Once on the verge of extinction, the Evil Spirit Race suddenly rose to power, suppressing many divine races and dominating various species. It was truly unbelievable.
If they had achieved this solely through their own efforts, Yi Tianyun would never have believed it. Reaching this level of achievement was impossible, especially in such a short time!
Therefore, he could only guess that they had some backing, like a powerful supporter from a Four-Grade Divine Realm, allowing them to act with impunity in the Three-Grade Divine Realm.
It seemed that the Evil Spirit Race intended to dominate the entire Mortal Realm. Their main goal was to collect cores, and devouring other races was a secondary objective.
"Could the cores have some undisclosed use?"
Yi Tianyun frowned. Cores were indeed valuable, used to forge weapons and aid cultivation. But the Evil Spirit Race's desire to seize every core seemed suspicious.
Even though it felt off, he couldn't pinpoint the issue because he didn't know their exact plans.
Ji Shui Lian and the others were heavy-hearted. They had hoped for a joyful reunion, but now it seemed they had more work to do. They were completely unaware of their companions' current situation.
"I wonder how Elder Ji Yu and the others are doing..." Ji Shui Lian and her companions were filled with worry. Given the situation, how could they not be?
All clues had been cut off, and they had no idea where to regroup. The predetermined meeting place was now empty, meaning they had lost contact.
As for communication tokens, they were not omnipotent. Beyond a certain distance, they couldn't transmit messages. They were only effective within the same region, but anything further was challenging.
"Damn it, the communication token isn't working!" Ji Tianze clenched his token tightly. They had all tried to make contact, but to no avail, indicating that the distance was too great or they were being imprisoned.
These were all possibilities, but they hoped for the former. Judging by the battle traces, it seemed they had managed to escape.
"Now, we can only try to find them randomly by searching other divine realms. They should be in one of the free divine realms; we just don't know which one," Elder Ji Yue suggested, thinking of the "stupid" method of traveling to another divine realm and attempting to use the tokens there.
If they succeeded, it would mean their companions were in the same region, making the search much easier. Although it was a slow process, it was their only option.
As they were filled with worry, Yi Tianyun noticed something in the corner of the room. He reached down and wiped a bit of blood from the ground. "This should be your people's blood," he said.
Spirit Race blood was easy to identify. It wasn't dark red or black but a faint platinum color, radiating a holy light.
"Yes, but we don't know whose blood it is," Ji Shui Lian said worriedly.
"Regardless of who it belongs to, I think we can find them soon," Yi Tianyun smiled, quickly putting the blood into the Evil Spirit Roulette.
As the Evil Spirit Roulette began to spin, a guiding force appeared. This device was truly useful and an excellent tool for locating people!
"Really?" Ji Shui Lian's eyes lit up, remembering how Yi Tianyun had helped them find others before and this time seemed just as promising.
Elder Ji Yue and the others were puzzled, not understanding what Yi Tianyun meant. Could he really find their people with just a bit of blood?
"We have a lead," Yi Tianyun said sharply. "They're hiding here, within this divine realm."
With that, he flew deeper into the area, following the guiding force. Elder Ji Yue and the others, though confused, followed him.
Yi Tianyun arrived at a passageway and, after looking around, stood in front of a wall, tapping on it. "They're behind this; there should be a hidden passage."
They were all amazed. Could he really detect such things?
Elder Ji Yue walked up and tapped on the wall but felt nothing unusual.
"I can't sense anything. The one who set this up was Elder Ji Yu. Without her instructions, we can't open it," Elder Ji Yue shook her head.
"In that case, I'll break through the wall," Yi Tianyun said, examining it closely. Activating his Eye of Insight, he scanned the entire surface.
Moments later, he started tapping rapidly on specific spots. Each touch made a faint golden glow appear. Soon, the lights connected, forming a light array.
"He found the divine imprint?"
They were stunned. Yi Tianyun had found not only the hidden divine imprint but also its weak points.
After locating the weak spot, he punched it hard. With a loud bang, the wall cracked open, revealing a passageway.
Seeing the passage, they looked at each other in shock. They hadn't expected a hidden tunnel to be there.
"Let's go," Yi Tianyun gestured for them to follow him down the passage.
It seemed they had prepared for this, using the hidden tunnel to help their people escape and leaving a false trail to mislead the Evil Spirit Race. The plan worked to make the enemy think they had fled, preventing further searches here.
As they descended, a sudden burst of light surrounded them, forming a lethal divine imprint array that aimed to kill them.
"It's the Absolute Spirit Array!" Elder Ji Yue didn't defend but shouted, "Elder Ji Yu, it's us, we've returned!"
As soon as she spoke, the array vanished, revealing a pale-faced Spirit Race member at the end of the stairs.
"Elder Ji Yue!?" It was Elder Ji Yu, looking severely injured.
Seeing Elder Ji Yu, they were overjoyed and quickly ran down. Following them, Yi Tianyun saw a group of wary Spirit Race members, only a few hundred in total.
The numbers were small, just like when he first met Ye Qingxuan and her people. Many were scattered, some were captured, and due to the difficulty in reproduction, having even a few hundred was fortunate.