Chapter 2455: Chapter 2455
The dark assassin was utterly dumbfounded by Ye Liuyun’s display of spatial power. Not only could he teleport himself, but he could also move others—proof that his mastery over spatial energy far surpassed both of theirs.
What was even more terrifying was that every time Ye Liuyun shifted positions, there wasn’t the slightest ripple in space. It was as if he moved without a trace, making it impossible for them to predict his next move.
After swiftly eliminating the two opponents, Ye Liuyun reappeared in the open.
Yet, the two men still clung to their last breaths. With their dying will, their souls lashed out, launching a desperate assault on Ye Liuyun’s consciousness, one after another invading his sea of thought—determined to drag him down with them.
The dark assassin’s heart lurched, silently cursing Ye Liuyun for his carelessness. *If he had just stayed hidden in the void a little longer, those two would’ve been finished for sure.*
But to his astonishment, Ye Liuyun strode toward him, completely unfazed.
"You... you’re unharmed?" he blurted out, eyes wide.
"Of course not!"
Even as he spoke, Ye Liuyun casually collected the two men’s storage rings before tossing their corpses to the nearby beasts as food.
He rifled through the rings, transferring the useful resources into his own spatial world and discarding the rest without a second thought.
"Good, good! Hahaha!" The dark assassin burst into laughter, relief and admiration mingling in his voice.
Then, abruptly remembering the urgency of their situation, he urged Ye Liuyun to leave through the teleportation array before the dynasty and its army could send reinforcements.
"My member name is Liuyun. What about the points—?" Ye Liuyun hadn’t forgotten the matter of his reward.
"Ha! Don’t worry," the assassin chuckled, waving a hand. "I’ll take care of it immediately. You’ll get every last one you’ve earned!"
With that assurance, Ye Liuyun stepped into the teleportation array and vanished, returning to the headquarters of the Dark Assassins.
During the earlier battle, he had realized that his only advantage lay in his superior spatial manipulation and unconventional techniques, which had caught the two opponents off guard.
In a straightforward confrontation—or against someone equally skilled in spatial powers—he might not have prevailed.
Of course, even if outmatched, he still had his soul attacks and the golden-eyed alien third eye as hidden trump cards. But he preferred not to reveal those unless absolutely necessary.
The moment he emerged, an attendant hurried over to verify his identity before summoning Wuhen for confirmation.
"You’re back already?" Wuhen exclaimed, visibly startled upon seeing Ye Liuyun.
He did a quick calculation—Ye Liuyun had only spent just over a year inside.
"Just got lucky, I suppose," Ye Liuyun replied modestly.
Meanwhile, Xiao Qiwu, leader of the Black Killers, spotted Ye Liuyun’s return and sent him a mental message: *"Did you kill the imperial family’s ancestor?"*
Clearly, he had already received a report from the Black Killer operative inside.
*"What? The imperial ancestor? Who? I had no idea!"* Ye Liuyun feigned ignorance, though he immediately guessed that the old man he encountered—Xiao—must have been the royal family’s elder.
It had never occurred to him that a royal ancestor would be stationed as a mere gatekeeper at the secret realm’s entrance.
*"Hah! No matter. That old fool had no ties to our faction anyway. Seems your training was a resounding success!"* Xiao Qiwu chuckled, clearly unbothered by the incident.
Still, he motioned for two elders to follow him as he left the hall.
*"But I’ll have to clean up this mess for you. This isn’t something to take lightly,"* he added before departing.
"So, how much stronger have you become?" Wuhen pressed, eager to hear about Ye Liuyun’s progress.
"I just took out two martial artists at the Heavenly Third Realm!" Ye Liuyun figured the news would spread sooner or later, so he might as well break it himself.
"What? How did that happen?" Wuhen’s curiosity was instantly piqued.
Ye Liuyun gave him a brief rundown of what had transpired outside the secret realm’s exit.
Wuhen nodded repeatedly in approval, clearly impressed by Ye Liuyun’s actions.
*Seems even he doesn’t know Old Man Xiao’s true identity,* Ye Liuyun mused silently.
Soon after, Wuhen escorted Ye Liuyun out of headquarters and back to the Black Kill training grounds.
"Go rest up for now. The intel on your mission points hasn’t come through yet. You’ll probably have to wait a bit—likely needs final approval from the higher-ups," Wuhen informed him.
Ye Liuyun headed straight to his quarters, which had remained untouched in his absence.
But the moment he stepped inside, he froze. Youming, Kuangsha, Tianyan, and Yidao were all lounging there, as if they’d been expecting him.
"You guys...?" He blinked, baffled by their presence.
"Keeping your place warm for you!" Tianyan cut in with a grin.
"Welcome back to the squad," Kuangsha added, chuckling.
"You’ve been waiting here all this time?" Ye Liuyun asked, genuinely surprised.
He’d assumed they would’ve recruited someone else to fill his spot during his long absence.
Youming shrugged. "After working with you, no one else measured up. We tried a few replacements, but none clicked. So we all went solo instead."
"Consider this place our base," Yi Dao chimed in. "We’ll head out for missions when there’s work, and come straight back here to wait for you when there’s none."
"What’s with the silence? Don’t tell me you’ve outgrown us now that you’re stronger?" Kuang Sha cut straight to the heart of the matter, voicing the unspoken worry hanging over everyone as Ye Liuyun remained quiet.
"Of course not! I just didn’t expect you guys to stay unpartnered for so long. But now that I’m back, let’s feast first, then hit the mission board!" Ye Liuyun quickly replied, warmth and gratitude in his voice. The fact that they had waited an entire year without taking on missions to earn points—just for him—was something he deeply appreciated. Even if he no longer needed their help, he would never abandon them.
"Hah! Told you he wasn’t that kind of guy!" Kuang Sha boomed with laughter.
Ye Liuyun grinned. "Time to treat you all to something special. Bet you’ve missed my roasted meat after all this time..."
Amid laughter and banter, they devoured the meal before heading to the mission hall together.
The moment the steward saw Ye Liuyun, he immediately credited him with a thousand points, instantly elevating his Black Killer rank to Level Two.
"What in the world did you do to earn a thousand points the moment you showed up?" Kuang Sha blurted out, never one to mince words.
"Him? Right after surviving the Death Pilgrimage, he took out a royal ancestor and a military commander—both at the third tier of the Heavenly Realm!" The steward couldn’t help but spill the news. After all, word would spread sooner or later, so there was no point hiding it.
"Holy—!" Kuang Sha, Tian Yan, and Yi Dao gaped at Ye Liuyun with undisguised envy.
"Just luck," Ye Liuyun said modestly.
Even the usually composed You Ming shot him an impressed glance before casually picking the highest-paying mission on the board—barely glancing at the details.
"Uh... you can’t just pick at random like that!" Ye Liuyun protested immediately.
The target this time was none other than the master of the Sword-master Manor—another third-tier Heavenly Realm expert. The reward of a thousand points per person spoke volumes about the mission’s difficulty. Worse yet, the task demanded the complete annihilation of the entire Sword-master Manor—no survivors.
