Chapter 2280: Chapter 2280 Secretly Equipped
After returning to camp, they immediately handed the Emerald Essence Liquid over to Lin Luoyi for analysis. Once she confirmed that it was free of toxins or harmful effects, she ingested one drop and applied another externally to assess its effects on both cultivation breakthroughs and body refinement.
The others remained patient. To prevent needless excitement, Ye Liuyun held off on telling Qiong Qi and the others for the time being because he was sure he could get more in subsequent trades.
Instead, he distributed the newly acquired raw ores to Qiong Qi and Tong Xin, instructing them to refine the materials. He tasked them with crafting Storage Stones into pendants so every soldier could be equipped with one.
For the Conversion Stones, he intended to forge large-capacity energy conversion artifacts. To aid in the process, he took out his Multipurpose Cauldron, allowing Tong Xin and Qiong Qi to study it for reference.
Additionally, he passed along the Conveyor Formation he had memorized, asking Qiong Qi to research whether they could integrate similar Conveyor Discs into Celestial Cloud Emporium and his army. If successful, it would vastly improve their logistics and supply transport.
The refinement and shaping of the Storage Stones were quickly completed. Qiong Qi and Tong Xin even customized the design, molding them into skull-shaped pendants to match the Dark Legion’s theme.
Each Storage Stone had an impressive capacity. It could store enough genuine energy equivalent to two virtuoso, allowing even late-stage ninth-realm soldiers to maintain their combat strength for extended periods.
However, the Storage Stones refined specifically for Ye Liuyun and his closest allies were far superior. These could store genuine energy equivalent to ten virtuoso, more than ten times the capacity of Ye Liuyun’s original Storage Stone.
Without hesitation, Ye Liuyun swapped out his old Storage Stone and distributed the new ones to the women closest to him.
His friends and commanders also received one, their faces lighting up with excitement at the sheer power and convenience of the upgraded Storage Stones.
The soldiers were even more exhilarated as this was practically equivalent to gaining two extra lives in battle.
Ye Liuyun instructed everyone to wear the white skull pendants close to their bodies, keeping them concealed at all times. He warned them against exposing the pendants to avoid drawing the attention of the stationed military forces in the area.
The entire Dark Legion was now silently equipped with Storage Stones.
As for the Exchange Stones, there was no immediate urgency. Ye Liuyun entrusted Tong Xin with their research, aiming to refine them further—not only to convert energy but to synchronize it with martial practitioners’ genuine energy, allowing for faster absorption in battle.
Meanwhile, Qiong Qi focused on studying the Conveyor Discs, refining their functionality for future large-scale resource teleportation.
Then, Ye Liuyun got word from Man Feng’s scouts that the foreign race had added 100,000 more soldiers to their army.
Along with this intelligence came responses from the three Royal Management. They sought a demonstration of Ye Liuyun’s commitment to an alliance by urging him to march to war.
However, they offered terms—if Ye Liuyun’s forces could eliminate 30,000 foreign races, they would reward him with a mineral vein, and all spoils of war would belong entirely to him.
Additionally, his Dark Legion would not be subject to the command of the allied forces, allowing for independent movement.
The proposal aligned precisely with Ye Liuyun’s expectations, so he accepted immediately.
Without delay, he mobilized the Dark Legion, leading them in a direct assault toward the foreign race’s main stronghold.
Coordination with the allied forces was not in his plans. He did not want to take the chance of showing too much of his actual strength to prospective adversaries.
His decisive and fearless march left even the coalition’s commanders astonished. More importantly, his chosen route of attack would put his forces head-on against the enemy’s primary force of 100,000 troops.
Moreover, this 100,000-strong army was not part of the newly arrived reinforcements. Instead, they were battle-hardened foreign race veterans who had long fought on this battlefield.
The three Royal Managements were well aware that Ye Liuyun’s forces would be walking straight into a formidable enemy, yet none of them made any effort to warn him.
In fact, they secretly hoped that his army would be slaughtered in the ensuing battle, sparing them the trouble of dealing with him later.
Unlike them, Man Feng took a different approach. Upon confirming Ye Liuyun’s route, he deliberately sent men to warn him. After all, they were both of the human race, and he had no desire to see Ye Liuyun and his soldiers wiped out before the battle even began.
At the same time, Man Feng began mobilizing his forces, positioning them behind Ye Liuyun in preparation for a possible reinforcement.
After setting out, Ye Liuyun wasted no time in deploying his puppets to scout the battlefield ahead.
Learning that they were heading straight for the foreign race’s main forces, he did not change course.
After careful discussion, his decision was clear.If they were to fight, they would fight the strongest.
Meanwhile, the ten-thousand-strong coalition army trailing behind was watching Ye Liuyun’s movements with great anticipation. Given their small numbers, many martial practitioners were skeptical. Was this the same army that had previously defeated the foreign race? Or were they merely exaggerating their past victories?
Ye Liuyun continued leading his troops forward until they were half a day’s journey from the foreign race’s main force. There, he finally ordered a halt. Devil Vine burrowed deep underground, ready to ambush the enemy. Meanwhile, Qiong Qi set up defensive Formations around their encampment, reinforcing their position.
At this point, the foreign race also took notice of them.
Astonished by the unfamiliar force, the foreign race studied it for a while before deciding that there simply were not enough of them to pose a serious danger.
With that, they chose not to overprepare and instead advanced at full speed, intending to crush Ye Liuyun’s army in one swift assault.
The moment battle commenced, the foreign race army realized they had made a fatal miscalculation.
At first, they deployed twenty thousand vanguard troops to spearhead the assault. At the same time, the remaining eighty thousand soldiers advanced at a steady pace, ready to press forward once the frontline broke through.
However, just as the vanguard forces were closing in, Ye Liuyun suddenly unleashed his Beastman! In an instant, war chariots thundered across the battlefield, and energy cannons roared to life!
The foreign race charging at the front was mowed down in droves before they could even engage in close combat.
Before they had a chance to regroup, the war chariots surged forward like an unstoppable tidal wave, tearing straight into their ranks with overwhelming force.
The Beastman wasted no time in pursuing the fleeing enemy. With war chariots leading the charge, they tore into the foreign race army’s main formation, throwing their ranks into utter disarray.
Yet, they did not rush into direct combat. Instead, they relentlessly bombarded the enemy from afar with cannons, making it impossible for the foreign race warriors to launch an effective counterattack.
Desperate, the foreign race’s grand commander was forced to use his own soldiers as a human shield, ordering his troops to push forward against the relentless assault. However, just as they finally managed to close the distance, the gilded cannons on the Beastman’s armor ignited in unison, unleashing devastating energy beams that swept through the battlefield. Soon, the foreign races fell in droves, their advance turning into a massacre.
With no other choice, the foreign race commander ordered a portion of his soldiers to hold the line against Beastman, sacrificing them to cover the retreat of his main forces.
Yet, the moment he issued the retreat command, Devil Vine suddenly struck. In that instant, Ye Liuyun hurled the Devil-sealing Stele, its formidable power crushing the foreign race commander in a single blow.
At the same time, the Dark Legion flanked from both sides, storming into the foreign races under the cover of their puppet.
A full-scale collapse ensued. The once-mighty foreign race army of one hundred thousand crumbled.
In just half a day, Ye Liuyun’s forces pursued them across thousands of miles, slaughtering over fifty thousand foreign race warriors.
Only then did Ye Liuyun give the order to withdraw. Devil Vine and the Beastman were recalled into the Spatial World.
The sheer speed at which Ye Liuyun’s forces annihilated the foreign race army caught the three allied armies trailing behind him completely off guard.
By the time Man Feng received the report, Ye Liuyun had already led his troops back to their base.
The scouts he had sent ahead found nothing but a battlefield littered with foreign race corpses. Meanwhile, Jing Yong, accompanied by three hundred Black Armor Guards, was meticulously clearing the battlefield, ensuring no spoils were left behind.
The scouts hurried forward in pursuit, hoping to witness how the Beastman had managed to crush the foreign race army. Yet before they could even catch a glimpse of the battle, Ye Liuyun had already led the Dark Legion back to their base, leaving behind only the remnants of a devastated battlefield.
