Chapter 2405: Chapter 2405
By the time Youming and the others had finished off their opponents and glanced over, the martial artist’s corpse had already vanished. None of them saw how the doppelganger had killed him, only sensing a powerful surge of energy rushing past.
To be thorough, Ye Liuyun released the Demon Vine as well, instructing it to scour the underground for any hidden experts.
Sure enough, beneath the trees where Kuangsha and Yidao were hanging, the Demon Vine discovered another lurking figure and immediately coiled around him.
The martial artist struggled briefly, blasting away the loose soil on the ground.
In an instant, Ye Liuyun and his doppelganger arrived through spatial overlap, launching a soul attack to probe his memories.
Only after extracting the information did they consume his soul, leaving the corpse for the Demon Vine to claim.
By then, the battle was nearly over. Youming and Tianyan widened their eyes at the sight of the Demon Vine.
Ye Liuyun quickly ordered the Demon Vine to shrink back into its seed form rather than taking human shape, swiftly stowing it away.
The other creatures were in their beast forms, so it didn’t matter if Youming and the others saw them.
Once all the enemy soldiers had been wiped out by the demonic beasts, Tianyan moved to free Kuangsha and Yidao, but Ye Liuyun stopped him.
First, he and his doppelganger released their souls, invading Kuangsha and Yidao’s consciousness to inspect their spiritual imprints.
The equal contracts they had previously signed had already been erased.
Ye Liuyun surmised that the two had been forcibly bound by contracts earlier. But since the two powerful figures who imposed them had been slain by him, the contracts had naturally dissolved.
He unsealed the duo’s suppressed true energy, allowing them to recover on their own.
Meanwhile, he had his doppelganger and the demonic beasts clean up the battlefield, collecting all the corpses. Only three Black Kill members were left outside, sent ahead to scout the path from a distance.
Ye Liuyun had just finished making all the arrangements when Tianyan seized the opportunity to ask, "What was that vine thing earlier?"
"It’s called a Demon Vine—just a type of plant," Ye Liuyun replied, deliberately keeping the truth vague.
Meanwhile, Youming seemed more intrigued by the three individuals. "Were those three from the Black Killers?"
Ye Liuyun nodded. "Yeah. I subdued them during a mission."
"You’re really something," Youming remarked with a grin. "Even your beasts are rare finds—Vermilion Bird, Vespera, White Tiger, Thunder Dragon, Stone Ape... All you’re missing is an actual dragon!"
Ye Liuyun merely smiled to himself, thinking, *If only you knew I do have a real dragon—just didn’t dare summon her to avoid scaring you all.*
Before long, Kuangsha and Yidao gradually regained consciousness. Seeing Youming and Ye Liuyun by their side, they immediately knew they were safe.
"Damn it! I got careless—never expected an ambush here. Sorry for the trouble," Kuangsha blurted out, rubbing his head in frustration.
"Just be more careful next time," Youming said calmly. "But I suspect even if the guards outside didn’t know, Xiao Muyu inside this secret realm must be aware by now."
She wasn’t upset, only reminding everyone to stay vigilant to avoid falling into another trap.
"And we might run into danger on our way out," Ye Liuyun added.
"This is all my fault! When we leave, I’ll cover you—you guys retreat first!" Kuangsha insisted, still full of remorse.
"Don’t worry, we’ll figure it out," Ye Liuyun reassured him. "First, you two should renew your equal-partner soul contracts so we can stay in touch. Then we’ll relocate to recover—we can’t stay in one spot for too long."
Following his suggestion, Kuangsha and Yidao reestablished their spiritual pacts. Youming left a Xenocide Wolf to carry the still-recovering duo as they moved to a new location, ensuring no other strong adversaries would track them down.
While the others were recuperating, Ye Liuyun shared the intelligence he had uncovered with You Ming and Tian Yan.
"The natives here are at a similar cultivation level as us, but martial artists who’ve reached the Second Heavenly Layer are extremely rare. The plan is to control the tribal leaders, turning them into tools for the Sacred Dynasty to plunder resources. First they’ll exhaust the natives, then wipe them all out!"
"Despicable!" You Ming suddenly spat out through gritted teeth, her eyes flashing with anger.
Ye Liuyun glanced at her before continuing, "Apart from the ambush party stationed here, the rest have already headed toward the northern tribal settlements. Xiao Muyu has a Second Heavenly Layer ferocious beast by his side—a powerful goshawk. Of the dynasty’s forces, two Second Heavenly Layer experts remain from the original envoy, plus two more hiding among the thousand Imperial Guards who’ve concealed their true strength."
He methodically relayed all relevant information obtained from his mental probe. However, he withheld certain details. Within the captured expert’s consciousness were indeed clues about a treasure location—one that shocked Ye Liuyun, for it pointed to the very sea region he and Qiong Qi had once visited. According to the memories, the treasure lay on a distant island far from shore.
Yet these were merely unverified rumors. The Sacred Dynasty had numerous so-called treasure sites—some genuine, many traps. Those foolish enough to pursue them seldom returned alive.
He resolved to investigate personally after completing their current mission. Bringing You Ming along would be too dangerous; for such uncertain leads, solo reconnaissance made more sense.
After strategizing, Ye Liuyun recalled one of the Black Kill assassins, instructing him to pursue Xiao Muyu via skyship. As precaution, he erased all identifying memories from the assassin’s mind and confiscated his insignia, ensuring no traces would remain if captured.
Half a day later, Ye Liuyun’s group boarded another skyship to follow the decoy. Before departure, he had his doppelganger separate from them under the concealment of an invisibility cloak.
After Ye Liuyun departed, the clone released the Swift Swallow and soared into the starry sky to survey the entire island.
The island was roughly the same size as Outpost Island—fairly large by any measure—yet its population was sparse, with most inhabitants clustered in the central and northern regions.
The remaining areas were largely overrun by ferocious beasts, a testament to the island’s thriving natural environment.
Just then, the clone suddenly noticed a brilliant flash of light at the intersection of the northern, central, and eastern zones.
Given that the radiance was visible even from the starry heights, the intensity of the glow on the ground must have been staggering.
*What was that?* The clone immediately steered the Swift Swallow into a rapid descent to investigate.
As the mechanical bird drew closer, Ye Liuyun realized the source of the light was an altar.
Atop the altar sat a stone pedestal—likely the origin of the earlier flare.
Though several formidable cultivators surrounded the pedestal, none of them could have unleashed enough energy to produce a glow visible from such a distance.
Then, the top of the altar slowly slid open, and the stone pedestal descended before the platform sealed shut once more.
Not wanting to alert the powerful figures below, the clone swiftly guided the Swift Swallow back into the starry expanse. His guess? They had just concealed some kind of treasure.
Perhaps they had already detected Xiao Muyu’s approaching army and were taking precautions to safeguard their prize.
