Chapter 2494: Chapter 2494
"It’s me!" Ye Liuyun knew he had been recognized, yet his expression remained impassive as he continued striding forward.
The soldiers blocking his path immediately drew their spears, ready to intercept him.
"Kill them," Ye Liuyun commanded indifferently to the Black Kill Elder behind him.
In a blur of motion, the elder appeared beside the soldiers. A flash of white light from his dagger—and the heads of the obstructing men tumbled to the ground. With a surge of his inner energy, he sent the corpses and severed heads flying, clearing a path for Ye Liuyun.
Other soldiers hesitated, poised to charge.
"Get out of the way, now!" Luo Yongsheng suddenly shouted. Seeing the men still frozen in shock, he cursed in frustration, "You idiots! I said move aside!"
Finally snapping to attention, the soldiers hastily parted.
Ye Liuyun walked past without so much as a glance. The Black Kill Elder silently returned to his position behind him, following with reverent deference.
"Mr. Ye, these fools were blind to your presence. My deepest apologies!" Luo Yongsheng bowed deeply, his voice laced with deference.
But Ye Liuyun didn’t even turn his head as he tossed back a warning: "Follow me again, and you die."
"Y-yes, of course! Farewell, Mr. Ye!"
Luo Yongsheng stammered his compliance, beads of sweat forming on his brow. Only when Ye Liuyun had vanished into the distance did he finally order his men to stand down.
One of his lieutenants asked in confusion, "Was that man an elder of the Black Killers?"
Luo Yongsheng shook his head, wiping the cold sweat from his brow. "The one behind him was the Black Killer elder."
"Someone who can have a Black Killer elder following him? Who is he?" the lieutenant pressed.
"Ye Liuyun!" Luo Yongsheng glanced in Ye Liuyun’s direction and whispered the name as if afraid the man might overhear.
"Ye Liuyun?" The lieutenant’s eyes widened in shock. "That’s really him?"
"Shh!" Luo Yongsheng hastily raised a finger to his lips. "You got a death wish or something?"
The lieutenant immediately clamped a hand over his mouth, shaking his head vigorously.
"Let’s go, let’s go—back to headquarters, now!" Luo Yongsheng urged, leading the way with hurried steps.
"But why is he here? Shouldn’t we report this?" the lieutenant ventured again once they were at a safe distance.
"Report to who? The Black Killers? The royal court? If he finds out we leaked his whereabouts and comes after us, what then? Even millions of the enemy couldn’t stop him. You think you can?" Luo Yongsheng berated him sharply. "Seems like you’ve got a death wish, sticking your nose where it doesn’t belong!"
The lieutenant shrank back, too frightened to utter another word.
But while they kept silent, the four Black Killer members who had earlier confronted Ye Liuyun had already sent word ahead.
No sooner had Ye Liuyun and the Black Killer elder left the city than they both sensed assassins trailing them.
"My lord, shall I deal with them?" the elder asked Ye Liuyun.
Ye Liuyun shook his head with a cold glint in his eyes. "Let them come. Since the Black Killers insist on targeting me, I won’t hold back anymore!"
As he spoke, he withdrew the elder into his spatial realm and had his doppelganger alter its appearance to test their skills.
Pulling out a communication talisman, he sent a brief message to Xiao Qiwu: "The outsiders have infiltrated the Sacred Land."
He considered this warning more than generous. Whether they believed him or not was none of his concern—Ye Liuyun couldn’t care less.
The death of Youming had extinguished any goodwill he once held toward the Black Killers.
Xiao Qiwu’s reply came swiftly: "Oh? How do you know this? Have you returned to the Sacred Land?"
"You didn’t know I was back?" Ye Liuyun’s voice dripped with icy sarcasm before he crushed the talisman to dust.
Truthfully, Xiao Qiwu had already received word of Ye Liuyun’s return but wanted confirmation. With his open defiance against the royal family, Ye Liuyun’s stance now carried immense weight.
When no further response came and attempts to reconnect failed, irritation flickered across Xiao Qiwu’s face. Still, after calming himself, he reasoned that Ye Liuyun had no cause to support the royals and dismissed his concerns—though he promptly escalated the kill order against the young cultivator.
He then instructed Xiao Mu’an to devise a way to lure Ye Liuyun out.
Mo Sha swiftly relayed this development to Ye Liuyun.
A predatory smile curled Ye Liuyun’s lips. "If he’s still coming for me, then I’ll return the favor. Keep tabs on the Black Killer headquarters’s movements. It’s time I dealt with them personally."
"Understood!" Mo Sha acknowledged, immediately setting to work monitoring their enemies.
Ye Liuyun and his doppelganger didn’t bother to conceal themselves, deliberately leading a trail of Black Kill assassins in their wake, baiting them into making a move.
Those he deemed weak, he either devoured their souls or slaughtered outright. For those with decent strength, he planted slave seals, bending them to his will.
Gradually, word spread far and wide, and even Black Kill’s headquarters dispatched elite assassins to hunt him down.
The moment these experts left their base, Mosha relayed the news to Ye Liuyun.
In just over a month of leisurely wandering, Ye Liuyun had already slain over a hundred Black Kill martial artists and captured more than twenty, including two formidable fighters from their headquarters.
For those he couldn’t easily enslave, he simply obliterated them with the blinding white light of his golden pupils.
Xiao Mu’an soon reached out to Ye Liuyun, cutting straight to the chase: "Congratulations—Black Kill has upgraded your bounty!"
"What, jealous?" Ye Liuyun shot back.
Xiao Mu’an chuckled. "Hah! Just doing you a favor with a heads-up."
Ye Liuyun had no patience for small talk. "Are you buying that alien dreadnought or not?"
Xiao Mu’an scoffed. "Now that the aliens are wiped out, you’re trying to sell me a warship?"
Ye Liuyun sneered. "Who told you they’re wiped out? I warned you not to let them escape. Just wait—it won’t be long before you see them in the Holy Land. If you don’t buy now, you won’t be able to afford it later."
Xiao Mu’an paused. "Oh? You sound awfully sure. Don’t tell me you’re the one bringing them here?"
Ye Liuyun laughed. "Heh, your imagination’s running wild. But let me make one thing clear—if I wanted to destroy the Holy Land, I wouldn’t need the aliens. I could do it myself."
On Xiao Mu’an’s end, silence fell immediately. After a long pause, he finally replied to Ye Liuyun, "I can buy your battleship, but you’ll have to do a few favors for me first!"
"Not a chance! I want no part in the messy power struggles between your royal family and the Black Killers. Let me remind you again—your infighting only plays right into the hands of the alien invaders!"
Ye Liuyun didn’t even need him to spell it out—he already knew Xiao Mu’an was scheming for political gain.
So he had no choice but to reiterate the looming threat of the alien forces, hoping to make them take the danger seriously.
"Whether we prioritize the alien threat isn’t up to me alone!" Xiao Mu’an defended.
"Suit yourself. Consider this my final warning," Ye Liuyun said dismissively.
"Fine. I’ll relay your concerns to the royal family and ask if they still want the battleship. I’ll get back to you," Xiao Mu’an conceded at last.
"Mm," Ye Liuyun grunted in acknowledgment before turning his attention back to eliminating the Black Killers’ assassins.
