Chapter 2769: Chapter 2769
The entire imperial capital was in a state of panic. Martial experts from all major factions had gathered to protect their family resources.
Yet, despite their numbers, none could track down the elusive thief—the notorious "Bandit Cat." Some had detected faint spatial ripples when the creature made its escape, but none could keep up with its movements. Worse still, the Bandit Cat’s targets were the storage rings of clan leaders and elders from other powerful factions. Even if pursuers managed to follow, they’d have to explain themselves—making the chase all the more awkward.
Seizing the chaos, the Bandit Cat struck repeatedly, plundering treasures before vanishing without a trace. The only exception was Emperor Liu Qiang, who had been secluded in a heavily guarded cultivation chamber. Sensing too great a risk of detection, the Bandit Cat wisely avoided him. But as for the wealthy noble families? It paid them *two* visits—not only emptying their treasuries but also stripping their storage rings bare.
In a single night, it reduced several powerful factions to utter destitution.
Then, it moved on to a few smaller clans, looting their vaults before finally returning to Ye Liuyun’s spatial realm.
Thousands more storage rings clattered onto the ground.
"Go ahead, absorb as much as you want—consider it your reward!" Ye Liuyun tossed the Bandit Cat onto a pile of primordial energy.
"Now you see how useful I am!" the creature gloated.
Truthfully, it had no need for so many resources—stealing was simply its passion. Ye Liuyun often wondered how Liu Yunyao had come up with such a fitting nickname.
*Bandit Cat.*
It suited the creature perfectly. Even within Ye Liuyun’s spatial realm, it would occasionally "borrow" small items just to tease Lan Xin and the others—before returning them with a smirk.
Just then, a squad of silver-armored guards patrolled into the street where Ye Liuyun was staying.
These were no ordinary city guards—they were elite imperial palace sentinels, each at the fourth or fifth level of the Dominator Realm, far surpassing the average garrison soldier.
While the city guards manned the gates and checkpoints, these silver-armored enforcers conducted door-to-door searches.
Not waiting for them to reach his location, Ye Liuyun released the two thousand warriors prepared by Tian Dao onto the street.
"Kill!"
The moment they emerged, the attackers struck swiftly, cutting down a squad of silver-armored guards before charging straight toward the royal palace.
Ye Liuyun, draped in his invisibility cloak, followed the two thousand soldiers as they advanced.
The city was not short of silver-armored guards—there were at least twenty thousand in total—but they were scattered across different posts, unable to regroup in time. This allowed the two thousand invaders to push forward rapidly, soon reaching the imperial palace.
Yet before they could breach the gates, they were met by five thousand gold-armored guards who had been lying in wait.
These elite warriors were clad in gleaming golden armor, wielding golden spears, each at least at the sixth level of the Dominator realm. Their equipment was impeccable, their discipline unshakable.
"Kill!"
A gold-armored captain raised his spear and roared. The guards behind him surged forward in perfect formation, their coordinated assault cutting down Ye Liuyun’s forces with ruthless efficiency. Their overall strength even surpassed that of the two thousand invaders.
Seizing the moment, Ye Liuyun summoned the two Dominator-level-eight alien warriors he had subdued earlier. Concealed by their own stealth, they unleashed their oppressive auras and tore into the gold-armored ranks. One of them even assisted Ye Liuyun in targeting the gold-armored captain.
The sudden appearance of these two powerhouses threw the golden guards into brief disarray. But they quickly steadied themselves, forming defensive layers to hold the line.
Meanwhile, Ye Liuyun seized the opportunity to launch a soul attack, branding the gold-armored captain with a slave seal. A quick memory search revealed that the palace still housed twenty thousand gold-armored guards—and over a hundred thousand silver-armored ones.
"Fight to the last man!"
Ye Liuyun issued the command to his two thousand soldiers before recalling the two alien warriors and slipping away unnoticed.
The two thousand discarded soldiers—once deemed unfit for the elite Blade Corps—fought like madmen until the very last of them fell. Some even ignited their core energy in a desperate bid to cover Ye Liuyun’s escape, allowing him to flee the capital through the Black Tower’s teleportation array.
Only when he was safely away did Ye Liuyun finally exhale in relief.
"Who would have thought the entire imperial capital is actually a spatial artifact! No wonder they can seal it off at will!"
Ye Liuyun mused that if the empire hadn’t considered the reactions of other major factions and refrained from controlling everyone within that space, escaping would have been nearly impossible. Only someone—or something—like the Thieving Cat, with its unique abilities, could move freely inside.
Next, he took the time to thoroughly assess the empire’s true strength. Capturing this golden-armored captain had been precisely for this purpose—to uncover the real might of the imperial palace.
After extracting the man’s memories, a sobering realization struck him: the forces he currently commanded might not be enough to challenge the empire.
The imperial palace alone boasted fifty thousand golden-armored guards and two hundred thousand silver-armored ones, all rotating in shifts. Beyond these, the royal family housed several thousand elite warriors. As for whether any Eighth-Level Sovereigns remained, even this captain couldn’t say.
Other major factions weren’t to be underestimated either—each had thousands of Sixth or Seventh-Level Sovereigns at their disposal, not to mention the countless Third to Fifth-Level martial cultivators within their clans.
If Ye Liuyun intended to storm the imperial capital, his current forces would likely fall short.
*So the empire has been hiding its true strength all along. Fine—if they’ve got the numbers, they can fight the otherworldly invaders themselves from now on!* he thought bitterly.
Moreover, given the imperial palace’s resources, nurturing an Eighth-Level Sovereign was entirely plausible. Assuming the empire lacked such power would be a grave mistake.
Though this assault had merely been a probing strike, it had revealed the empire’s true might. The two thousand soldiers lost in the attempt hadn’t died in vain—without this intelligence, a full-scale attack would have led to catastrophic losses.
Now that he understood the enemy’s strength, preparations had to begin immediately.
He swiftly ordered Moran to lead a detachment here, aiding in the recruitment of martial cultivators around the capital.
At the same time, he had Lu Xiao spread word that the empire was forcibly conscripting powerful warriors. The news sent many fleeing the capital’s outskirts, seeking refuge with Ye Liuyun’s forces. Those still hesitating were swiftly approached by Moran’s recruiters, and most ended up joining.
In no time, Ye Liuyun’s ranks of martial cultivators swelled. All new recruits were handed over to Ye Tiandao for standardized training, further bolstering the elite Blade Corps.
Ling Yuan was reassigned from the Blade Corps to oversee those who didn’t make the cut, as well as the army’s guard units. Though these warriors—ranging from Fifth to Seventh-Level Sovereigns—weren’t suited for the Blade Corps, their strength still far surpassed ordinary soldiers.
Ye Liuyun expanded his recruitment efforts outward from the capital’s periphery, gathering martial cultivators all the way until his forces merged with the main army.
The Blade Corps quickly grew to seventy thousand. Ye Tiandao planned to whittle this down to fifty thousand—the maximum she could effectively train. Any larger, and discipline would falter.
