Truth be told, Ye Yunfei could repair his father’s Dantian and meridians right now. However, he wanted to seize this opportunity to gather some high-grade materials. He planned not only to restore his father's Dantian and meridians but also to transform and enhance them!
He now possessed Earth Root Sacred Water. As long as he could find a few more types of high-grade materials, Ye Yunfei was confident he could enable his father's martial cultivation talent to undergo a qualitative leap!
"Young man, where do we go next?" a voice transmitted directly into Ye Yunfei's soul sea. It was from the muscular man—or rather, from his disembodied Giant Arm.
"This arm of mine has been away from the Thunder Abyss for some time now. If I don't return soon, its vitality will wane. My physical body was interred according to an Eight Trigrams Congenital Formation across eight different locations, corresponding to the eight celestial phenomena of Heaven, Earth, Thunder, Wind, Water, Fire, Mountain, and Marsh. Each part draws upon different energies to preserve its life force. Furthermore, the vital energies of my eight separated body parts resonate with each other over vast distances, forming a unified whole. If the vitality of this arm decays, it will affect the other seven parts as well. Besides, if the Pang Clan dispatched members of the Sea Splitting Realm and Lightning Tribulation Realm for external affairs, their overall strength can't be weak. Even if I accompany you on a frontal assault, we might not necessarily be able to wipe out the Pang and Miao Clans."
He was afraid Ye Yunfei might act on impulse, leading them straight to the gates of the Pang and Miao Clans. Having spent this time alongside Ye Yunfei, he had gained some understanding of the young man's circumstances.
"I understand. Your arm indeed needs to return. Rest assured, I won't drag you down because of my own affairs. I will take you back to the Thunder Abyss now," Ye Yunfei replied after a moment's thought, nodding.
Although he desperately wanted to immediately storm the Pang and Miao Clans, rescue his mother and sister, and annihilate both families, Ye Yunfei recognized the validity of the muscular man's words. With his current strength, even augmented by the Giant Arm, he couldn't guarantee eliminating the Pang and Miao Clans. This Giant Arm contained only a fraction of the man's original power, and even that was far from its peak condition.
"You once claimed you could restore this arm to the power of its peak state. If you truly can do that, once my arm regains its full strength, I can help you wipe out these two clans. They merely dominate one star sea; it's nothing major. In my prime, a single finger could have crushed dozens like them," the muscular man's voice sounded again.
"Good. After we return, I will start refining pills to restore your arm's strength as much as possible. However, your arm's power is immense, requiring vast quantities of herbs and natural treasures. The more, the better. With the resources I currently possess, I'm uncertain how far I can restore your arm. I'll do my utmost," Ye Yunfei affirmed.
"Well, if resources are insufficient, we can always plunder them," the muscular man chuckled through his spiritual transmission. "Even if we lack the power to directly assault the main headquarters of the Pang and Miao Clans right now, we are certainly capable of raiding some of their branch strongholds and bases."
"Excellent idea!" Ye Yunfei's eyes lit up. "If resources are lacking, we'll plunder them from these two clans. Even if we can't annihilate them just yet, destroying a number of their branch strongholds to make them ache and bleed would be a fine start."
"Haha! Then what are we waiting for? Let's go loot some things! Truth be told, back in my day, I did this sort of work quite frequently!" the muscular man guffawed heartily.
Ye Yunfei couldn't help but smile wryly. It seemed this muscular fellow had been quite a troublemaker in his prime.
Meanwhile, at the Pang Clan headquarters...
"What?! Our Pang Clan branch strongholds in the Qianlin Star Domain and the Tianyan Star Domain have both been destroyed?!"
Inside a magnificent palace, a tall and imposing elder erupted in fury. This elder's pupils held a faint golden hue; when his eyes opened or closed, they seemed to flicker with lightning, a sight that struck fear into those who met his gaze. This was none other than the current Patriarch of the Pang Clan, Pang Xishan!
"Yes, Patriarch. Both strongholds were completely razed. Not only were all personnel slain, but all valuables were looted clean," reported a middle-aged man dressed in tight-fitting, practical attire.
"Outrageous! Within the Tianluo Star Sea, who dares to attack our Pang Clan's holdings? Do they truly think the Pang Clan is easy prey?!"
"Patriarch, we must investigate this matter thoroughly! Otherwise, our Pang Clan will have no standing left in the Tianluo Star Sea!"
More than a dozen high-ranking Pang Clan members, who had rushed over upon hearing the news, were now gathered in the palace, each one fuming with anger.
"Any leads on who is responsible?" Pang Xishan demanded, his voice low and heavy.
"Reports say... it was an arm that did it," the man replied.
"An arm?" Pang Xishan was visibly startled.
"Are you saying an *arm* wiped out two of our clan's strongholds?" the other elders present also found it hard to believe.
"Yes. After receiving the news, I immediately traveled to the Tianyan and Qianlin Star Domains to investigate. Numerous eyewitnesses claimed they saw a giant arm of colossal size appear at our clan's two branch strongholds. Apart from this giant arm, there was also a young man. His spiritual energy realm seemed unremarkable, but the energy pressure emanating from the giant arm was rather formidable. Several Sea Splitting Realm cultivators who happened to be passing by were intimidated by the arm's aura and promptly fled the area, not daring to approach. Therefore, it was most likely the arm that destroyed our two strongholds," the middle-aged man, a Pang Clan steward, explained.
"An arm destroyed two of our clan's strongholds! What is the origin of this arm? Why did it target our Pang Clan?" The elders in the palace were a mixture of shock and fury.
"Patriarch, there is an even more critical matter. During the destruction of the branch stronghold on Yinxia Star, they were hosting the Tianluo Star Sea gathering of young geniuses. Now, all the young talents who participated in the gathering have vanished. Several major factions have already sent people to our clan demanding an explanation."
"All the young geniuses who attended... vanished!" Both the Patriarch and the other elders were aghast.
The Pang Clan had been the primary host of this young genius gathering. Yinxia Star was their territory. With all the young geniuses disappearing on their watch, the blame would inevitably fall squarely on the Pang Clan's shoulders. Even as a superpower ranking among the top factions in the Tianluo Star Sea, losing so many young talents at once would be extremely difficult to explain away. Each of those young geniuses was backed by a major power! Many even hailed from other superpowers with strength rivaling the Pang Clan's own.
Thus, upon hearing this news, every high-ranking member present in the palace felt a significant headache coming on.