As two eerie emerald glows flashed before Ye Ming's eyes, the environment around him began to change. The dim sky was replaced by streaks of dark green flames, and the air temperature rose exponentially. The entire world seemed to be burning.
"An illusion?" Ye Ming observed the shifting surroundings, finding neither the old man nor Nangong Qianyu and the others. It was clear he had been forcefully pulled into a mental realm.
"If it were any other time, I might indulge you. But right now, I have no such interest!" He felt the approaching emerald flames, their dreadful heat attempting to fray his nerves, as if coaxing him to believe it was all real.
"Unity of reality and illusion, evolve the world!" Ye Ming saw the burn marks on his arm and instantly grasped the essence of this world. The old man's technique was not merely a simple illusion. The world was evolving, but the destructive power within it was undeniably real. Any injury sustained within this realm would inflict equivalent damage on his physical body.
"I won't give you a chance to escape!" With this understanding, Ye Ming closed his eyes briefly. When he reopened them, two sets of mysterious runes intertwined in his pupils, emitting a dazzling starlight akin to the moon, piercing through to the origin of this world.
"Found you!" Ye Ming looked up at one of the dark green flames. He brought his fingers together, and a force capable of rending space instantly shattered the flame.
*Bang!*
The core of this world disintegrated, and all surrounding scenery began to fragment. The terrifying temperature gradually returned to normal as the flames vanished.
However, by the time Ye Ming's consciousness returned to reality, the old man had already disappeared from the Ye Chuan mansion. Although less than ten seconds had passed, for a Source Soul Realm cultivator, that was ample time to escape far away. Ye Chuan Shagong and the others were naturally unable to stop him.
"Just let him run like that?" Ye Chuan Shagong clenched her fists, her beautiful eyes filled with evident frustration. A sense of unprecedented powerlessness washed over her. If only her strength were slightly greater, perhaps she could have held the old man back for a few seconds, preventing his easy escape. "I want to become stronger!" she thought, gazing at the young man in the distance, her desire for power surging intensely.
Beside her, Nangong Qianyu's expression also darkened. Compared to Ye Chuan Shagong, she was no less impacted. This feeling of being a bystander, unable to offer any assistance, was not a new experience for her. Her silence did not mean she was indifferent.
Yet, these two women, both possessing an indomitable spirit, seemed to have overlooked one crucial fact. How long had they been practicing the path of immortal cultivation? At most, not even a month. And their opponent was a genuine Source Soul Realm cultivator! If they could pose a threat to such a cultivator within a month, it would truly defy the heavens, leaving countless devoted cultivators who toiled diligently in despair. Therefore, neither of them needed to blame themselves for being unable to help at present.
Besides, could the old man truly escape? Ye Ming believed that thinking so was too naive. "If a mere Source Soul Realm cultivator could escape my grasp, I'd have no face left!" Ye Ming sensed the residual energy of the old man's departure. He extended his five fingers and clenched them fiercely.
"Reverse!" The moment his fingers closed, Ye Ming exuded an ancient aura. This presence directly imprisoned the surrounding spacetime. Yes, spacetime itself was frozen, not just space and time independently. Furthermore, under Ye Ming's forceful intervention, the trapped spacetime began to flow backward.
Gradually, a blurry figure materialized in the distance, appearing before Ye Ming and the others as if replaying scenes in reverse. Strangely, only the human figure was flowing backward. Fallen leaves, for instance, did not return to their branches under the influence of spacetime. From beginning to end, only the forcibly retrieved figure was affected by the temporal inversion. To be more precise, the spacetime Ye Ming reversed was solely personal; other objects were unaffected. Such a technique was truly unfathomable. Time-Space Spirit! Truly terrifying!
"I... how can I be here! I clearly already..." The old man floated in the air, his mind in utter chaos. Not long ago, he had escaped to several thousand meters away, only to be bound by a mysterious force, utterly incapable of resistance. Subsequently, his mind went blank. He could only vaguely perceive the scenery constantly shifting, and when he regained consciousness, he was already back in the Ye Chuan mansion.
"I... this is... Ye... Ye Chuan mansion!" Seeing Ye Ming and the others, a wave of dizziness washed over him. Everything before him was too surreal.
*Bang!*
Losing control of his body, he, a powerful cultivator of the Source Soul Realm, plummeted from the sky, landing face-first. His nose was nearly broken from the impact.
"Ah!" This fall brought him back to his senses somewhat, the sharp pain jolting him. Although he still didn't fully understand what had happened, he realized one thing: he had been captured.
"This time, I will not give you any chance to escape!" Ye Ming lightly stepped on the ground, a flash of white light instantly sealing off the entire space. With the old man's strength, escaping again was impossible.
"How... how did you bring me back?" The old man stood up again, his heart sinking to the bottom as he felt the sealed surroundings. However, his most pressing question was how he had returned.
"I am under no obligation to answer your questions!" To avoid further complications, Ye Ming had no intention of exchanging pleasantries. He pressed down with his hand, and an oppressive aura instantly crushed the old man, slamming him to the ground once more.
"Ah!" Facing Ye Ming's merciless assault, the old man could not muster the slightest resistance. Under the terrifying pressure, he felt as if all his bones were about to shatter.
"Spare... spare my life!" the old man pleaded desperately. However, Ye Ming, now truly angered, had no intention of using gentle methods.
"Ming Hun Technique!" He intended to search directly. He found no restrictions within the old man's sea of consciousness, leaving him uninhibited. But the moment he infiltrated the old man's mind, the space he had previously confined was forcefully shattered.
*Bang!*
"Presumptuous!" Following this was a roar of fury.