As Ye Wan’er explained things for Yi Tianyun, Jiang Yi, who was standing nearby, nodded slightly but didn’t say anything. He had originally planned to step forward and explain things himself. Bringing an outsider in without a reasonable explanation would be unacceptable to their people.

Everyone was on edge right now. Without a clear identity, the chances of being accepted were extremely low. Yi Tianyun’s identity was crystal clear: he was an enemy of the Netherworld Empire and had even killed Li Hao. To them, that made him a friend!

He had helped them kill a traitor and would resist the Netherworld Empire alongside them, which instantly put them on a united front. So, their attitudes changed immediately.

"Yi, I still have things to attend to, so make yourself at home," Jiang Yi said. He then turned to Ye Wan’er. "Wan’Er, why don’t you show Yi around?" As he spoke, he gave her a meaningful look, though it was unclear what he was implying.

Yi Tianyun saw the exchange. ’He’s definitely telling Ye Wan’er to take good care of me, but more importantly, to keep an eye on me and make sure I don’t wander off. That’s the real point.’ An outsider certainly couldn’t be allowed to roam freely. Looking up, he saw that beyond this small area, there were many more houses. In the distance, a towering spire stood, emitting waves of light that enveloped the entire region.

The tower was probably something like the core of a grand array, releasing energy that enveloped this place and kept it hidden from outsiders. Even experts at the Void Spirit Stage, who were stronger than the Core Transformation Stage, couldn’t detect this place, let alone those at the even higher Spirit King Stage.

The Void Spirit Stage was divided into two phases. The first was the initial Void Spirit Stage, and the second was the late stage, which was generally called the Spirit King Stage! Upon breaking through to the Void Spirit Stage, one could call themselves a Spirit King, but to truly become a Spirit King in every sense of the word, one had to reach the Spirit King Stage.

Since the two phases were qualitatively similar, they were categorized together, but the difference in power between them was night and day. The Profound Celestial Spirit King was a true Spirit King Stage expert, and his power was unquestionable.

In the outside world, these two stages were often described with a saying: "Transforming from the void into spirit, one becomes a king!" Only after reaching the Spirit King Stage could one advance toward the even stronger Saint King Stage.

"Wan’Er, what’s that tower called?" Yi Tianyun asked.

"That’s our Spirit Tower. The Saintess and the elders all live there, protecting the entire Spirit Race." Ye Wan’er’s beautiful eyes twinkled as she looked over and said, "I brought back the Jade Spirit Stones this time to replenish the Spirit Tower’s energy. Normally, it doesn’t need many Jade Spirit Stones, but the situation is urgent now. To remain completely hidden, the grand array is running at full power, so its consumption is far greater than its normal recovery rate. But what I brought back is only a small portion. The Spirit Tower needs a lot of Jade Spirit Stones right now..."

Yi Tianyun nodded. This wasn’t unexpected. If that weren’t the case, many grand arrays would have their own Spirit Gathering Arrays. The energy consumption would basically be balanced by the energy provided by the Spirit Gathering Array, so they wouldn’t need many Jade Spirit Stones.

’The Saintess...’ Yi Tianyun’s eyes flashed. ’It seems like it’ll be impossible for me to go over there for now.’

"Yi, look!" At that moment, Ye Wan’er gestured for him to look at her.

When he turned his head, he was met with the sight of an exquisitely delicate face. A few faint Divine Runes adorned her beautiful features. They didn’t detract from her beauty at all; in fact, they gave her an alternative kind of charm.

The crucial part was that her appearance left him dumbfounded—she bore a striking resemblance to Ye Qingxuan! He knew the plain face from before couldn’t have been Ye Wan’er’s real one; this was her true face. The Spirit Race were all good-looking. Since entering, he had seen many handsome men and beautiful women, all with special Divine Runes on their faces. Because of this, if they didn’t use a disguise, they would be immediately identified as members of the Spirit Race when they went outside. The faint Divine Rune markings on their faces were their most obvious feature.

Given Ye Wan’er’s resemblance to Ye Qingxuan, plus the fact that they shared the same surname, there was no doubt they were very likely sisters.

Her real face looked to be that of a sixteen or seventeen-year-old, a bit younger than him. To have reached such a cultivation level at her age, her talent was truly remarkable. The Spirit Race was so powerful because of their astonishing innate talent. Correspondingly, however, procreation was quite difficult for them. It was considered a blessing to have one child; having two was extremely difficult, though not impossible.

"Hehe, are you stunned? This is my real face!" Ye Wan’er said with a grin, her eyes narrowing. "Did I surprise you?"

"I was definitely surprised. Your real face is truly beautiful," Yi Tianyun said with a smile.

"My older sisters are much prettier than me!" Ye Wan’er said, but she was still happy to be complimented. She smiled and added, "Come on, I’ll show you around the area. We can’t go over to the Spirit Tower, but there’s no problem with walking around here."

Ye Wan’er led him forward. As soon as they approached, several members of the Spirit Race surrounded them, looking him up and down.

"Wan’Er, aren’t you going to introduce us? We heard he saved you and even killed that great traitor, Li Hao!"

"Yeah, yeah, won’t you introduce this friend to us?"

The ones who had gathered around were all about the same age, mostly around twenty, with some even younger.

"You can just call him Yi. He’s super strong! He finished off that Li Hao in just a few punches! If it weren’t for Yi, I wouldn’t have made it back!" Ye Wan’er said, waving her small fists as if trying to demonstrate what had happened.

"Finished off Li Hao in just a few punches? He’s that strong?" they all exclaimed, though their eyes still held a hint of doubt. Since they hadn’t seen it for themselves, they didn’t know the real situation.

"By the way, Wan’Er, what was it like outside this time?" they quickly changed the subject, clearly not too interested in the previous topic.

"The outside world..."

They all started chattering at once, leaving Yi Tianyun standing off to the side. After all, everything was just hearsay from Ye Wan’er; the truth of it remained to be seen.

"Okay, that’s enough. I have to host Yi now," Ye Wan’er said with a wave of her hand. "Next time, when you’re all as mature as I am, you’ll be able to go outside too!"

"There you go again, Wan’Er, bragging! Didn’t you just go out with the elders once or twice before? And you call that mature..." They all rolled their eyes and then scattered.

Ye Wan’er huffed, then led Yi Tianyun toward a small house up ahead.

"I live over there. I’ll take you, Yi," Ye Wan’er said, leading him to her small house. After they went inside, he saw that the room was spacious, but it looked like it was meant for two people.

Yi Tianyun glanced over and saw that one part of the room had clearly not been lived in for a long time, yet it was still kept spotlessly clean.

"Is this whole room yours?" Yi Tianyun asked.

"No, that side is my older sister’s... but she hasn’t been back to stay in a long time." As she said this, a hint of disappointment appeared in Ye Wan’er’s eyes.

"It’s alright. She’ll probably be back soon," Yi Tianyun said reassuringly.

"No, she’s really busy now. Ever since she came back, she’s been busy all the time and rarely returns." Ye Wan’er then said excitedly, "By the way, my sister is the Saintess, and she’s incredibly strong! The Spirit Race is safe and sound right now largely thanks to her efforts!"

Without missing a beat, she started singing her sister’s praises again, her pretty face flushing with pride.

Yi Tianyun’s eyes lit up. He hadn’t guessed wrong after all—this Ye Wan’er was indeed Ye Qingxuan’s younger sister!