At the same time that Seng Yuan started to attack the city gates, the Python Clan and Welkin Wolf Clan had started attacking as well.

At this moment, Ocean of Clouds City was facing a siege from 3 directions.

Yu Wushuang arranged for Chen Dong to lead the experts from the Ancient Sword School and a portion of the cultivators of the city to defend the northern gate, the Dao Order to do the same and defend the western gate, and the forces of the academy and the remaining forces of the city to defend the main gates and face the Steel Ape Clan. Yu Wushuang didn’t abandon the eastern gates as well, and she ordered a portion of the experts from the Dao Order, academy, and Ancient Sword School to split off from the main groups and defend the eastern gates.

…

The main gate of Ocean of Cloud City.

Bang! Bang!

The city gates and walls were trembling violently without end before Seng Yuan’s frenzied attacks.

Yu Wushuang and the others naturally didn’t allow Seng Yuan to just continue attacking the city, and countless experts on the city walls executed powerful techniques against Seng Yuan.

However, despair arose within them.

Because even Saint Rank techniques were of no effect to Seng Yuan. As for techniques beneath the Saint Rank, they were like attacks that could merely scratch an itch for Seng Yuan!

It wasn’t just the cultivators of the city who revealed expressions of despair upon witnessing such a scene, even some of the students from the academy were the same.

They were filled with fear!

Fear had arisen in the depths of their hearts. It was fear towards the man in beast skin, Seng Yuan!

“Can anyone stop him?”

“Even Senior Yunhai perished at his hands. So can anyone? There’s no one left. No one can….”

“He’s simply impossible to defeat. If the city is breached, then only a fate of being slaughtered awaits us. We can’t stay here anymore….”

“You intend to flee? Forget such thoughts. The city has always been surrounded by the mountains of Welkin Wolf Mountain Range. Now that we’re in a life and death battle and coupled with the fact that the wolves hate us humans, so long as you leave the city and they smell you, then I guarantee that you’ll immediately suffer pursuit from thousands of wolves!”

“Then what do you think we should do? That fellow’s physical defenses are simply heaven defying, and he’s practically immune to all our attacks. What can we do? Once the city is breached, what else can we do but wait for death to arrive?”

“That may not necessarily be the case. Haven’t all of you forgotten someone?”

“Who?”

“Instructor Ye!”

Deathly silence suddenly swept throughout the area above the city wall.

It didn’t take long for someone to speak, “Instructor Ye’s strength isn’t bad. But… but there’s a really huge gap of strength between him and Senior Yunhai, right? Even Senior Yunhai wasn’t a match for that fellow, so wouldn’t Instructor Ye be coming to give his life away if he tried to fight that fellow?”

“Who told you that Instructor Ye is inferior to Shangguan Yunhai? Did Instructor Ye tell you that? Or did Shangguan Yunhai? Or perhaps you watched them fight?”

“That…. That….”

“Just think about it. Instructor Ye assumed the position of instructor in the academy at such a young age. Would the dean have allowed him to be an instructor if he didn’t possess some ability? Moreover, I think that Instructor Ye definitely concealed his strength. Perhaps he’s actually a high rank Half-Saint, and he just kept it from us!”

“I think so too. Instructor Ye’s background is mysterious, and his strength is the same as well. There have been many occasions where he was suddenly able to kill his opponent. He definitely possesses some sort of formidable trump card. Or perhaps he has been concealing his true strength since the very beginning!”

“Right, I agree. Perhaps Instructor Ye is actually a high rank Half-Saint, but he concealed his strength for some reason. In my opinion, Instructor Ye wouldn’t be weaker than Shangguan Yunhai at all if he used his full strength!”

“That makes sense. Instructor Ye killed numerous high rank Half-Saints with a cultivation at the Monarch Realm. How terrifying would he be if he used his full strength? He might even be able to fight Saints, right?”

It didn’t take long for word of Yang Ye’s ability to grow as it spread amongst them, and it was even to the extent that they said Yang Ye had fought Saints in the past.

Shang Qingying spoke with bewilderment as she watched them grow more and more excited, “Have they gone mad?”

Yu Wushuang explained, “Shangguan Yunhai’s defeat completely destroyed any hopes they held in their hearts, and it caused them to have no one to entrust their hopes onto. At this moment, they are like drowning people, and Yang Ye is that straw. They are grabbing onto the straw now, and even if they know that it might just be a piece of straw, they are still doing all they can to imagine that it’s a ship!”

Shang Qingying spoke softly, “How sad!”

Yu Wushuang laughed coldly, “Aren’t we the same? Instructor Shang, don’t tell me that you haven’t entrusted any hope on Yang Ye.”

Shang Qingying was speechless.

“Instructor Ye! Instructor Ye, please show yourself….” Someone shouted from atop the city walls.

It was just a single person in the beginning, but it didn’t take long for all the cultivators on the city walls to shout for Yang Ye to show himself.

What was Yang Ye doing right now?

Yang Ye was seated cross-legged in the cave, and the cave itself was deathly silent.

Suddenly, Yang Ye opened his eyes.

Clang!

A soft clang resounded as the space before Yang Ye suddenly shattered apart, and then countless shattered pieces of space appeared around him. Besides the place Yang Ye sat at, the surroundings were covered by a black hole!

That wasn’t the main point, the main point was that the space here actually showed no signs of being repaired!

“So that’s what it is!” Yang Ye took a deep breath and closed his eyes. As soon as he did that, the space around him was instantly restored, and everything returned to normal!

Yang Ye’s heart was calm and clear, and a slight smile curled onto the corners of his mouth as he gazed at the painting within his sea of consciousness.

“The Void Rank, the Void…. It exists yet doesn’t. It’s material yet ethereal. From nothing to something, and then from something to nothing…. The essence, the essence of all things. The laws that govern all things. The beginning and the end of all things…. So that’s what the painting represents….” At this moment, he truly understood what the painting meant. Actually, it represented a very simple principle, and it was the essence of all things!

The essence of all things and the essence of sword intent!

Actually, it was quite similar to the Sword Domain. Both of them stressed upon the essence of things. However, sword intent sought the essence of intent, and the Sword Domain sought the essence of all things. The ‘all things’ here included space, time, life, and everything else…. That was why the Sword Domain reigned supreme above intent and could suppress intent!

At this moment, he finally understood how terrifying the Sword Domain was. He had no doubt that if he understood the essence of all things one day, then he could create and destroy anything and everything within his Sword Domain with just a single thought!

Of course, he was quite far away from accomplishing that!

The world gave birth and nurtured all things, yet it restrained all things as well. Void Rank intent was just like the Saint Realm, and it had transcended the restraints of the world. Saint Realm experts had to enter special pockets of space to fight, and that was mainly because the Laws of the heavens and the earth weren’t able to restore the destruction created by Saints!

Just like the strand of sword intent that Yang Ye had released earlier. Space wouldn’t have been able to repair itself if he didn’t withdraw his sword intent!

Yang Ye opened his eyes and spoke softly, “They say that those beneath the Saint Realm are ants. It should be because cultivators beneath the Saint Realm don’t possess the ability to transcend the restraints of the world. As for those monstrous geniuses of the Central Divine Prefecture who’re able to surmount their realms of cultivation to challenge Saints, it’s probably because they possess intents, techniques, or Laws that transcend the restraints of the world.”

Yang Ye stood up when he spoke up to this point, and then he issued a command in his heart. The space around him was instantly sliced apart, and numerous pitch black spatial rifts appeared densely all around him.

Yang Ye spoke softly as he looked at them, “Perhaps I’m still not a match for Saint Realm experts right now. But at the very least, I can harm Saints with my Void Rank sword intent!”

How huge was the gap between Quasi Void Rank sword intent and Void Rank sword intent?

It could be said that they couldn’t be compared at all!

To a certain extent, Quasi Void Rank sword intent was still restrained by the world. So, its might was limited. However, true Void Rank sword intent had transcended the Laws of the heavens and the earth, and it wasn’t restrained by the world at all. Moreover, it was truly ethereal like the void. Just like this very moment, the surroundings were covered in Void Rank sword intent, but they didn’t make a single sound. If the sword intent didn’t belong to him, then even he wouldn’t have been able to notice it!

Not to mention him, even if it was placed right before Saint Realm experts, they would probably be unable to sense it unless the sword intent was targeting them!

Yang Ye had intended to use the Dimensional Cube to test the might of his Void Rank sword intent, but he gave up on that thought in the end. Because it was completely meaningless. In any case, according to his estimations, it shouldn’t be a problem to slice off some flesh from the Welkin Wolf Demon King if the Welkin Wolf Demon King stood there and allowed him to attack.

In short, he’d obtained great gains during this period. Especially the improvement in his sword intent, it had really pleasantly surprised him. According to his plan, he’d only intended to improve his sword intent through observation of the painting, but he’d never thought about advancing to the Void Rank.

After he attained the Void Rank, Yang Ye immediately absorbed the strand of sword intent that the Unfettered One had given him. This time, it wasn’t difficult at all. In the end, he’d set his gaze on the painting which was condensed from sword intent. After all, his sword intent might be able to grow even stronger if he absorbed it!

However, he didn’t choose to do so in the end. Even though he had no use for it now, he could keep it for someone else.

Suddenly, a wave of fluctuation arose in the space before him. Yang Ye frowned slightly because it was a transmission talisman. Transmission talismans were naturally something that could only complete the transmission with the agreement of both parties. Moreover, the sender had to possess the recipient’s spiritual energy. Because only then could it locate the recipient’s spatial coordinates!

Only Yu Wushuang knew where he was. Because he’d left her a way to contact him before leaving the city.

Has something happened to Wushuang? Yang Ye pondered deeply for an instant, and then he waved his right hand.

In an instant, a voice appeared in Yang Ye’s mind, Yang Ye, Ocean of Clouds City is in danger. Please return quickly to the city!

It wasn’t Yu Wushuang’s voice but Shang Qingying’s instead.

“Ocean of Clouds City? What has that got to do with me!?”