The phantom floating above Yin Rui bore over ninety percent resemblance to the form Feng Yucheng had taken during the third simulation at his final transformation.

Clearly, they belonged to the same race.

You hadn't seen this thing on Yin Rui in the previous simulation because you hadn't possessed the "Materialist Warrior" trait back then.

Your steps toward Yin Rui halted and began to retreat.

Those not of our kind must have different hearts.

Regardless of Yin Rui's situation, he was already tainted by association with an alien race. You no longer wished to save him.

Let go of the savior complex, respect the fate of others.

"Demon Seed, little dragon-man transformation, the teleportation formation inside the Chixin Sect's Ancient Pagoda, the alien race called 'Commander,' and now this little dragon-man ghostly figure seen on Yin Rui..."

Through the scattered clues gathered from simulations and reality, Chen Yi discovered that in this world, besides the human race and the demon tribes, another intelligent race was active.

They likely came from another world, and their purpose was not friendly.

Because they had already established secret bases, were recruiting "human traitors," and were preparing to send large contingents over.

This was undoubtedly preparation for invasion.

"Presumably, Feng Yucheng's 'Demon Seed' is meant to guide the way for them. The meaning of 'Anchor point in position' is to send a signal to the alien race, providing navigation for their attack on this world..."

However, this alien race's preparation time was strangely long.

Feng Yucheng was already over forty years old in reality.

By the time Chen Yi was in his eighties, this alien race still hadn't truly appeared on the continent, aside from Feng Yucheng's one transformation.

Perhaps large-scale world traversal wasn't an easy task.

You retreated outside the chaotic battle, secretly using the Ten Thousand Souls Banner to perform "Myriad Ghosts Go to Market," transforming them into your eyes and ears, delving deep inside and outside the Chixin Sect to gather clues and intelligence.

"How did the formation in the pagoda disappear?"

The demon souls flew into the Ancient Pagoda within the Chixin Sect and saw that every floor had become empty. The formation patterns that should have existed on the ground were now all smooth as a mirror.

"Did the alien race know the Azure Dragon would come, so they erased the traces in advance?"

You hadn't left the Chixin Sect these past two days, yet you hadn't noticed when the traces in the pagoda were erased.

For the other party to act so covertly was no simple feat.

Just then, a stern shout echoed in the air.

"Azure Dragon! Why do you cause trouble in the Central Plains! Do you intend to disregard the Treaty Between the Two Races!"

You hurriedly made your escape.

You knew that when Li Liushui's words rang out, the Azure Dragon would no longer just be supervising the battle from the sky. He would swing his tail and smash the Chixin Sect to smithereens.

You didn't want to be an innocent bystander caught in the crossfire.

Li Liushui and the Azure Dragon were already fighting high in the sky. The sky rumbled with booming sounds from time to time, along with explosive thunderclaps.

Just as you were preparing to leave, you saw the little dragon-man phantom that had been on Yin Rui earlier floating over from the direction of the Chixin Sect.

This guy happened to fly right over your head.

You saw him, and he saw you.

The two of you locked eyes.

A trace of confusion flowed from the dragon-man's eyes.

"Kid, what are you looking at?"

He spoke in the human language.

Your Spider Sense didn't tingle. You knew this guy wasn't your match and posed no threat to you.

"Looking at you, so what!"

The dragon-man phantom instantly halted mid-air.

"Hey! Damn it! You brat can actually see me?"

You said nonchalantly.

"See you, so what? What's the big deal?"

The dragon-man snorted with disdain.

"Well then, I'm very sorry. I can't let anyone see me right now, so I'll have to ask you to die. Even though I'm only in a soul state, dealing with a puny little Golden Body Realm like you shouldn't be a problem!"

The dragon-man spread his arms, then suddenly brought them together in front of him, releasing a purple shockwave towards you.

"Whoosh..."

The fierce wind stirred up by the shockwave lifted a strand of your red hair.

That was all.

The imagined scene of you being turned into a bloody pulp by one move did not appear before this dragon-man, shocking him so much his eyes widened.

"What's going on?!"

You clenched your fist.

"My turn! Punch!"

You leaped up, directly reaching the height where the dragon-man phantom was, and threw a devastating punch downwards.

"Heh heh, I'm in a soul state. Your fist can't hit... PUFF!!!"

Your punch actually smashed this guy's face sideways!

Running over ten miles in one breath, you looked back to see the Chixin Sect's mountain gate had already turned into a ruin, shrouded in billowing dust.

Of course, to an outsider, it would look like the ground suddenly caved in by itself.

The dragon-man phantom stood up gloomily, his mouth crooked as he shouted.

"What's happening?! How can you hit me?! I'm in a soul state, why am I colliding with the ground?! What's wrong?! Wai bi ba bu Na Nami!!"

The guy got so agitated he started speaking his native tongue.

Seeing he seemed a bit slow, you weren't in a hurry to kill him, wanting to extract some information.

"What are you... or what thing are you? What were you doing on Yin Rui?"

"Hmph! Don't even think about getting information from me! If I can't deal with you, you can't catch me either!"

Seeing this guy about to run, you couldn't help but feel like laughing.

"Little Wan, ah..."

The Ten Thousand Souls Banner makes its entrance!

"Ghosts Come to Rejoice!!"

Black smoke billowed from the Ten Thousand Souls Banner, transforming into a massive vortex. A bizarre gravitational pull materialized out of thin air.

This gravitational force only targeted souls and had no effect on material existence.

The dragon-man phantom wanted to fly but found the more he flew, the closer he got to you.

"Xi ta!!"

You didn't understand what those two syllables meant, but they were definitely curses.

The dragon-man phantom struggled a lot, using many strange moves you had never seen before, trying to resist the Ten Thousand Souls Banner's pull.

You had to admit, he had quite a few of those slick little combo moves.

He really almost managed to break free from the banner's gravitational pull.

"Little Wan, ah, I give you a chance to earn merit and you can't handle it. I still have to step in!"

You thrust your spear forward, piercing right through the guy.

The dragon-man phantom stared at his soul form, pierced through by a spear, speechless.

"Is this right? Is this how it's supposed to be?"

Souls have no physical form, so why was it getting pierced like a physical body?

The guy was utterly baffled.

"Get in the banner obediently!!"

This guy was both an alien race and a non-material entity, taking the full brunt of damage from two golden-tier traits. He suffered miserably.

"Let me out!! You soul-manipulating evil cultivator! I despise you!!"

"You, an alien race, dare to despise me? Little Wan, I give you three hours. You must dig out all the intelligence in his brain. Shouldn't be a problem, right?"

The Ten Thousand Souls Banner emitted a villainous laugh.

"Jie jie jie! Leave it to me... I have ninety-nine ways to make a soul talk! Heh heh, scream all you want, scream all you want, scream till your throat breaks, you still can't escape! In this banner, I am the heavens!!"

You frowned slightly.

"The villainous flavor is still too strong. Tone it down."