Chapter 2608: Chapter 2608
Ye Liuyun promptly briefed the alliance on the situation, analyzing the strengths and weaknesses of both sides to reassure them while urging them to marshal all available forces against the alien invaders.
At the same time, he ordered Yu Xiaofeng to deploy reconnaissance Sky Swallows, expanding the perimeter of their vigilance. The formation masters, including Qiong Qi, reinforced the defensive arrays once more.
The alliance began mobilizing forces from every kingdom. For this ultimate battle, each dynasty contributed their most elite warriors, soldiers, and equipment—reserves they had kept hidden until now.
Even powerful figures like Xiao Mu’an, Sang Han, and Ling Xiao personally led their martial cultivators to the front lines. They understood all too well—if this battle were lost, their thrones would soon follow.
And it wasn’t just them. Countless lower-realm cultivators had also prepared themselves, gathering at the teleportation arrays of their respective kingdoms, ready to rush to the battlefield at a moment’s notice.
Ye Liuyun, meanwhile, was far from idle. He and his clone split up to gather intelligence—the clone scouted nearby alien settlements, while Ye Liuyun himself ventured into the void of space to observe the enemy’s movements.
Both were draped in cloaks of invisibility, their spatial powers fully unleashed, making them undetectable to most aliens with weaker spatial abilities.
The starry expanse was already teeming with alien Sky Swallow fleets, forming a tight net of surveillance around them.
Through his golden pupils, Ye Liuyun saw the aliens continuously transporting troops via the altar nearest to their stronghold. Over ten million had already arrived—and the flow showed no sign of stopping.
Near that altar, he spotted a golden-armored, three-eyed alien commander, flanked by numerous Dominator-level warriors and over a dozen other three-eyed elites.
And these were just the visible forces. Who knew how many more would pour through?
Meanwhile, his clone reported that small alien reconnaissance squads had begun appearing around their perimeter. However, thanks to their own Sky Swallows patrolling the area, the enemy scouts couldn’t get too close.
Acting swiftly, Ye Liuyun summoned the Violet Kylin, the Vermilion Bird, and the Nine-Headed Nether Dragon, ordering them to eliminate the alien Sky Swallows overhead and thin out their surveillance.
Even if the aliens sent more later, every one destroyed now counted. He remained cloaked nearby, watching to see if the enemy would dispatch reinforcements to protect their scouts.
Disappointingly, the aliens ignored the losses—clearly willing to endure minor casualties for the sake of their grander scheme.
Ye Liuyun knew when to stop and returned with his doppelganger to their military base to strategize. After discussions, the group concluded that they lacked intel on the enemy’s movements. It was decided that Ye Liuyun needed to capture a powerful member of the alien race to extract information through soul-searching. Meanwhile, the army would adopt a defensive stance, holding their ground without launching any offensives.
Once again, the burden fell on Ye Liuyun’s shoulders. The task of capturing high-ranking enemies amidst an army of tens of millions was no small feat.
Ye Liuyun and his doppelganger cloaked themselves and left the base, scouting the surrounding areas and skies. They encountered numerous alien scouts, but these low-ranking soldiers knew little beyond their immediate orders.
Undeterred, they turned their attention to the alien teleportation altar. Nearly twenty million enemy troops had already arrived through it, including swarms of gold-armored and silver-armored elites. Even five of the gold-armored elders had made their way through.
The three-eyed gold-armored alien they had seen earlier, along with several other sovereign-level warriors, stood guard around the altar.
With so many powerful foes gathered, Ye Liuyun knew he’d have to rely on his time-manipulation abilities if he wanted to act. But he wasn’t sure whether his powers could sustain him long enough.
The area was blanketed by the enemies’ spiritual senses, forcing Ye Liuyun to activate his time powers in advance just to approach them unnoticed. Then he’d have to grab his target and retreat swiftly.
The real problem was that these warriors all carried artifacts to shield against soul attacks. Controlling them would require even more time—and energy.
"Looks like we’ll have to take a risk," Ye Liuyun muttered after he and his doppelganger deliberated. If they waited any longer, the enemy’s forces would only grow stronger, making their mission even harder.
They coordinated their moves: the doppelganger would freeze time first, allowing Ye Liuyun to close in on the three-eyed gold-armored alien. To conserve energy, time would only be paused long enough to teleport Ye Liuyun’s main body into position before resuming.
Despite their caution, the spatial shift caused a faint ripple. The three-eyed alien immediately turned its gaze toward the invisible intruder, suspicion flickering in its eyes—though it didn’t strike yet.
Seizing the moment, Ye Liuyun rushed forward, using his time powers to swiftly remove the alien’s soul-defense artifact before launching a mental assault into its consciousness.
Inside its mind, a swirling mass of dark, malevolent energy greeted him. Ye Liuyun dispersed the corruption with golden light, only to find another soul artifact—a sharp, needle-like weapon—pointed directly at him.
Under normal circumstances, this weapon would have attacked the moment an intruder breached the alien’s mind. But with time frozen, the spike remained still—for now.
Ye Liuyun deftly maneuvered around the spiked protrusion, imprinting a slave seal upon the creature’s soul. However, this three-eyed alien had previously entered into a soul contract. After erasing that binding agreement, Ye Liuyun knew it wouldn’t be long before the other party sensed the disruption.
Withdrawing his consciousness swiftly, he stashed the creature into his spatial realm, shed his cloak of invisibility, and then—using the Thousand Illusions Art—morphed into its exact likeness. He even equipped its soul-defense artifacts, perfecting the disguise down to the smallest detail before allowing time to resume its normal flow.
This intricate sequence of actions had nearly pushed his time-manipulation abilities to their limit. He’d need a brief respite before wielding such power again.
Concerned that capturing just one target might not suffice, Ye Liuyun decided to take the risk of lingering, waiting for his temporal energy to replenish so he could seize two more. His clone, stationed at a distance, stood ready to freeze time again and teleport him to safety if danger arose.
At this moment, the greatest threat wasn’t the risk of his scent being detected—it was the fact that whoever had bound the three-eyed golden-armored alien with a soul contract would already know their pawn had been compromised.
He could only hope the alien elites here would be slow to catch on. Both his and his clone’s golden eyes remained fixed on the movements of these powerful beings.
Suddenly, the clone noticed something alarming—all five of the golden-armored elders he was monitoring had simultaneously turned their gazes toward Ye Liuyun.
"You’re exposed!" the clone warned.
"Hold steady," Ye Liuyun replied calmly. "Just buy me a little more time. Once my temporal power recovers slightly, I can grab two more of their elders." He instructed the clone to stay poised but not act prematurely.
Yet the five elders were already advancing toward him, their movements deliberate. Worse still, they seemed to be silently summoning reinforcements through telepathic signals.
At the same moment, an overwhelming surge of energy erupted from the teleportation altar—clearly, another formidable figure was about to arrive.
