Zhong Tianyi's voice faded into the wind, carrying a hint of self-mockery.
"Throughout countless eons, how many brilliant and peerless figures, how many arrogant Prodigies who could swallow mountains and rivers, have ultimately not turned into dust and blood on my path to rise?"
"A mere junior, even if he is a born formidable enemy, even if he truly restrains my Nether Force... so what?"
His voice grew deeper, yet also firmer.
"There's no need to panic over a potential threat."
"On the path of immortality, the most taboo thing is to harbor fear!"
Thinking of this, Zhong Tianyi regained his composure in that moment, his Dao Heart as firm as profound iron, his Qi concealed like a tide.
"No matter."
He spoke faintly, as if talking to himself, or perhaps to the heavens.
"The plan remains the same."
"However..."
"I can't let Jiang Ye act too comfortably either. Send a few more discarded Children of the Netherworld to intercept him and observe the Holy Light on him..."
His brows moved, and with a gentle flick of his fingers, a dark blue talisman burned at his fingertips, inscribed with countless profound Dao patterns, and faintly, there were whispers from a mysterious Deity.
"Additionally, I also need to prepare another plan..."
...On the other side.
In the southeastern corner of the Dragon Vein Secret Realm, in a valley with ancient trees reaching the sky, several Loose Cultivators in tattered robes were excitedly searching the crevices of the mountain rocks.
"Hehe, the harvest this time is not bad! This is a third-tier Spiritual Ore, which is hard to come by outside!"
A man with a pointed mouth and monkey-like cheeks held a reddish crystal in both hands, his eyes full of greed and ecstasy.
"Indeed, indeed. After the Secret Realm ends, we'll quietly leave. We're guaranteed to sell it for a good price, maybe even exchange it for a Saint-level Cultivation Technique!"
Another person held a broken ancient bell, saliva almost dripping from his mouth. The ancient bell was covered in runes, with faint sounds of thunder, clearly a broken remnant of a treasured weapon.
The few of them spoke one after another, their expressions smug.
But they were completely unaware that a Divine Thought from afar had quietly locked onto them.
Suddenly, the Void Realm trembled slightly, and a figure descended from the sky like a god arriving in the mortal world.
Light spread like a tide and waves, that was the power of Holy Light, instantly illuminating the entire valley, like a divine sun hanging overhead, dispelling the shadows.
"Who?!"
The Loose Cultivators turned abruptly, about to launch an attack, but in the next moment, their pupils constricted violently.
The person wore white clothes as pure as snow, with long hair flowing. Golden divine flames surged in his eyes, and his body was as tall and straight as a heavenly pillar. He stood in the air, Holy Light slowly flowing from his body, like an ancient God King who had descended to the mortal world.
Su Yun.
"Su Yun of the Ancient Su Family?"
"We just passed by! We don't have any treasures!"
An older Loose Cultivator knelt in panic, his words faltering.
Jiang Ye did not speak, he clasped his hands together.
In an instant, black and white light intertwined into a seal, and Divine Soul fluctuations swept across the heavens and earth. The Loose Cultivators only felt their Sea of Consciousness struck by lightning, their heads immediately aching intensely, and their Divine Souls seemed to be drawn out.
"No!!!"
The few of them screamed, but were powerless to resist.
Their Divine Souls were captured and suppressed within. Jiang Ye pointed a finger, and a series of Soul Imprints appeared, like crimson fire patterns, deeply branded into the Origin of their Sea of Consciousness.
Then, Jiang Ye pointed again, and several Holy Light powers appeared.
A moment later.
The Loose Cultivators' eyes were hollow, their expressions became mechanical, and a few strands of golden Holy Light even appeared on the surface of their bodies.
Jiang Ye struck with his palm, sending them flying in different directions, scattering into the mountains and wilderness.
All of this took only a few breaths, clean and decisive, without any delay.
He stood with his hands behind his back, his gaze cold and Shen.
"These Children of the Netherworld are really annoying."
These Puppets were merely bait, injected with a portion of Holy Light by Jiang Ye and scattered throughout the Dragon Vein Secret Realm.
This was to confuse his movements.
With the Radiant God King Body in operation, Jiang Ye transformed into a divine light, streaking across the sky, like the sun crossing the heavens, breaking through clouds and mist.
He released his Divine Thought to investigate along the way, sometimes pausing, sometimes avoiding, taking detours, and bypassing several places where Nether Qi was strong.
But even so, he still perceived that more than one Children of the Netherworld's aura was approaching in the dark.
"Zhong Tianyi's Nether Force, logically speaking, should not have any tracking methods work in front of my God King Body."
"But these Children of the Netherworld are endless, not like simple tracking, but rather coming to sniff out my aura."
"The only possibility... is that Zhong Tianyi had already planted hidden agents in various major forces beforehand. These Children of the Netherworld might not be tracking, but rather sensing the presence of Holy Light."
"As long as there's a slight movement, they will follow the scent..."
With this thought, Jiang Ye continued to speed along with a calm demeanor.
"Trying to cause me trouble?"
"Save your energy."
His radiance receded, and he accelerated, heading straight for Ye Qingyun's location.
Finally, a few moments later, he arrived at the edge of a broken mountain range.
Here, the mountains were rugged, and mist shrouded the area, as if a giant Dragon had roared across the heavens and earth, tearing the mountain range into a chasm.
Jiang Ye stopped and gazed, his brows immediately furrowing.
In the chasm, the Nether Qi was so thick it couldn't dissipate. Gusts of foul-smelling and decaying black wind rushed out along the geological fissures, as if countless vengeful spirits were wailing.
His entire aura surged, and his Divine Thought transformed into a golden ocean, pouring down.
In an instant, the scene of the underground cave appeared in his mind.
Below the chasm, there was a natural spiritual gathering place.
It should have been a treasure land where Dragon Veins converged and good fortune gathered, but now it was covered by evil plants, and countless pitch-black vines hung from the rock walls, with purplish-black liquid flowing on their surface, constantly secreting poisonous miasma.
The Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi was no longer clear and warm, but had turned into a viscous, cold Qi that made one's scalp tingle.
"This was originally a place of heaven and earth's creation, yet it has been polluted to such an extent by Zhong Tianyi's Nether Force?"
Jiang Ye smiled indifferently.
"If Ye Qingyun entered here, could he still be alive?"
He muttered to himself, but the divine light in his eyes grew stronger.
"If he really died, the System wouldn't still be giving coordinate feedback."
Jiang Ye didn't hesitate. Holy Light emerged around him, and his body was enveloped in golden light, as if a sacred and radiant God of War had stepped out of a divine temple.
With the Radiant God King Body unleashed, he stepped into the Nether chasm.
Buzz!
The Void Realm twisted, and wherever the divine light passed, the black mist dissipated.
Jiang Ye entered as if into an uninhabited land, leaping directly into the deepest part.
The Nether poisonous miasma, which should have corroded the Divine Soul and flesh, was forcefully purified under his God King Body, disintegrating inch by inch.
He delved deeper, winding through the cave walls.
Finally, he stopped in front of a stone pool in the deepest shadow.
In the center of the stone pool, black mist swirled.
A figure floated quietly above it, clothes mottled, hair disheveled, face as pale as paper, as if his soul had departed and his breath had ceased.
It was Ye Qingyun.
He floated in the pool, as if in a long dream, completely unconscious.
Nether Qi swirled and churned around him; it was a kind of Nether bloating Qi accumulated over a long period from the evil earth.
Viscous, cold, and highly corrosive, like an invisible poisonous miasma. An ordinary person would have their Divine Soul dissipate and their mind collapse with just a wisp entering their body.
Yet at this moment, although the swirling bloating Qi occasionally approached Ye Qingyun, it was always unable to truly invade his body.
It was as if an invisible barrier was forcefully blocking this Nether Yin Sha from the outside.
Jiang Ye stood quietly in the shadows, his Holy Light restrained, his gaze fixed on the figure in the center of the pool.
His eyes were deep, as if penetrating the Physical Body, reaching directly into the Sea of Consciousness.
"The Origin has not been contaminated?"