The girl Shen Yan encountered seemed totally unaware of someone nearby watching her. Soon, the girl disappeared right there.

Even though Shen Yan tried with all her might to see, she couldn’t figure out how the girl left; it just felt like she suddenly vanished. Even if she wanted to track the girl’s movements, she had no idea where the girl had gone.

"What’s going on?" Shen Yan wasn’t too cautious, emerging from her hiding spot. In her opinion, her spiritual power had completely sealed the direction by the sea earlier, so the girl shouldn’t have been able to leave unnoticed. It was as if it was all an illusion.

Once she came out, she realized she may have exposed herself.

Sure enough, a mysterious woman’s voice came from her side-rear: "You’ve been watching me. Who are you?"

Glancing sideways at the girl, Shen Yan thought the girl looked extremely beautiful, a beauty that felt somewhat unreal. Once she confirmed this was the girl she had seen, she didn’t think it was overly dangerous and said: "I’m just passing by, saw you descend from the sky, got curious and wanted to take a look. Are you... also a cultivator?"

The girl frowned at Shen Yan, eyes seemingly filled with hostility. After a while, the girl said: "I don’t know who you are, but I know you’re dangerous to me. If you don’t reveal your true identity, I might kill you! I don’t want anyone to know about my whereabouts and origin!"

"Why would you want to kill me? I’m no threat to you, and I promise not to disclose seeing you!" Shen Yan said, "Let’s put it this way; my name is Shen Yan, and I’m a cultivator... does this count as revealing my identity?"

The girl looked at Shen Yan for a long time and said: "How do I know if you’re lying to me? Humans aren’t honest creatures; you use lies to disguise yourselves and don’t feel ashamed about your lies. I can’t tell whether you’re speaking the truth or lying!"

Shen Yan felt speechless and said: "If you don’t believe me, there’s nothing I can do. If you want to kill me, I won’t sit back and wait to die! But if there’s nothing else, I’d like to leave. Let’s just consider this a chance encounter; we’ve never met..."

In Shen Yan’s view, this girl was unreasonable, criticizing humanity while she thought: "Aren’t you also a human girl? Criticizing human nature is essentially criticizing yourself!"

Just as Shen Yan was about to leave, the girl said: "Leaving? It’s not that easy. I won’t let you leave..."

As she spoke, Shen Yan felt all the spiritual energy in her body drained instantly. She wanted to resist but found her body rigid in place. She wanted to struggle, but ultimately it was futile. She wanted to shout, but couldn’t; wanted to send a message of her captivity, but was powerless.

The girl’s voice continued: "As expected, the same situation I encountered with humans before, using this so-called spiritual energy to attack others, thinking they’re so remarkable, but in reality, it’s just the law of the jungle, using superior cultivation to bully the weak. Not a heroic act at all, but whatever, I won’t let you continue your savagery. From now on, you are my captive. What I say now is your command. If you don’t obey, I’ll kill you..."

Shen Yan wanted to curse at the girl, but she was completely controlled, unable to speak. At this moment, she sensed a fluctuation in spiritual energy from afar, indicating other cultivators might be approaching.

The girl looked up and said: "This is a secret realm. I’d better be cautious in my actions. Human woman, don’t say I’m bullying you; I just don’t want anyone to discover my existence..."

As the girl finished speaking, all the surrounding spiritual energy vanished, and Shen Yan felt herself plunged into darkness.

All she could think was that she had been kidnapped, maybe by aliens.

...

...

The news of Shen Yan’s disappearance quickly reached Ye Fan.

In fact, Ye Fan didn’t need to investigate specifically, because he could feel the bond between him and Shen Yan being forcibly severed. 𝕗𝕣𝐞𝐞𝘄𝐞𝚋𝚗𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹.𝚌𝕠𝚖

In an instant, he appeared where Shen Yan had once been, which was also where she disappeared. Unfortunately, no useful clues were left around. Ye Fan could only sense that the power he had planted, akin to a seed source, on Shen Yan had suddenly vanished here.

"Strange, what happened to Yanyan?" Ye Fan was puzzled.

Soon, many cultivators arrived at the scene. Shen Yan’s disappearance wasn’t a secret among the cultivators, since she didn’t know how to manage the spiritual energy within her body, leaving her detectable by the surrounding experts wherever she went.

And after her spiritual energy suddenly vanished, even the ordinary cultivators knew Shen Yan was missing. When they arrived, they saw Ye Fan standing there. Although not everyone knew Ye Fan personally, they recognized based on his cultivation they couldn’t afford to offend him.

"Alliance Hierarch Ye, are you here?" A cultivator approached, specifically someone from the Earth Primordius Sect among the seven great sects.

The Earth Primordius Sect was traditionally at odds with the other six sects, and its main forces were still confined in Sky City. Since attending Ye Fan’s wedding, he kept all members of the seven sects there, fearing issues upon their return.

Ye Fan surveyed the few people, then glanced at the approaching cultivators from afar.

He calculated briefly, considering these people’s cultivation. Even defeating Shen Yan might be a challenge; making her vanish into thin air seemed near impossible.

"Alliance Hierarch Ye, any orders?" A cultivator asked.

"I’m investigating matters here; this is none of your business. You can leave. I don’t want anyone interfering!" Ye Fan said coldly.

Though reluctant, the surrounding cultivators knew Ye Fan’s cultivation had reached a point where he could destroy them instantly. None dared to challenge him, and they quickly left, not wishing to provoke his wrath.

Once they disappeared, Ye Fan closed his eyes, feeling the changes in the surrounding forces. Sadly, he still found no clues.

The fact remained that Shen Yan had vanished from the surrounding space, and even now, he couldn’t fully comprehend how. Yet, he was certain her powers were seemingly bound by some strong force.

"Could there be a new force in this world I’m not aware of, enough to leave me clueless?" Ye Fan frowned deeply, feeling tremendous pressure.