Chapter 147: Assault from All Sides

At this moment, Ye Jiuyao was still fast asleep in his dreams, completely unaware of the situation outside. Ever since he had attained the second layer of the "Slumber-Devouring Art," his physique had undergone subtle transformations.

Consequently, this deep sleep had left him entirely devoid of any defensive guard.

Yet, the "Slumber-Devouring Art" within his body surged like roaring rivers and mountains, continuously absorbing the vital energy of heaven and earth.

Strangely enough, no one noticed this, not even Xing Lingzi, who claimed to possess supreme prowess capable of suppressing stars with a mere flick of his hand.

Thus, a miserable fate awaited the crowd.

Figures flashed forward through the air, launching minor elemental arts without so much as a greeting, unleashing terrifying bursts of power.

Although many within the Thousand Leaves Sect despised Ye Jiuyao's reckless courting of death, the moment others struck, a good number of sect members still channeled their vital energy to directly intercept the onslaught.

However, they were outnumbered. Some of the attackers were prodigies who had attained the realm of Sages—and not ordinary Sages at that—so it did not take long for a skirmish to break out.

"Daring to strike Senior Brother Jiuyao means making an enemy of our Thousand Leaves Sect!"
"Audacious!"
"If Master says it is allowed, then it is allowed!"
"Precisely!"
…………

Emboldened by Xing Lingzi's presence, many individuals actually had the audacity to usurp the host's role and directly berate the disciples of the Thousand Leaves Sect.

Yet, White-Eyebrow, Cao Zheng, and the others remained silent. Although Cao Sisi and Furious Bear had already sent spiritual transmissions to the trio, the three elders remained completely unmoved, leaving behind only four words:

"Observe the changes quietly!"
……

Just as the elemental arts descended around Ye Jiuyao, a tempestuous barrier of aura suddenly rose up. There was no fluctuation of vital energy whatsoever, yet it was incomparably formidable!

"That is..."
"Such a powerful defense! He was feigning sleep all along."
"Brothers, do not let him off!"
"Indeed! How dare he disrupt our cultivation!"
"…………"

These people lacked any shred of self-awareness. If not for the Thousand Leaves Sect and Ye Jiuyao's innate talent, how could such a figure ever appear in this godforsaken, remote backwater?

Furthermore, this was merely a single district—one that contained countless sub-sub-sub-branches of the Thousand Leaves Sect, alongside numerous other factions.

Perhaps the only reason Xing Lingzi had come was that he sensed the formidable power of the "Heaven-Defying Ruler."

Yet now, these people were attempting to seize control and brazenly press the attack.

"This boy is rather interesting. He actually follows the path of the physical body as well. No wonder he can practice the arts of the Heaven-Defying lineage..."

Xing Lingzi murmured to himself as he watched, deciding to ignore those eager to vent their grievances. Though the chaos stemmed from him, he also wished to temper Ye Jiuyao.

After all, taking him in as a disciple here might give rise to an even more terrifying powerhouse within the starry race.

However, in his eyes, Ye Jiuyao's temperament was far too arrogant. Perhaps this ordeal would serve as a trial by fire, allowing him to be better taught once brought back.

Consequently, Xing Lingzi chose not to intervene.

"I refuse to believe that such a trick can hold out for this long!"
"Exactly! Smash through his defense!"
"Teach him a lesson he won't forget!"
"…………"

Emboldened, the crowd unleashed their elemental arts with even greater might.

"Boom!"
"Boom!"
"Boom!"
……

Successive explosions thundered down around Ye Jiuyao, but that single layer of vital aura barrier withstood everything.

At that moment, Ye Jiuyao was still sleeping soundly.

Yet, the power of his physical body had long since surpassed all else, generating a resounding resonance, a force of nature, and an innate protective barrier.

Countless elemental arts erupted upon impact, striking Ye Jiuyao with the force of cannonballs.

Dazzling lights flared around Ye Jiuyao. The elemental arts struck like artillery shells, each taking on different forms and creating a dazzling array of colors.

Blade lights and sword shadows intertwined, fists and kicks flew, and the majesty of heaven and earth was harnessed and brought down upon him, unleashing terrifying power all around.

"What?!"
"Is this guy even human? Is he a monster?"
"How can his defense be so strong?"
"Look! It's changing again!"
……

The crowd below buzzed with discussion until someone suddenly gasped in shock, drawing everyone's gaze.

The transparent aura barrier surrounding Ye Jiuyao suddenly turned blood-red, and his momentum abruptly shifted and erupted at that very instant.

"Bang!"

A muffled explosion echoed from within Ye Jiuyao's body, sounding like the breaking of some form of shackles.

"What?!"
"He... he... he actually broke through while sleeping..."

At this moment, Xing Lingzi clearly perceived that Ye Jiuyao's momentum had undergone a qualitative change, growing several times stronger than before.

He had leaped directly from the early stage of the Sage realm to the middle stage.

Xing Lingzi was utterly dumbfounded, his mind echoing with the sheer absurdity of Ye Jiuyao breaking through in his sleep.

"Can someone really break through just by sleeping? If this boy becomes my disciple, my starry race will surely endure for another ten thousand years!"

At this moment, Xing Lingzi looked at Ye Jiuyao with burning fervor.

Meanwhile, the crowd below had gone completely mad. They had come to teach him a lesson, but the fellow simply refused to give them an opening. Yet, the senior experts of various clans and sects present could now discern Ye Jiuyao's extraordinary nature.

"This boy is a supreme talent!"
"That aura barrier only changed because he broke through!"
"Wait... he can break through even while sleeping?!"
"What a terrifying talent!"
……

The area below erupted into a frenzy.

When the disciples heard the evaluations of their ancestors and sect masters, their faces turned pale with disbelief, driving them to the brink of madness.

"Is this brat sick in the head? He can break through while sleeping?"
"Then doesn't that mean all our bitter cultivation over the years has been for nothing?"
"Heaven is truly unfair! How dare this brat do such a thing?!"
"How can such a person exist? He can cultivate and break through in his sleep..."
"Does that mean he can cultivate while eating too...?"
…………

A wave of lamentations and complaints swept through the crowd, everyone wearing expressions of utter despair.

As for White-Eyebrow and the other two, they broke into beaming smiles. Naturally, they were thrilled to see Ye Jiuyao break through; the stronger their sect's disciples were, the better equipped they would be to lead the sect to its peak.

Thus, the crowd's gaze toward Ye Jiuyao shifted entirely.

Yet the person at the center of attention was still fast asleep, completely oblivious to the roaring uproar his slumber had caused outside.

Cao Sisi covered her mouth in shock, her expression tinged with a deeper sense of helplessness and exhaustion.

At that moment, she felt as though the distance between herself and that youth had grown even wider.

As time passed, the murmurs of the crowd gradually subsided, and Ye Jiuyao slowly began to wake.

Rubbing his sleep-heavy eyes, he looked down at the crowd below, a look of utter bewilderment on his face.

For the people below were staring at him with expressions of stupefaction, astonishment, fury, and a complex myriad of other emotions.

"Uh... hello everyone!"

Ye Jiuyao greeted the crowd below with a blink.

The crowd, however, was momentarily too stunned to react. This was supposed to be the peerless genius they had just been talking about—why was he so utterly different from what they had imagined?

And yet, what Ye Jiuyao did next would shock them even further.