Chapter 2434: Chapter 2434
Ye Liuyun then ordered Xiao Mulin to hand over that puppet treasure capable of enveloping a person, claiming it as his own.
"I am the Seventeenth Prince of the Holy Dynasty, Xiao Mulin," Xiao Mulin introduced himself proactively.
"I know," Ye Liuyun replied dismissively.
"As a prince, I cannot serve as your servant!" Xiao Mulin insisted, seeing Ye Liuyun’s indifference.
Ignoring his protests, Ye Liuyun immediately activated the slave seal to dominate Xiao Mulin’s soul, forcing him to kneel and address him as "Master."
Just then, the other cultivators Ye Liuyun had captured arrived, witnessing the humiliating sight of the Seventeenth Prince kneeling before him.
Xiao Mulin burned with shame, wishing for death. Accustomed to commanding others, he had never suffered such disgrace. Yet, under the slave seal’s control, even death was denied to him.
"In my eyes, you’re no different from them—just another prisoner and slave. Drop your princely airs, or you’ll beg for death and still not get it," Ye Liuyun warned coldly, leaving him on his knees.
"What is this treasure called?" Ye Liuyun demanded.
Compelled by the slave seal, Xiao Mulin answered obediently, "Master, it is called the Outer Armor."
Ye Liuyun promptly tested the artifact.
Outwardly, it resembled a slightly oversized metal puppet, but its hollow interior perfectly accommodated a person.
Upon activation, the back of the treasure opened, allowing entry. Once inside, the opening sealed shut seamlessly.
Once inside, one could communicate with the treasure through spiritual consciousness, using the metal puppet as their own body for both defense and attack.
Its defensive and offensive capabilities would instantly elevate to the level of a second-tier Heavenly Realm expert.
"This treasure is quite the find!"
Ye Liuyun immediately handed it over to Tongxin and Qiong Qi for further study. As for what they might uncover, he didn’t bother worrying about it. Even if they came up empty-handed, it wouldn’t matter to him.
Tongxin and Qiong Qi, both master craftsmen, had a keen interest in bizarre artifacts like this. The moment they laid eyes on its ingenious design, their enthusiasm flared up.
Meanwhile, Ye Liuyun continued sweeping through the region with Xiao Mulin and the other captives, along with his beast army.
The demonic beasts here would crystallize into demonic cores upon death. Since few could utilize these cores, hardly any martial practitioners—aside from Ye Liuyun—ventured into this perilous territory.
Ye Liuyun methodically cleared the entire beast-infested zone. The "Requiem of the Netherworld" proved unstoppable, allowing him to subdue hordes of demonic creatures.
Even the demonic lion, a beast that had overpowered three second-tier Heavenly Realm experts, fell under his control—thanks to the combined efforts of Ye Liuyun and his doppelgänger wielding the Requiem.
Unable to bring himself to slaughter these beasts, Ye Liuyun had his doppelgänger store them away in a pocket dimension. Even the rocks, trees, and other elements of the terrain were harvested in bulk.
Once inside the pocket realm, these demonic beasts no longer crystallized into demonic cores upon death. Instead, they transformed into standard beast cores.
Still, Ye Liuyun believed that maintaining this beast army was far more valuable than collecting a few demonic cores.
At the very least, during the perilous "Journey of Death," this formidable force would provide an extra layer of security.
Afterward, Ye Liuyun moved on to other regions with his eight captives in tow.
His priority now was self-improvement. Even with the beast army at his disposal, he refrained from relying on them. He also kept the captives at a distance, forbidding them from intervening in his battles.
If he didn’t improve his own strength, he might never find the exit. So his priority remained honing his abilities.
After leaving the demon beast territory, Ye Liuyun arrived in a region that resembled a graveyard.
Stone coffins, tombstones, desiccated corpses, and bleached bones littered the area. Strangely, many of the skeletons had weapons embedded in them.
Most of these weapons were divine-tier treasures—clearly valuable artifacts at a glance.
Ye Liuyun swept the area with his spiritual sense but detected no living beings. However, his attention was drawn to a dagger lodged in a skeleton not far away.
The blade was embedded in the skull of a withered skeleton, yet the exposed portion gleamed under the dim light. Near the hilt, two characters were engraved: "Cold Radiance."
Ye Liuyun stretched out his hand, attempting to summon the dagger with his energy. To his surprise, the blade didn’t budge.
"Huh?"
Puzzled, he examined the dagger with his golden pupils but found nothing unusual. There was no lingering spiritual imprint—it appeared to be an ordinary weapon.
Yet his golden vision revealed that the dagger’s material was extraordinary, unlike anything he had encountered before. If he channeled his spiritual energy into it, this blade would likely surpass even those divine-tier weapons in power.
What the dagger was suppressing, however, was a formidable soul. But while that soul might have been a threat to his past self, it was nothing to his current strength.
Urging his demon wolf forward, Ye Liuyun noticed the beast’s unusual wariness. It took only two steps before halting, its low growls warning of danger.
Seeing its reluctance, Ye Liuyun dismounted and approached the dagger on foot.
"Grrr..." The wolf growled again in warning.
"Don’t worry," Ye Liuyun reassured it. "I can handle this lingering spirit."
Ye Liuyun gave the demon wolf a reassuring pat before gripping the dagger and pulling it out in one swift motion.
"Now this is a real treasure!" The dagger’s weight alone surpassed any blade he’d encountered before, a clear testament to its extraordinary material.
With a casual flick of his wrist, Ye Liuyun sliced through a divine-tier spear embedded in a skeletal corpse, severing a clean section. The cut was so smooth it gleamed like a mirror—undeniable proof of the dagger’s razor-sharp edge.
"Raaagh!"
The vengeful spirit suppressed by the dagger finally regained its strength, letting out a piercing shriek as it lunged straight for Ye Liuyun’s consciousness.
Even the demon wolf flinched at the ghostly wail.
But Ye Liuyun simply allowed the spirit to invade his mind, where the Ten Thousand Gods Token swiftly devoured it.
Silence reclaimed the graveyard once more.
"That’s it?" Ye Liuyun was surprised the trial had been so effortless for him.
Even someone with weaker spiritual power could have avoided danger—if they hadn’t been greedy enough to pull out the weapons.
He summoned his doppelgänger, and together they began collecting the divine-tier weapons from the corpses. These would significantly boost his soldiers’ combat strength—no reason to let them go to waste.
The others, humans and demonic beasts alike, stayed back, watching as the two absorbed the lingering spirits.
Though the conversion wasn’t highly efficient, each ghost they consumed steadily strengthened their spiritual power.
As he walked, Ye Liuyun channeled a wisp of his consciousness into the cold blade, binding it to him.
Only then did he learn that the dagger, named Frost Gleam, was forged from celestial iron—capable of cutting through anything. The blacksmith, recognizing the material’s innate sharpness, had wisely refrained from overcomplicating it, leaving the blade free of unnecessary enchantments.
This simplicity only made Ye Liuyun appreciate Frost Gleam more. He decided to keep it for himself—perfect for assassination missions, where a single strike would guarantee death.
