Your interest was immediately piqued, and you abruptly accelerated to follow closely behind.

You realized that immortal cultivators like Ye Youyun weren't just solitary existences, and this one was actually alive!

This sword-flying immortal cultivator was clearly no match for you in strength, otherwise he wouldn't be fleeing so desperately.

Unlike Ye Youyun's remnant soul state, this immortal cultivator was fully intact, and you knew that capturing him would yield more detailed information about Earth Sources and immortal cultivation.

Perhaps this immortal cultivator even had some connection to Ye Youyun.

Li Shen and the other twenty-nine Ultimate Grandmasters gave chase together, creating an imposing spectacle.

You turned your head and shouted to Li Shen, who wasn't far behind: "Stop chasing! Go collect the remaining Earth Sources and hold them for me until I return!"

"Understood, State Preceptor! No problem, State Preceptor!" Li Shen executed an emergency stop, turned around, and flew away.

You turned your attention back to the gray-robed man as a blade light shot from your hand, which he barely dodged by maneuvering his flying sword.

Before the gray-robed man could stabilize himself, your three fierce slashes followed in rapid succession. Feeling a chill down his spine, he hurriedly erected a defensive barrier.

With a sharp crack, the defensive barrier instantly shattered.

The gray-robed man's eyes revealed shock as he pushed his limits to fly even faster.

You had been holding back during those previous strikes, intending to capture him alive.

But seeing that alive capture would be troublesome, your entire body surged with Source Power, startling the gray-robed man who kept glancing back.

Your forty-meter Soul Awakening Blade shone brilliantly as the Life and Death Slash suddenly descended.

With his danger senses maxed out, the gray-robed man abruptly halted mid-air, activating several talismans that instantly enveloped him in multiple layers of colorful light.

BOOM——!!

The momentum of the Soul Awakening Blade pierced through heaven and earth, pressing down with overwhelming force.

The various colored barriers around the gray-robed man shattered in rapid succession like firecrackers before he was sent crashing into the sandy soil with a thunderous impact.

You gathered Source Power mid-air and extracted the gray-robed man from the sand. The half-dead cultivator was already unconscious, and his great treasure sword was also confiscated.

Your Source Power invaded the gray-robed man's body, churning violently within. The man instinctively groaned in low, pained agony until only half his life remained.

You then tightly bound the gray-robed man with formidable Source Power, rendering him completely immobile.

You seized the pouch at the gray-robed man's waist, having witnessed both the great treasure sword emerge from this miraculous bag and the Earth Source being stored inside.

"Could this be the legendary storage pouch?" you examined it with great curiosity.

But without spiritual energy, you couldn't open the pouch.

You thought to yourself: "I wonder if I can put the storage pouch into my space. Normally, spatial treasures can't be placed inside other spatial treasures."

With a thought, the storage pouch suddenly vanished, appearing within your Simulator space.

"Holy crap! Only my big bro Simulator could pull this off—even more capable than me!" you marveled repeatedly.

You felt the Simulator had a certain beauty in managing all your needs—truly invincible except for its inability to store living things.

"If only it could store living beings, I'd pack up a couple of Little Wans to relieve some boredom!"

As you were thinking this, the other Ultimate Grandmasters finally arrived.

Your earlier slash had left everyone trembling with fear, certain that under that strike, they would instantly dissolve without leaving a trace.

"State Preceptor, truly worthy of being number one under heaven!!"

"The State Preceptor's mighty power reigns supreme throughout the universe!!"

The Ultimate Grandmasters showered praises.

You simply smiled faintly: "Keep it low-key, everyone. Stay humble."

Li Shen flew over at that moment, handing you an Earth Source bowl: "State Preceptor, all four Earth Sources are here."

You gave a quick inspection: "Excellent, excellent. You all enjoy yourselves—I'm taking off."

Li Shen quickly smiled: "State Preceptor, travel safely! Come visit often!"

You flew toward the Palace of Ten Thousand Dreams with the gray-robed man in tow.

Along the way, you examined the twelve Earth Sources obtained this time, discovering a wide variety of affinities.

There were two Dui Metal Nature Earth Sources: one was the Flint Tiger Earth Source ranked 21st that Hu Zhongxuan had fused with during the previous simulation, and the other was ranked 7th—Wrong King's Court.

Four Zhen Wood Nature Earth Sources: respectively ranked 6th—Spring Thunder Birth, ranked 8th—Thousand-year Willow, ranked 13th—Abyss-edge Cypress, and ranked 14th—Frost-meeting Blossom.

Two Kan Water Nature Earth Sources: respectively ranked 1st—River of Forgetfulness, and ranked 41st—Churning Cone River.

Three Kun Earth Nature Earth Sources: respectively ranked 3rd—Mountain River Crossing, ranked 10th—Heavenly Summit Snow Mountain, and ranked 24th—White Stone Grotto.

One Wind Thunder Nature Earth Source: ranked 36th—Riding the Wind Ode.

"Damn it! Not a single Dry Metal affinity one?"

You felt extremely frustrated, and could only attribute it to having used up all your luck when six out of the previous seven Earth Sources were Dry Metal Nature.

But fortunately, among these twelve Earth Sources, several offered special effects when fully comprehended.

For example, the Kun Earth Nature ranked 3rd—Mountain River Crossing, when fully understood, allowed moving mountains and transporting stones, manipulating earth veins, helping you detect Earth Sources, and even sensing spirit veins that produced spiritual energy.

"Mountain River Crossing, this thing is amazing! I'll be able to detect Earth Sources on my own from now on!"

You stroked your chin, deep in thought: "As for manipulating spirit veins, I wonder if I could combine different spirit veins into larger ones. That would turn sparse spiritual energy into concentrated energy—no more worries about my immortal cultivation endeavors!"

You traveled while entertaining these visions, and soon arrived back at the Palace of Ten Thousand Dreams.

You landed before the pavilion where the Mysterious Night Sword was kept.

The gray-robed man, who had been unconscious during the journey, had been given a medicinal pill, but your earlier force had injured him too severely—he hadn't woken up and would probably need several days to recover.

You ascended the steps and entered the pavilion.

Since both Ye Youyun and the gray-robed man were immortals, you wanted to see if they were connected.

You tossed the gray-robed man onto the floor, then removed the soul shielding from Ye Youyun.

The slumbering Ye Youyun awakened, his tone puzzled: "Brother Shangguan, I haven't recovered more memories this time..."

Before you could ask if this person appeared in Ye Youyun's memories, Ye Youyun suddenly exclaimed in shock: "Who is he?!"

Noticing the gray-robed man, Ye Youyun became extremely agitated, urgently asking again: "Brother Shangguan, who is he?!"

"Don't get excited. He's an immortal cultivator like you."

Ye Youyun's transmitted emotions were highly excited: "Brother Shangguan! I can feel this person is connected to me, definitely connected!!"

"What connection?"

"Immediately! I'll remember immediately! Something in my soul is resonating with him!!"

You sensed Ye Youyun's soul state was highly unstable, but fortunately, having stabilized his soul over the past few years, he hadn't experienced consciousness confusion again.

You didn't disturb Ye Youyun, letting him rave alone.

You knew Ye Youyun was about to remember something important.

Sure enough, after a bout of frantic babbling, Ye Youyun suddenly transmitted a consciousness: "Living Piles! Both he and I are Living Piles!!"

You asked: "What are Living Piles?"

"Living Piles, Living Piles..." Ye Youyun's consciousness seemed to be murmuring lowly.

After a long while, Ye Youyun's voice became urgent: "Sea Snake Island! Go to Sea Snake Island!!"