From the very start of the battle, Huang Ze was at a severe disadvantage. Red light flashed in the sky, but the powerful spiritual energy waves around did not affect areas beyond the beach. This was due to Sang Yuan and her believers forming a protective net with spiritual energy to prevent Earth's mortals from being affected.

Ye Fan unleashed more and more fire dragons from his Fire Dragon Sword, with thirty to forty dragons circling in the air. During Huang Ze's defense, his spiritual energy was gradually being depleted.

It was at this moment he realized that the fire dragons circling in the air posed no real threat to him, or perhaps they were mere illusions.

"Daring to mock me!" Huang Ze realized, only when he couldn't dodge and made contact with a fire dragon, that they were intangible projections, capable of harmlessly passing through his body.

Infuriated and embarrassed after being toyed with for so long, Huang Ze no longer cared about anything else. He unleashed his treasured disc artifact, attacking Ye Fan, determined to flatten him into a meat patty—an attack fueled by his immense anger.

However, the fire dragon behind Huang Ze pursued him, but he ignored it. Just as he was within twenty meters of Ye Fan, the dragon behind caught up. The massive flames and intense heat instantly evaporated his outer defensive spiritual energy. It dawned on Huang Ze that not all the fire dragons in the air were illusions; some were comprised of real spiritual energy.

"Ah!" Huang Ze's outer defenses were shattered; he could no longer bother attacking. Instinctively trying to dodge, the fire dragon closely pursued him. Other fire dragons converged on all sides of him. Huang Ze had no idea which were spiritual entities and which were illusions, leaving him unsure of where to dodge.

Ye Fan finally ceased his long-distance fire dragon attacks, instead moving with his longsword to pierce Huang Ze. The air temperature was a scorching several thousand degrees, instantly charring Huang Ze's clothes to ash. With his defenses fragmented, he could only bravely charge through the fire dragons, ultimately getting burnt and scarred all over.

"Bang!" Ye Fan's longsword accurately struck Huang Ze's artifact, the disc, which was flung into the sky, shattering into pieces in mid-air.

Huang Ze's body also fell to the ground, while Ye Fan's Fire Dragon Sword still emitted intense heat. Ye Fan chased him down to the ground. At this moment, the Huangji Sect members, seeing their Sect Master injured, rushed to rescue him, but were a step too late. With Huang Ze heavily injured and grounded, Ye Fan pointed the Fire Dragon Sword at his forehead.

"Sect Master Huang, it seems I've won," Ye Fan said with a calm demeanor, smiling.

"Ah?!" Everyone present was in an uproar.

A rising star, insignificant in their eyes. Even considering the time spent in the secret realm, it was only over half a year. On Earth, it was merely ten days, yet he had advanced from the initial Nascent Soul stage to a level surpassing the mid-Integration stage. As for Ye Fan's current cultivation level, no one present could answer, since even Hua Wu at the mid-Integration stage couldn't use his spiritual sense to detect Ye Fan.

Lying there, closing his eyes and expecting death, Huang Ze opened them slowly and asked, "Why don't you kill me?"

Ye Fan replied, "My duty is to unite the powers of the seven sects to resist the heavenly tribulation. Why would I kill Sect Master Huang?"

"Hmph, even if you defeat or kill me, or even conquer the six other sects, let me ask you, how will you deal with the Diyuan Sect?" Huang Ze spoke with a tone of arrogance.

Yet, at this point, he was merely a spent force, trying to maintain a brave front before Ye Fan. Huang Ze's injuries were no better than Ling Ye's, requiring more than half a year of recuperation.

Ye Fan said, "How I handle the Diyuan Sect is none of your concern, Sect Master Huang. Right now, you only need to tell me if the previous wager is valid!"

Huang Ze was momentarily silent.

The previous wager: if Ye Fan lost, Li Zhaojun and her mysterious backing would serve him. But if he lost, the Huangji Sect was to submit to Ye Fan. He never imagined he would actually lose. Now, with Ye Fan's sword at his throat, his best option would be to take his own life, but he was unwilling. He still hadn't figured out how Ye Fan had advanced so rapidly.

"Huangji Sect..." Huang Ze paused, speaking in a slightly reluctant tone, "will temporarily submit to Young Master Ye's command. I admit defeat wholeheartedly."

Huang Ze spoke as if admitting defeat wholeheartedly, but he only did so verbally. Internally, he was far from accepting this.

Ye Fan stepped forward, looking at the members of the Huangji Sect. Their prejudice against Ye Fan was profound; they wished to kill him rather than submit. However, since Huang Ze was still alive and their Sect Master, they had to follow his words. Those reluctant to comply were also intimidated by the powerful spiritual energy waves emanating from Ye Fan, and dared not make a move.

The Huangji Sect members went up, supporting Huang Ze. Reluctantly, they walked towards the faction behind Ye Fan.

Among the six major sects, Xinghe Sect and Huangji Sect were already gone. Only the Tianxuan Sect remained with the strength to contend with Ye Fan. As for the Garan Sect, Dongjiang Faction, and Anyu Sect, they were similar to the Xinghe Sect in strength. Originally relying on the Huangji Sect to counter the Tianxuan Sect and Diyuan Sect, with both Huangji Sect and Xinghe Sect now joining Ye Fan, they only had two choices: either align with the Tianxuan Sect and continue opposing Ye Fan, or join Ye Fan.

"Sect Master Lu, Sect Master Song, Sect Master Han, what will you choose?" Ye Fan asked the leaders of the three sects sternly.

Ye Fan's intent was clear: those who follow me prosper; those who oppose me perish. If you persist in your ways, it won't be long before those behind me annihilate your three sects!

Sect Master Lu Donghu of the Garan Sect stepped forth, saying, "Our Garan Sect is willing to heed Young Master Ye's command and henceforth focus solely on facing the heavenly tribulation!"

The people of the Dongjiang Faction and Anyu Sect shared the same thought. Clearly, siding with the Tianxuan Sect implied colluding with the Diyuan Sect and opposing Ye Fan in battle. In such a scenario, they, weaker sects, would become sacrifices. Aligning with Ye Fan was simply to resist the heavenly tribulation. Ye Fan's influence wasn't high, and under his leadership, they wouldn't be oppressed too harshly.

Favoring the lesser evil, following Ye Fan was better than siding with the Tianxuan Sect, so they chose to submit to Ye Fan.

Thus, following the Xinghe Sect and Huangji Sect, the Garan Sect, Dongjiang Faction, and Anyu Sect joined Ye Fan. Including the Diyuan Sect, which, without its Sect Master Ling, was being subdued under Ye Fan's orders, the seven major sects in the secret realm now had only the Tianxuan Sect standing in opposition to him.

The people of Tianxuan Sect already felt the pressure. Without help from the Diyuan Sect, Ye Fan could easily destroy them now.

Ye Fan walked forward, and Master Hui Ning stepped out, questioning sharply, "Ye Fan, do you intend to betray and abandon your old masters?"

"Earlier, Sect Master Huang wanted to kill me, and the Tianxuan Sect never considered me as one of their own. How now do you accuse me of betraying and abandoning my old masters?" Ye Fan retorted.

Hua Wu said nothing, while Wu Ding stepped forward, frowning, "Junior Brother, let me call you that one last time. The Tianxuan Sect was once your sect. You cannot act recklessly!"

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