In the first layer of the Central Heavenly Tower, after Ye Ling was teleported back, he immediately used runes to conceal his aura and modified his soul attributes using the Ink Between.
"Damn it! I knew this wouldn't be as simple as I thought. Fortunately, I had a backup plan."
Ye Ling escaped from the central stone tower and plunged into a primeval forest, hiding himself in the shadows.
As Ye Ling concealed himself, a giant palm smashed down from the sky. The second layer and above instantly shattered. The Overseer, along with a large number of island residents, arrived above the first layer of space.
"Ye Ling's aura vanished in this space. Search thoroughly, he absolutely cannot escape! Remember, he can transform into anything. Do not spare a single blade of grass, a single stone in this space!" The Overseer waved his hand and issued orders in a loud voice to everyone, as if provoking Ye Ling.
"Yes!"
Everyone responded loudly and then scattered like meteors, conducting a carpet search.
Ye Ling, hidden in the forest, watched the searching youths and maidens and couldn't help but murmur, "At this rate, it's only a matter of time before I'm found. Moreover, this space has been sealed, and I can't escape anymore..."
As he spoke, Ye Ling glanced at the Overseer standing in the air and muttered to himself, "Although I had a plan in case A Yun was exposed, the Overseer's current strength is still beyond my predicted limit. If I activate my backup plan now, I'm very likely to fail..."
"I need to stall for more time."
With that said, Ye Ling transformed himself into a grain of sand, hiding in the soil to evade the search.
The Overseer in the sky seemed to be enjoying the current cat-and-mouse game and had no intention of personally intervening, merely observing the space below leisurely from the air.
"Ye Ling, why don't you come out? This space is completely sealed, and you can't possibly escape. Hiding here is meaningless and only a waste of each other's time."
"You have great talent. If you come out and agree to work for us, you might even become an Overseer like us."
The Overseer's voice echoed all around, reaching every inch of the first layer of space.
Ye Ling ignored the Overseer's words, evading the island residents' search while secretly calculating the time.
He had completely lost contact with his divine sense. Furthermore, he couldn't look directly at the Overseer for too long, so he could only mentally calculate when he should make his move.
The Overseer would have countless opportunities to capture Ye Ling, but Ye Ling had only one chance to act.
Once the Overseer noticed the trap Ye Ling had left in his divine sense prematurely, Ye Ling would have absolutely no chance to retaliate.
Moreover, this Central Heavenly Tower had been completely sealed by the Overseer, cutting off contact with the outside world. Ye Ling didn't expect anyone to come to his rescue.
While Ye Ling was waiting for the opportune moment, his living space was compressed to the extreme by a large number of island residents.
In their search for Ye Ling, those youths and maidens launched attacks on everything visible on the ground.
Under the bombardment of powerful spiritual energy from everyone, not even a speck of soil remained on the ground, only void.
The vast land disappeared at a visible rate. As long as everyone destroyed everything visible in this space, Ye Ling would have nowhere left to hide!
In a space of absolute void, let alone Ye Ling transforming into a grain of sand, even if he became smaller than a microorganism, he would be incredibly conspicuous.
Although the runes could perfectly conceal Ye Ling's aura and prevent the Overseer from detecting him, that was only on the premise that the Overseer didn't know of Ye Ling's existence in the first place.
But now, the Overseer knew Ye Ling was in the first layer of space. Once everything in this layer turned into void, no matter how Ye Ling concealed himself with runes, it would be futile.
Seeing that the entire space was reduced to only the central stone tower, Ye Ling knew he could no longer hide. He immediately manifested his form and shouted to the Overseer in the air, "Overseer, I'm not hiding anymore! Let's talk!"
"Finally willing to come out?"
Seeing Ye Ling appear, a trace of amusement flashed in the Overseer's eyes, and the smile on his lips grew more pronounced.
The white-robed youths and maidens around, upon seeing Ye Ling appear, surged towards him like hungry dogs seeing meat!
"Overseer, can you have your pawns stand down?" Ye Ling asked the Overseer as they attacked.
He didn't want to waste his strength on those useless pawns.
"All of you, retreat!"
The Overseer obliged Ye Ling's request and called everyone back, leaving Ye Ling ample space.
Seeing everyone retreat to a distance, Ye Ling smiled slightly and thanked the Overseer, "Thank you."
"You're welcome."
The Overseer landed not far from Ye Ling and smiled at him, "You heard what I said earlier, right? So, what are your thoughts?"
Ye Ling asked the Overseer, "Then, may I ask what benefits there are to becoming an Overseer?"
"Not everyone is qualified to be an Overseer," the Overseer smiled at Ye Ling. "You merely have the opportunity to become an Overseer, but with your current self, you are far from qualified."
"Of course, I can also assume that you eventually become an Overseer... I can only tell you that the benefits far exceed your imagination."
"However, regardless of whether you eventually become an Overseer or not, as long as you follow us, it will definitely be better than following those two, Good and Evil!"
"And..." The Overseer squinted and smiled at Ye Ling, "We do everything according to strict rules and regulations. If you join us, we will not hide anything from you or use you to do this and that like Good and Evil... We will share all truths and secrets with you free of charge!"
Ye Ling smiled and asked, "So the price is for me to become a tool like A Yun?"
"You are different... A Yun is a tool we created. With your potential and talent, you can become our envoy, representing us in missions to various worlds and maintaining order."
"All you need to do is abide by our rules... I don't think those rules will be a restriction for you."
"Without rules, one cannot make a circle. I think you can understand us, right?"
"The way you put it, I'm starting to be tempted!" Ye Ling smiled at the Overseer.
"Since you're tempted, let's sign the contract."
The Overseer spread out his palm, and a black orb of light emerged from his palm and flew towards Ye Ling.
"Ye Ling, I have high hopes for you. Following us, your future is boundless."
"Thank you for the compliment."
Ye Ling took the black orb and waited for a moment.
"Ye Ling?" The Overseer was startled when Ye Ling didn't make a move. "What are you waiting for?"
"Wait..."
Ye Ling's lips curved slightly as he looked at the Overseer and smiled, "The time... is almost here."