Chapter 2503: Chapter 2503
The altar had already been destroyed, yet the devil creature still hadn’t shown itself. Ye Liuyun found this rather unusual.
Just then, his gaze fell upon a massive whale amidst the battle.
This particular whale was being shielded in the center by others. Several of its protectors had already been slain, and the remaining ones were battered and bleeding.
Though formidable, they were no match for Ye Liuyun’s overwhelming numbers.
Yet the one they guarded remained completely unharmed.
A sudden realization struck him. With a faint smile, his golden eyes pierced through the whale’s body—and there it was. The devil creature, hidden within.
Shaking his head in disbelief, Ye Liuyun muttered, "Honestly, who would think to look *here*? If it hadn’t run out of energy sources in the ocean, this altar might’ve actually been completed!"
But another thought nagged at him. If this alien was already so cunning, where could the other one—the one he still hadn’t found—possibly be hiding?
Without hesitation, he commanded the Demon-Sealing Stele and the Devil Vine to attack the whale while he swiftly gathered the energy cores beneath the altar.
Then he summoned Liu Kui, wanting him to witness firsthand just how well-hidden this alien’s lair truly was.
By the time Liu Kui arrived, Yu Xiaofeng’s Falcon Fleet had also reached the scene.
Staring at the alien’s nest and its bizarre hiding spot, Liu Kui could only marvel, "There’s no way anyone would’ve found this on their own!"
The Demon-Sealing Stele and the Devil Vine had just finished off the whale—but before they could reach the alien inside, the rest of the whales were already cut down by Ye Liuyun’s forces.
Ye Liuyun sighed to Liu Kui, "I suspect the reason these ten alien races haven’t activated the altar immediately is because they’ve pooled all their resources into one individual. Otherwise, their progress wouldn’t be this sluggish across the board.
That missing alien we’ve been searching for must have already initiated the altar. We don’t know if they’ve started transporting soldiers yet, but their elite warriors have likely arrived by now."
Ye Liuyun had captured alien elites before—none were so destitute as to lack energy orbs. Yet the aliens they’d encountered here were clearly relying on divine crystals and the cores of these marine beasts for power. This only confirmed his theory: they’d funneled all their energy reserves to a single entity.
"So you’re saying the aliens are bound to breach the Sacred Land?" Liu Kui asked, his voice thick with concern.
Ye Liuyun gave a solemn nod but added, "First, eliminate these corrupted beasts in the ocean. Otherwise, we’ll be fighting a war on two fronts."
Liu Kui immediately returned to his forces, briefing Xiao Mu’an while deploying additional troops and martial experts to the region.
After Liu Kui’s departure, the Demon-Sealing Stele and the Demon Vine finally forced the last alien out of hiding, draining it into a withered husk.
Ye Liuyun devoured its soul, searching its memories—only to find no recollection of its arrival at the Sacred Land or the period before the group dispersed. This absence only solidified his suspicions.
He promptly consulted Yu Xiaofeng, instructing him to mobilize the entire million-strong army from the satellite island. "Deploy them here to fan out and cleanse the surrounding waters of these beasts. We’ll help the Sacred Land Dynasty resolve this marine crisis swiftly."
Moreover, the cores harvested from slain sea creatures could be converted into energy stones for their troops, ensuring their efforts wouldn’t go to waste.
Yu Xiaofeng swiftly arranged the troop movements, then cautioned, "If the aliens plan to use the altar for mass troop deployment, they’d need vast underground space. Could the desert be their stronghold?"
Ye Liuyun’s eyes sharpened with realization. "You’re absolutely right. I’ll investigate thoroughly—speed up your preparations here. Once war breaks out, it’ll be another colossal battle. The Sacred Land Dynasty’s forces have weakened significantly; they can’t hold off the alien invasion alone anymore."
Ye Liuyun surmised that if the otherworldly beings had sufficient resources and materials to construct an altar, their leader wouldn’t need to expose himself at all.
Hiding underground would make him far harder to track down.
Yet even if the search proved difficult, Ye Liuyun had to try. If those creatures emerged suddenly, they could spawn hordes of undead monsters in an instant.
So he recalled his companions, stowed them away, and soared into the starry sky aboard his Falcon, leaving the area to Yu Xiaofeng to handle. His destination: the desert regions of the Sacred Land.
The Sacred Land had three vast desert zones, each expansive enough to conceal an entire otherworldly army.
Ye Liuyun first conducted a cursory sweep but found nothing unusual. Then he flew directly over the dunes, peering deep into the earth with his golden pupils.
Yet the ground was too dense, limiting his vision. After a thorough inspection, he still detected no anomalies—not even significant variations in the distribution of venomous desert insects.
Just as he was about to leave, a woman clad in black suddenly waved at him.
Intrigued, Ye Liuyun frowned. His spiritual senses hadn’t picked her up earlier.
Through his golden gaze, he saw her soul—a dark, writhing scorpion.
*So, a demon beast!*
He promptly stowed the Falcon and hovered midair.
"Are you a scout from the army?" the woman ventured cautiously.
*Perhaps she knows something useful,* Ye Liuyun thought. Without hesitation, he nodded in confirmation.
"Good. Do you have any information about the alien races?"
The woman’s eyes narrowed dangerously as she hissed in response, "I do have news about them. But if you dare deceive me, we’ll kill you!"
A sinister "hiss" escaped her lips, and in an instant, dozens of enormous black scorpions erupted from beneath the sand. Their massive bodies gleamed under the desert sun, each tail arched high, venomous stingers poised directly at Ye Liuyun.
Ye Liuyun’s mind raced. These scorpions—hidden so deep in the sand that even his golden pupils hadn’t detected them—could be far more effective at tracking the aliens across the desert than he could alone.
Unfazed, he met the woman’s gaze coolly. "If your information proves accurate, the dynasty will reward you handsomely. But if you lie to me," his voice hardened, "it won’t just be your life at stake—your entire kind will be wiped out."
The woman stiffened, caught off guard that he had seen through her true nature as a demon beast. But just as quickly, her lips curled into a sneer. "You couldn’t even find us, let alone exterminate us!"
Still, with a dismissive flick of her wrist, she signaled the scorpions to lower their tails.
Ye Liuyun had no patience for games. "Enough. Where are the aliens?"
The woman crossed her arms. "Bring me your commander. I’ll speak only to him."
Clearly, she took him for nothing more than a scout—someone without authority. But Ye Liuyun had no time to fetch some nonexistent commander, not when the main forces were battling at sea. If her intel turned out to be false, this would all be a wasted effort.
