The appearance of this golden barrier undoubtedly confirmed Ye Ming's guess.
Someone was definitely manipulating Ye Qingzhu from behind.
However, fortunately, what protected Ye Qingzhu's soul was merely a barrier, not an ancient forbidden technique. Even if it were broken, it wouldn't affect Ye Qingzhu herself.
Conversely, if it were a restriction, it would have been troublesome.
"Then let me see if you can block me."
Ye Ming condensed a trace of spatial power at his fingertip and integrated it into the Ming Hun Technique, preparing to forcibly tear a rift in that golden barrier.
No place could exist without space. As long as space existed, Ye Ming could leverage its power to directly dismantle it from within.
"Break for me!"
Ye Ming's expression tightened. He carefully controlled the spatial power while also preventing any harm to Ye Qingzhu. This balance allowed no room for error.
Crack!
As a crack appeared on the golden barrier, Ye Qingzhu's protected soul was completely exposed to Ye Ming's sight.
"Innate realm technique!"
After breaking through, Ye Ming gained some understanding of the owner behind the golden barrier.
The opponent's strength had reached the Innate realm.
However, just as he was about to examine Ye Qingzhu's soul, the dissipated energy from the golden barrier did not vanish instantly. Instead, it re-condensed, eventually forming the hazy figure of an old man.
Faint golden light flickered around the old man. Although his features were unclear, a general outline could be discerned.
He was slightly stout, holding a string of relics, and his ears appeared somewhat large, resembling a Maitreya Buddha, exuding an aura of厚重 (hòuzhòng - profoundness/weightiness) and serenity.
If the current elder patriarch of the Su clan were to see this person, he might be greatly shocked. For this old man was the leader of the group that appeared in the Su clan over twenty years ago.
"Little fellow! Hello!"
The old man looked at Ye Ming with a benevolent smile, his demeanor warm and friendly.
At this moment, Ye Ming also noticed his presence.
"Who are you?"
Ye Ming stared at him with a grave expression, secretly on guard.
Although the opponent was merely a residual wisp of consciousness, judging by his address, Ye Ming was now one hundred percent certain that the purpose of setting up this golden barrier was not simply to protect Ye Qingzhu.
It was very likely because of him.
The opponent was waiting for him.
At this moment, Ye Ming couldn't help but recall his destined path.
Was this also a part of his fate?
This ignited an unnamed flame within Ye Ming's heart.
His gaze became increasingly unfriendly.
The old man seemed to sense Ye Ming's hostility but paid it no mind. His face remained adorned with a gentle smile as he looked at him kindly, "Little fellow, this isn't the first time we've met, is it!"
Not the first time we've met!
This sentence seemed to act as an accelerant to the unnamed fire within Ye Ming's heart. His eyes turned ice-cold.
"Twenty-odd years ago, was it you who made the Su clan abandon me in the wilderness, to face my fate as destiny decreed, right?" Ye Ming suppressed the urge to obliterate this wisp of consciousness and said coldly.
It seemed that from the words "Not the first time we've met," Ye Ming had already guessed some things.
"You are very smart!"
The old man did not hide anything and directly admitted, "That's right! Over twenty years ago, it was me who told you to accept your destiny."
"Scram! To hell with destiny! My fate, what right do you have to interfere?"
Ye Ming's eyes turned slightly red. He clenched his five fingers inward, and a terrifying force directly restrained the wisp of consciousness. "Do you believe I can kill you right now with just this wisp of consciousness?"
When had a mere ant from the Innate realm dared to act so profound before him?
Ye Ming's killing intent at this moment was undoubtedly the most potent it had ever been.
For it, he would annihilate the opponent's true body, even at a terrible cost.
"This... what power is this?"
The restrained old man found himself completely unable to move, possessing almost no power to resist. This was the first time his expression showed any agitation.
The amicable smile on his face instantly turned into disbelief.
The strength of the young man before him seemed to surpass his understanding.
Moreover, this wisp of consciousness could sense that his current true form was filled with fear.
Previously, he had been fearless because he was merely a wisp of consciousness. Now, it seemed he had miscalculated.
"This... how is this possible?"
At this point, perhaps sensing something, the incredulous expression on the old man's face shifted again, finally transforming into panic and despair.
"What! Your true form wants to sever its connection with you, doesn't it?" Ye Ming asked with a wicked smile.
"You... impossible! This... what kind of means is this?"
The old man was thoroughly panicked.
Ye Ming was correct. Upon sensing his killing intent, the old man's true form had attempted to sever its connection with this residual wisp.
Alas!
It was impossible!
The connection between a wisp of consciousness and its true form was like a silken thread. For the true form to sever this connection, it merely needed to cut the thread.
However, just as he was about to do so, he discovered that the thread was gone.
No!
To be precise, he could not sense the thread's location.
He could sense it, but he couldn't find it.
This was the most fatal aspect.
Coupled with Ye Ming's earlier words, "severing the true form through the wisp of consciousness," this made the true form feel the gates of life and death opening before him.
He... had been targeted.
"Li... little friend! Let's talk things through, please... please don't act impulsively!"
Unable to move, the old man could only try his best to stabilize Ye Ming's emotions. Otherwise, his true form might very well perish.
"Heh heh! Don't be impulsive! Good! Good!"
Ye Ming sneered repeatedly. With a wave of his hand, the old man's silhouette formed by the wisp of consciousness suddenly dissipated, finally condensing into a thread of golden energy, which Ye Ming tightly grasped in his hand.
Furthermore, surrounding that golden energy was a faint layer of pure, unblemished white power.
This was not spatial power.
Nor was it temporal power.
It was... spacetime power.
This was the primordial power of Ye Ming, a Spirit of Spacetime.
It was precisely because of its existence that the old man's true form could not sense the connection with this wisp of consciousness. This was because, at this moment, the old man's true form and this wisp of consciousness were in entirely different spaces and times.
Naturally, the true form could not sense it.
"Good! I'll be waiting for you to come find me!"
Ye Ming's gaze became even sharper, killing intent flashing in his pupils.
He was only controlling a wisp of consciousness, so he naturally could not obtain any useful information. Since that was the case, he would have the true form come in person.
He did not believe the opponent was not afraid of death.
After organizing his thoughts, he looked at Ye Qingzhu's soul before him and, without hesitation, directly accessed all her memories.
Several minutes later.
Ye Ming's index finger left Ye Qingzhu's forehead, his expression clearly showing disappointment.
It seemed Ye Ming had not obtained anything of value.