turned his gaze over.
Due to Guardian Sovereign Daoren being a member of the Heavenly Dao Academy, Ye Yunfei maintained a rather high degree of attention towards it.