As he spoke, Ye Yunfei's gaze was fixed on Murong Fu, laden with implicit meaning.
His identity had been deliberately exposed by Murong Fu moments ago—a transgression Ye Yunfei naturally noted and remembered.
'Su Ye, watch your attitude! You're just a Intermediate Student, and I'm an Elite Student. You'd best show proper respect in front of me!'
Murong Fu was incensed by Ye Yunfei's provocative look and roared with anger.
As a Primordial Soul Realm expert and an Elite Student, let alone a Intermediate Student, even a Senior Student would have to grovel and flatter in his presence. So, from the start, he had held a sense of superiority, looking down on Ye Yunfei's Intermediate Student status.
'What have you done to deserve my respect?'
Ye Yunfei responded with a cold smirk.
'Su Ye, if you keep acting arrogant, don't blame me for getting tough!' Murong Fu's anger surged at Ye Yunfei's dismissive attitude.
'Let it go. Stop bickering. We should hurry and focus on our mission. I didn't invite you all here just to watch you argue!'
Jiang Yanran said with a frown.
'I'll follow you all covertly,' Ye Yunfei gave Jiang Yanran a nod, then his figure vanished.
Lu Pengfei was already leading a group of Tianxuan Sacred Land disciples, giving chase not far behind. At the same time, Ye Yunfei realized that ever since entering the Pogu Plateau, numerous subtle waves of Soul Power had been intentionally or unintentionally sweeping over him.
Ye Yunfei instinctively sensed grave dangers lurking everywhere.
'It seems I'm definitely being watched,' he mused inwardly. 'Most likely by factions like the Ancient Demon Race and the Tianji Sect. Now that my identity is exposed, I'll probably be watched wherever I go.' Ye Yunfei couldn't help but give a bitter, silent laugh to himself.
Moments later, Lu Pengfei and his group caught up, but finding no trace of Ye Yunfei, they cursed angrily and left.
Afterwards, Jiang Yanran's group continued trekking deeper into the Pogu Plateau. Along the way, they encountered many more Void Beasts.
Beyond Void Beasts, they also ran into many other ferocious demonic beasts and monsters. Any creature that could survive in the Pogu Plateau was, of course, exceptionally powerful, possessing strength at least on par with human cultivators at the Great Mystic Pill Realm.
On several occasions, overwhelmed by large numbers of Void Beasts and demonic monsters, Jiang Yanran and the other five found themselves surrounded by sixty or seventy beasts, forced into desperate battle.
Fortunately, Ye Yunfei would suddenly reappear each time, employing his vanishing and reappearing spatial movement technique. Throwing the beasts into complete disarray with his attacks, he allowed Jiang Yanran and the others to break free from the encirclement.
Jiang Yanran and Ji Mengyao were astonished by Ye Yunfei's spatial movement technique, marveling at its mastery. Jiang Yanran, in particular, looked at Ye Yunfei with sparkling, appreciative eyes.
Even the other three Elite Students began to treat Ye Yunfei with markedly more enthusiasm, shedding their previous cold indifference. They realized that Ye Yunfei's methods and hidden trump cards were even more profound than their own. They no longer dared to look down on him.
One female Elite Student named Liu Piaopiao even initiated conversation with Ye Yunfei.
However, the more outstanding Ye Yunfei proved, the more Murong Fu seethed with jealousy and rage.
'Just you wait, brat. I won't let you off the hook,' Murong Fu inwardly gritted his teeth.
Finally.
After a full day of travel, an enormous valley suddenly loomed ahead.
From a distance, the valley seemed illusory, flickering between reality and fantasy, its spatial structure appearing profoundly unstable, undulating gently.
Moreover, peering into the valley gave the impression of glimpsing another world altogether.
Within that world stood magnificent, divine mountain peaks piercing the clouds. There were resplendent rays of auspicious light, spiritual energy so thick it felt palpable, rare and auspicious beasts, singing birds and fragrant flowers, spiritual springs scattered everywhere, and countless spirit herbs and precious medicines flourishing luxuriantly.
In short, it resembled a complete, perfect paradise realm!
'We've reached the Shattered Valley!' Jiang Yanran announced.
The group's spirits all lifted.
'Hmm? Why are there so many people here? Has something happened?' Suddenly, the female Elite Student named Liu Piaopiao exclaimed softly.
Ahead, just before the Shattered Valley, stood a large crowd of people. Their attire varied, indicating they hailed from different factions. In the Northern Wastes Domain, at least six or seven major factions had the qualification to enter the Pogu Plateau.
'Steward Fang!' Jiang Yanran, sharp-eyed, spotted a steward from the Heavenly Dao Academy and immediately stepped forward to inquire.
'Jiang Yanran, Ji Mengyao, Murong Fu, Liu Piaopiao... You've also come to the Pogu Plateau to train?' Steward Fang, seeing the Elite Students, greeted them all with great warmth. After all, Elite Students were the true elite of the Heavenly Dao Academy.
'Steward Fang, what's happening?' Jiang Yanran asked.
'Something major seems to have occurred within the Shattered Valley. Over the past few days, an increasing number of beasts have been rushing out from within in great haste,' Steward Fang replied.
'Major incident!' Hearing this, Jiang Yanran and the others were all taken aback.
'Correct. It is highly possible that the Void-Abyss Fruits are approaching ripeness! So, the demonic beasts and monsters within the Shattered Valley have started warring and slaughtering each other over contention for the fruits, causing so many to flee outwards,' Steward Fang explained.
'Ss—! The Void-Abyss Fruits are ripening!' On hearing Steward Fang's words, Jiang Yanran and the other Elite Students couldn't help but draw sharp breaths.
As Elite Students of the Heavenly Dao Academy, Jiang Yanran and the others were already very familiar with the legendary reputation of the Void-Abyss Fruits.
Legend had it that within the Shattered Valley grew a treasure tree, the Void-Abyss Tree. Its fruit was the Void-Abyss Fruit. If a martial artist obtained and consumed the fruit, there was a chance of awakening Spatial Talent, enabling them to cultivate spatial energy.
It was well known that spatial energy was notoriously difficult to master—an esoteric, niche form of power. The ability to cultivate it bore no relation to the level of one's spiritual power cultivation. Without the innate talent, even with high spiritual power realms and formidable strength, it was extremely difficult to gain entry! Conversely, with that specific aptitude, even those with low spiritual power realms could still train in it.
Truly, martial artists in the world possessing Spatial Talent were far too few and rare—scarce as phoenix feathers or qilin horns! Since consuming the Void-Abyss Fruit granted a certain probability of awakening Spatial Talent, one could imagine how immensely precious it was.
'A certain ancient text in our Heavenly Dao Academy's library records that the Void-Abyss Tree within the Shattered Valley flowers once every three hundred years, bears fruit once every three hundred years, and takes another three hundred years to ripen. It requires nine hundred years to reach full maturity. When the Void-Abyss Fruits mature, chaotic warfare breaks out among the demonic beasts and monsters inside the valley, prompting large numbers to flee out. Furthermore, radiant beams of auspicious light fill the valley, dazzlingly brilliant. Look, hasn't the light within the Shattered Valley grown much more radiant than before? All of this matches the records in that ancient text,' Steward Fang said.
'Indeed, the light within the Shattered Valley has grown far more radiant!' Jiang Yanran and the others peered into the valley and nodded in agreement. Having visited many times as Elite Students, they knew this clearly.
'So, it's the Void-Abyss Tree. If I can obtain the Void-Abyss Fruits, they would be of great help in raising my spatial cultivation,' Ye Yunfei thought to himself upon hearing Steward Fang's explanation.
Of course, Ye Yunfei had no need to rely on the Void-Abyss Fruits to awaken Spatial Talent. Back in his era as the Heavenly Emperor, he had conducted in-depth research into the laws of space. He could easily tear open space, traverse between different planes, personally construct long-distance spatial teleportation formations, and perform immense jumps through space and time. One could say Ye Yunfei's spatial aptitude far surpassed that of any other martial artist in the world.
Only, his spatial energy at present was still relatively weak. Obtaining the Void-Abyss Fruits would indeed be of significant assistance.