Ye Feng did not inquire about the giant iron gate key from the Shrimp Head Demon and the Black Horn Demon, as their levels indicated they would not possess such an item.
He observed the massive iron gate for a while. A flash of light appeared in his hand, and the Tang Dao materialized. However, instead of striking the rune-covered gate, he retreated a considerable distance.
"The true entrance must be here!"
Ye Feng squatted down, feeling the ground with his hand before nodding to Qiao Ying.
Qiao Ying understood immediately, her figure flashing as she vanished. In just a few breaths, she reappeared.
"Done!"
"Bang~ Rumble~ Bang~"
As Qiao Ying finished speaking, a tremendous explosion echoed from outside. Simultaneously, Ye Feng's Tang Dao slashed rapidly, cleaving the ground open.
Beneath the ground lay a demonic rune formation. Ye Feng was not surprised. He produced a bucket of ultra-pure water and poured it over, washing away a significant portion of the demonic runes. The formation instantly failed...
After a brief inspection, Ye Feng leaped down, with Xiao Xiao and Qiao Ying following closely.
"Big Brother... so many human skeletons... Wait... that's not right... Angelic power..."
Xiao Xiao trailed off, her brow furrowed. Her expression was filled with astonishment, as she discovered that among the skeletons in the warehouse, quite a few emanated the aura of angelic power.
"Big Brother... these are angel skeletons..."
Xiao Xiao turned to Qiao Ying.
"Yes!"
Qiao Ying nodded. "Not just angels... but also many human powerhouses... judging by the arcane energy fluctuations emanating from the skeletons, they are all Diamond-grade or above..."
"So many skeletons... they must have been collected deliberately... as spoils of war!"
Qiao Ying's expression held clear anger.
As she finished speaking, she turned to Ye Feng. "Ye Feng, I..."
"You go ahead! Xiao Xiao and I will look for the Stone of Hope!"
Ye Feng naturally understood that Qiao Ying wanted to collect the remains of the angels. The warehouse wasn't large, and he and Xiao Xiao would suffice for searching for the Stone of Hope.
"Okay!"
...
Soon, Ye Feng, Xiao Xiao, and Qiao Ying were all busy with their respective tasks.
"Big Brother, over here!"
Before long, Xiao Xiao made a discovery.
Hearing her, Ye Feng flashed a few times, quickly arriving beside Xiao Xiao. He immediately spotted a large, square object among a pile of machinery - it was the Stone of Hope.
After a quick inspection, Ye Feng collected the Stone of Hope into his spatial warehouse.
Following this, he began helping Qiao Ying to sort through the angel remains. After all, there were quite a few angel remains here, and they weren't neatly stored but rather somewhat jumbled...
"Speaking of which, Qiao Ying, why did your face suddenly turn red outside just now... Are you feeling unwell?"
Ye Feng asked as he collected the angel remains.
He noticed Qiao Ying's sad expression and wanted to divert her attention...
"Ah!"
Upon hearing Ye Feng's words, Qiao Ying was instantly stunned, her face flushing again.
"The... the Angel Wings... can only be touched by those very close and intimate..."
Her voice became very soft towards the end, and her face reddened even more.
"I..."
Ye Feng felt a wave of awkwardness... He didn't know how to respond for a moment and could only silently increase the speed at which he collected the angel remains...
...
Ye Feng, Xiao Xiao, and Qiao Ying worked swiftly, and in a short while, they had collected all the angel remains in the warehouse.
"Xiao Xiao, what's wrong? We should leave now."
Ye Feng looked puzzled, as Xiao Xiao had been standing before a suspended skeleton, observing it for a while.
"Big Brother... this skeleton... could it be... it be Sister Lin's father?"
Xiao Xiao frowned slightly, speaking slowly, her voice tinged with obvious doubt and uncertainty.
"Wu Ye Lin?"
Ye Feng furrowed his brow slightly. He walked over to Xiao Xiao and examined the skeleton with her. "Xiao Xiao... how did you determine this skeleton to be Wu Ye Lin's father, Wu Ye Long Yue?"
"Big Brother, look at the fingers of this skeleton... the little finger is missing a segment. Sister Lin told me before that her father accidentally crushed a segment with a mecha when he was a child while researching it..."
"And this thigh bone... there's a hole. Sister Lin's father's thigh was pierced by an enemy weapon..."
"And here... Sister Lin's father had surgery on his arm..."
"Moreover... judging by the skeleton, the height and weight of the person who once was this skeleton... are similar to what Sister Lin described earlier..."
Xiao Xiao quickly explained to Ye Feng.
"This..."
Ye Feng knitted his brows. "According to Wu Ye Lin... Wu Ye Long Yue was investigating the disappearance of the Dark Holy Cult... this tall building full of demons, with ouroboros entwined... are the City of Innocence and the Dark Holy Cult related? If so, then this skeleton..."
"Bang! Rumble!~ Rumble!~ Bang!~"
At this moment, a deafening explosion sounded from above the heads of the three. It was the trap Qiao Ying had set earlier with arcane talismans.
"Xiao Xiao, Qiao Ying, let's go!"
Ye Feng glanced at the arcane talismans pasted near the entrance they had descended from. He collected the skeleton, which might be Wu Ye Long Yue's, into a fragment of his spatial rift and then quickly ran in one direction.
"Swish swish swish~"
"Clang~ Clang~!"
Ye Feng's Tang Dao flashed rapidly. In a few breaths, he carved a large hole in the wall, and the sound of wind blew in from outside.
"Xiao Xiao, Qiao Ying, you go first!"
Saying this, Ye Feng's hand flickered. A large pile of military-grade bombs was tossed into the skeleton-filled warehouse.
Through the hole he had dug, he tossed in a remote-controlled bomb.
"Bang~ Bang bang!~"
"Rumble~ Rumble!~"
"Bang~"
Just as Ye Feng and the other two exited through the hole, the warehouse they had just been in was engulfed in flames... The wall of the tall building was instantly blasted through...
Ye Feng, Xiao Xiao, and Qiao Ying did not immediately jump from the height to escape, as the ground below the tall building was now occupied by a large number of demons in neat formation, checking and apprehending everyone leaving the building...
The three of them followed the wall of the tall building, climbing upwards, and soon reached a protruding platform at the top of the structure...
"Big Brother, next..."
"Bang~ Rumble!"
Before Xiao Xiao could finish speaking, a massive explosion rocked the area. It occurred not far from them, precisely at the neck of the ouroboros coiled around the pillars of the tall building.
"Big Brother!"
"Ye Feng, this!"
Ye Feng, Xiao Xiao, and Qiao Ying all wore serious expressions, mixed with surprise and astonishment. This was because the golden flame from the explosion at the ouroboros' neck was pure gold, and within the explosion's flames... there was the unique and powerful pressure of tribulation fire...