Chapter 2746: Chapter 2746
The local city lords had been having a miserable time lately.
On one hand, they couldn’t collect fees from the mercenary groups; on the other, they were constantly robbed and extorted by Ye Liuyun, leaving them with almost no resources left.
Ye Liuyun, however, moved swiftly. He advanced rapidly along his planned route, circling back to Jing’an City in the end.
By then, he had altered his appearance so thoroughly that no one could recognize him.
During the battle with the Shangliang Mercenary Group, Ye Liuyun used a soul attack to kill Xue Liang but spared Ling Yuan, deliberately keeping him alive.
When he met Ling Yuan face to face, he revealed his true appearance without hesitation, making no attempt to hide his identity.
Ling Yuan was stunned by how quickly Ye Liuyun had grown. Upon learning that Ye Liuyun specialized in extorting city lords and refused to pay them tribute, Ling Yuan immediately agreed to join his cause.
His reluctance to serve in the military before had stemmed from his refusal to work for the empire. Back then, he had no outlet for his strength—but now that Ye Liuyun was opposing the empire, he was more than willing to contribute.
Over this period, Ye Liuyun had undergone numerous battles, honing his skills. Even his companions—the Demon Vine, the Nine-Headed Demon Dragon, and the Vermilion Bird—had fought in many clashes, each growing stronger. Even the Thieving Cat’s spatial abilities had improved, making thefts smoother than ever.
Ye Liuyun’s mercenary group had now expanded to a thousand members. Among them, sixty-five were at the sixth level of the Dominator Realm, two hundred at the fifth level, and the rest were martial cultivators at the third or fourth level—none of them weak.
His two right-hand men were Ling Yuan and Mo Ran.
Ling Yuan excelled in head-on combat, while Mo Ran was a cunning strategist responsible for gathering intelligence.
Finally, the city lords began mobilizing their forces, preparing to unite and wipe out Ye Liuyun’s mercenary band.
By then, Ye Liuyun felt he had gathered enough resources. The wealth he had amassed in these few months surpassed what he had earned in years of fighting before.
So, he withdrew his entire force into his spatial world, allowing them to focus on cultivation. Meanwhile, he altered his appearance once more and headed to the source of the world’s primordial energy, intending to absorb it for his own training.
Of course, he wouldn’t drain the planet’s source energy completely. After absorbing roughly half, he’d immediately withdraw and move to another planet, repeating the same tactics—expanding his mercenary group, extorting city lords, and pilfering resources from merchant guilds and major factions.
Initially, the deceived city lords fell for the scheme every time. Especially after Ye Liuyun amassed a sizable following, he even had his men impersonate imperial soldiers to accompany him in extorting the city lords. Their success rate was nearly flawless.
Even when these city lords later realized they’d been swindled, none dared report it to the empire. They swallowed their grievances, too afraid to make a fuss, terrified that exposure would cost them their positions.
Emboldened by their silence, Ye Liuyun grew even bolder in his extortion. After sweeping through seven or eight planets, he had accumulated vast resources.
With more supplies than he could use, he established outposts on these planets, tasking his mercenaries with setting up merchant guilds to sell off the excess. Soon, their mercantile operations thrived, drawing customers away from the cities.
By then, the city lords found themselves powerless to suppress Ye Liuyun. His mercenary forces—beyond the elite thousand-strong unit at his side—numbered in the thousands on each planet, all aligned with the Wolf Hunt Mercenary Corps. Moreover, the mercenaries had an extensive intelligence network. The moment a city lord mobilized troops, word reached Ye Liuyun, who would swiftly reinforce with his elite fighters.
After several clashes, the city lords found their forces dwindling, eventually retreating behind their walls. Meanwhile, defections to the Wolf Hunt Mercenary Corps only grew.
Left with no choice, the city lords reported the situation to the empire under the guise of rampant banditry, pleading for imperial reinforcements. But the empire, preoccupied with its war against the demonic races, dismissed it as mere mercenary expansionism. They dispatched a single inspector, Lu Xiao, with a thousand soldiers to assess the situation.
A seasoned official, Lu Xiao recognized the mess he was stepping into and knew his forces were insufficient. Before setting out, he contacted the city lords, instructing them to muster their troops.
Assured that this was the real inspector, the city lords complied immediately. Yet, the moment they mobilized, the mercenaries caught wind of it. Ye Liuyun intercepted a prisoner, extracted the truth through soul-searching, and smirked.
"The real deal has arrived. Time for me to step down—temporarily."
He turned to Ling Yuan with a grin. "Gather some men, disguise them as cultivators and soldiers. We’ll pose as city lords and greet this ’official’ inspector in person."
"Hah! Got it!" Ling Yuan instantly grasped the plan—Ye Liuyun intended to ambush Lu Xiao. He hurried off to assemble the team, boarding an official city lord’s airship for the ruse.
When Lu Xiao’s small warship arrived, it crossed paths with their vessel. Using his Thousand Illusions technique, Ye Liuyun morphed into the likeness of a city lord and disembarked with a mixed group of cultivators and soldiers.
"We’ve come to welcome Inspector Lu," they announced. "With the mercenary unrest lately, we feared you might encounter trouble on the road, so we took the liberty of meeting you in advance."
"Let them come aboard!" Lu Xiao didn’t think much of it, assuming someone had genuinely come to escort him. Hearing about the mercenaries’ formidable strength, he actually felt safer having an armed escort.
Thus, Ye Liuyun and his crew easily boarded the airship. The moment they met Lu Xiao, Ye Liuyun immediately launched a soul attack, branding him with a slave seal. Lu Xiao cursed his rotten luck—he never expected the mercenaries here to be so brazen as to hijack an official vessel.
Ye Liuyun first ordered Lu Xiao to hand over all his resources before disembarking from the warship, leaving him to deal with the city lords on his own.
Through soul-searching, however, Ye Liuyun learned that the Inspector Envoys wielded immense authority—they could appoint or dismiss city lords at will. According to Lu Xiao’s memories, they even had the power to restructure the governance of entire planets.
Ye Liuyun needed time to strategize how best to exploit these planets and infiltrate the heart of this star system.
Meanwhile, Lu Xiao, now Ye Liuyun’s unwilling servant, dared not show the slightest resentment toward his master. Instead, he took out his frustrations on the city lords. Upon arrival, he immediately dismissed every one of them who had come to greet him. He didn’t appoint replacements, leaving the positions vacant.
This was a tried-and-true method among Inspector Envoys to extort resources. Soon enough, powerful factions vying for the empty seats began showering Lu Xiao with gifts and supplies, replenishing his coffers in no time. The deposed city lords had no recourse—no channels to file complaints—so they had no choice but to accept their fate.
After making his rounds and collecting his bribes, Lu Xiao issued a decree: the Wolf Hunt Mercenary Corps was operating legally, and no city was to send troops against them henceforth.
The newly appointed city lords, knowing they stood no chance against Ye Liuyun, didn’t protest. As long as he didn’t raid their cities, they couldn’t care less.
