Chapter 2421: Chapter 2421
Ye Liuyun and Qiong Qi had already set off for the Fifth Prince’s treasure vault by then.
They feared that once the Fifth Prince discovered Wei Yan had gone missing, he would immediately move the treasures. Their concerns were justified—when the prince suddenly lost contact with Liao Yunyang, he wasted no time rallying his forces to investigate the hidden cache.
But Ye Liuyun and Qiong Qi had beaten him to it. Riding their swift-winged flying mounts, they descended directly before the cave entrance of the treasure site, bypassing all the dangers lurking in the outer perimeter. The vault was naturally protected by a barrier of savage beasts, but with Liao Yunyang guiding them, they easily dodged every trap along the way.
By the time they departed, their haul was immense. The Fifth Prince and his contingent of martial cultivators and soldiers arrived only to find themselves fending off the frenzied beasts. When he finally entered the cave two days later, Ye Liuyun and Qiong Qi had already raided two more treasure vaults of the Sacred Dynasty, thanks to Wei Yan’s intel—striking it rich beyond imagination.
Better yet, they had disabled the alarms, ensuring the Sacred Dynasty remained none the wiser.
The Fifth Prince’s hoard alone had stunned them—enough supplies to sustain an army of a million. But the Sacred Dynasty’s vaults? Each held resources sufficient for millions to wage war for years.
Ye Liuyun and Qiong Qi couldn’t stop grinning, their hands numb from collecting mountains of wealth.
Still, their swift conquests came at a cost. Over three thousand of their previously captured prisoners perished in the process—and that was with their ability to dismantle the vaults’ defenses. Without Wei Yan’s information, the price would have been far steeper. Some of the formations were so complex that even Qiong Qi struggled to crack them. These were no mere traps—no small group could have plundered such treasures alone.
Meanwhile, the Fifth Prince quickly deduced Wei Yan’s betrayal and alerted the Sacred Dynasty. The empire wasted no time, dispatching elite experts via teleportation arrays to inspect every known treasure site.
The martial cultivators dispatched this time were all true powerhouses, just like Liao Yunyang.
Ye Liuyun and Qiong Qi had finally located the last treasure site in the vast expanse of the starry sky. Just as they were about to descend, they suddenly spotted two figures racing toward the treasure site at breakneck speed.
"Damn it, the Sacred Dynasty must have found out! Someone’s heading straight for the treasure, and they’re strong—too strong for Liao Yunyang to handle alone!"
Ye Liuyun immediately relayed what he saw to Qiong Qi, who was still too far away to spot the intruders.
"Then let’s go down and take them out. Don’t you have that white light that can obliterate them instantly?" Qiong Qi said nonchalantly.
"But what if the Sacred Dynasty realizes what happened and sends more people afterward? We might not have enough time to retrieve the treasure!" Ye Liuyun fretted.
Qiong Qi thought for a moment, then smirked mischievously. "Tell me—do you think they’ll just haul the treasure away once they discover the other two sites have been looted?"
Ye Liuyun slapped his thigh in realization. "You’re right! We’ll wait for them to move the treasure for us. Then we strike, let them deliver it right into our hands, and make our escape before the Sacred Dynasty can react!"
So they waited in the starry void, watching as the two powerhouses entered the grand hall. Only then did Ye Liuyun slowly steer the Swift Swallow toward them.
Once the two emerged, Ye Liuyun stowed the Swift Swallow and advanced with Liao Yunyang, his doppelgänger, and Qiong Qi.
The two powerhouses were startled—no one had ever dared to ambush them before.
"We’re envoys of the Sacred Dynasty! What do you think you’re doing?" one of them barked in warning while the other immediately sent word back to the dynasty.
"What does it look like? We’re robbing you!"
Ye Liuyun smirked coldly and signaled the others to strike.
Liao Yunyang moved first, intercepting one of the cultivators, while Ye Liuyun, his doppelgänger, and Qiong Qi launched a coordinated soul attack on the other, branding him with a slave seal.
"How dare you! We are the Sacred King’s personal guards! The Sacred King will never let you get away with this—" The remaining martial cultivator panicked.
But before he could finish his sentence, their divine souls surged into his consciousness, overwhelming and controlling him in an instant.
Ye Liuyun wasted no time—he swiftly extracted the man’s memories, then summoned his Swift Swallow, stashing the captives into his spatial world.
"Got it! The treasure is on him!" Ye Liuyun called out to Qiong Qi before leaping onto the Swift Swallow and darting away.
Before the vessel could even breach the starry expanse, reinforcements from the Sacred Dynasty arrived.
These powerful cultivators moved with terrifying speed, immediately giving chase into the void.
Ye Liuyun pushed the Swift Swallow to its limits, but the two pursuers clung stubbornly to his trail.
"Let’s see if you can keep up!" He smirked, knowing his vessel had already hit top speed—there was no way they’d catch him now.
Yet the two martial cultivators, aware the treasure was in his possession, refused to give up, doggedly tailing the Swift Swallow despite the hopeless distance.
"Chase all you want!" Ye Liuyun scoffed, unbothered as he continued his escape.
Then, his golden pupils caught sight of a fleet ahead, ships lined up in formation—clearly lying in wait to intercept him.
Without hesitation, he veered sharply, bolting toward a different direction.
But before long, another squadron of warships blocked his path.
Warships alone wouldn’t have worried him much. What gnawed at him was the possibility of martial cultivators lurking within, ready to ambush him the moment he drew near.
One, he might still evade. But if two cornered him at once—he’d be in real danger.
So he adjusted his course again, only to find yet another blockade ahead!
"This is bizarre! Do they already know I’m coming for the treasure?" Ye Liuyun couldn’t help but wonder.
In truth, the Sacred Dynasty had recently suffered heavy losses at the hands of Yuan Hao and Ye Tiandao’s forces, who had been circling the Sacred Land for some time. That was why they had set up these defenses in advance.
Ye Liuyun had simply arrived at the worst possible moment.
"If there’s no way out, then I’ll fight!"
With that thought, Ye Liuyun ordered Pei Yong to deploy the Swift Sparrows.
He didn’t release them all at once—instead, he sent out fifty ships, directing them to encircle the two martial cultivators pursuing him. He also wanted to test how effective the Swift Sparrows would be against such formidable opponents.
Soon, Ye Liuyun’s own Swift Sparrow joined the formation.
With over fifty ships opening fire simultaneously, the two martial cultivators were caught completely off guard. One of them initially tried to fight back but quickly realized the energy cannons from the Swift Sparrows were devastating—only slightly weaker than his full-powered strikes.
By the time he thought to retreat, it was too late. Surrounded by more than twenty Swift Sparrows, he was blasted into oblivion in seconds.
The other cultivator had been dodging from the start.
Though he took a few hits, his solid foundation in true essence allowed him to endure.
But now, escape was impossible.
He was too far from the fleet ahead and equally distant from the Sacred Planet. No matter which direction he fled, he wouldn’t make it in time.
Realizing evasion alone wouldn’t save him, he seized an opportunity and struck at a nearby Swift Sparrow.
The ship was sent spiraling away, its shields failing and propulsion temporarily disabled.
