Chapter 2767: Chapter 2767
The Star Disk Empire could no longer stem the tide of the mercenary uprising.
An army of six hundred thousand, equipped with top-tier gear and trained to elite standards, was a force to be reckoned with—even three million imperial troops might not be enough to crush them. The only viable strategy left was to assassinate their leader.
Yet Ye Liuyun was guarded by two alien overlords of the eighth rank, cloaked in invisibility. No matter how many assassins the empire sent, all attempts ended in failure.
Meanwhile, the aliens had bred yet another eighth-rank overlord. Their ability to grow stronger by devouring their enemies allowed them to cultivate powerhouses far faster than humans.
With their forces bolstered, the aliens intensified their assault. Liu Haotian’s defenses were crumbling under the pressure, forcing him to recall both Meng Wenxiang and Han Qiao to the frontlines.
Freed from the need to evade imperial suppression, Ye Liuyun’s forces moved with greater ease. They struck from the east, west, and south simultaneously, carving a path toward the heart of the Star Disk Galaxy. Entire swathes of planets vanished under their advance.
Only when the Wolf Hunt Legion swelled to a million strong did Ye Liuyun call a temporary halt.
By then, he had already claimed hundreds of planets for his spatial world, and his followers—both human and beast—had reaped their own bounties. The spoils were substantial.
Liu Haotian soon sent a desperate plea for aid. The alien onslaught had decimated their elite forces, and troop numbers had dwindled to a mere two million—less than half their former strength.
Fearing the balance between humans and aliens would tip irreversibly, Ye Liuyun rushed to reinforce them with Meng Qingyin and two hundred thousand troops. In full view of Liu Haotian’s army, he wounded the aliens’ newly bred overlord and, with the aid of the Demon-Sealing Stele and the Demon Vine, annihilated nearly a million of their corpse-demon soldiers, restoring equilibrium to the battlefield.
The Star Disk Empire, in a hollow gesture, lifted Ye Liuyun’s bounty, hoping to coax him into eradicating the aliens once and for all. But Ye Liuyun ignored the overture. After helping Liu Haotian crush the million-strong corpse-demon horde, he withdrew to his own territory, leading his mercenaries in a relentless push toward the imperial core.
He knew exactly what the empire was scheming. There was no way he’d give them the chance to turn on him.
When deception failed, the empire resorted to conscription. Liu Haotian’s forces began press-ganging civilians en masse—join or die. In their eyes, these people would only swell the ranks of the rebel mercenaries anyway. Better to throw them against the aliens.
Liu Haotian’s army doubled in size overnight. Han Qiao and Meng Wenxiang now commanded two hundred thousand troops each. But training these unwilling conscripts was a nightmare. Their morale was nonexistent, and their discipline even worse. The results spoke for themselves.
They had to constantly guard against desertions, setting up patrols outside the military camps to monitor the conscripts. The commanders all predicted that these soldiers would flee at the first sign of danger on the battlefield.
In the end, the Star Disk Empire resorted to forcing the soldiers to sign binding contracts, which improved the situation somewhat. But since so many of them had been conscripted against their will, morale remained abysmally low.
As soon as the new recruits completed their training, the Star Disk Empire ordered Liu Haotian to launch a full-scale assault on the alien races. At first, they made decent progress with their veteran troops, but when the aliens counterattacked en masse, the flaws of the conscripted soldiers became glaringly obvious—they were crippled by fear, shirking battle at every turn. Once their commanders were killed, the troops would scatter like headless chickens.
The stalemate dragged on, and the alien forces of corpse-demons only grew in number. Worse still, once these soldiers were turned into corpse-demons, they lost all reason and became twice as ferocious when turned against the Star Disk Empire’s own army.
By the end of the campaign, the newly conscripted soldiers had not only failed to eliminate the aliens but had instead bolstered the enemy’s ranks by another million corpse-demons.
With no other choice, Liu Haotian had to turn to Ye Liuyun for help again.
When Ye Liuyun received the news, he couldn’t help but laugh.
"The Star Disk Empire is truly on its last legs! Honestly, you’d have better luck just raiding the city lord’s mansions and the major factions for troops!" Ye Liuyun suggested. Since forcibly recruiting ordinary martial artists and mercenaries hadn’t worked, why not try coercing the city lords and powerful factions into contributing?
Liu Haotian thought it was worth a shot and proposed the idea to the Star Disk Empire—only to be flatly rejected. These factions were the foundation of the empire’s power, and some noble families were even wealthier than the imperial court itself. If they started antagonizing them, the empire might collapse even faster.
Frustrated, Liu Haotian had no choice but to persuade the empire to offer exorbitant rewards for new recruits. Desperate men would take desperate risks, and this approach did yield some results—though not enough. Even after pooling forces from all regions, they barely scraped together five hundred thousand soldiers.
This time, Ye Liuyun arrived with Xiao Yunfang to help Liu Haotian wipe out the alien’s million-strong corpse-demon army. But he set a condition: the Star Disk Empire had to pay him five thousand units of primordial essence before he would lift a finger. Otherwise, he wouldn’t lift a finger.
The empire had no choice but to agree. To them, five thousand units of primordial essence was mere pocket change.
Only after receiving the payment did Ye Liuyun take action. And as soon as the mission was accomplished, he withdrew his forces without delay.
By now, even the alien races had learned of Ye Liuyun’s army. The moment they spotted his banners, they refused to engage, scattering in all directions. But Ye Liuyun’s relentless assaults left them with nowhere to hide. Fortunately for them, he only targeted their corpse-demon forces, leaving their own kin unharmed.
The aliens eventually guessed his intentions and attempted to form an alliance with him to overthrow the Star Disk Empire together. But Ye Liuyun outright refused. In his eyes, collaborating with the aliens would be tantamount to treason. No matter what terms they offered, he wouldn’t even entertain the idea.
The Star Disk Empire hadn’t been idle during this period. In fact, they had dispatched martial experts to capture numerous cultivators, forcing them to sign soul contracts and pledge allegiance to the empire. However, most of these captured warriors were sent to the front lines to fight against the alien races.
Ye Liuyun’s mercenary army was already fully formed. Sending a few martial experts against him would be utterly ineffective.
Yet the empire’s campaign to capture powerful cultivators showed no signs of stopping. Every day, their forces fanned out across the land, seizing more experts to bolster their ranks. In truth, they were amassing strength—preparing for a confrontation with Ye Liuyun.
The news reached Ye Liuyun through Lu Xiao, who had gathered intelligence for him. Some of the imperial inspectors they had previously controlled had returned to the empire and uncovered its covert operations to detain martial experts.
Upon learning this, Ye Liuyun didn’t take it lightly. He immediately set out for the empire’s borders to assess the situation. If the empire continued unchecked—capturing and controlling more cultivators—they could soon command a formidable force, posing a serious threat to his future plans.
