Chapter 2770: Chapter 2770
Ling Yuan’s forces swelled directly to thirty thousand. Many who failed the stringent selection criteria for the elite Blade Regiment were funneled straight into his ranks. After Ye Tiandao’s subsequent screening eliminated another twenty thousand, Ling Yuan’s army ballooned to fifty thousand strong.
Meanwhile, Pei Yong’s colossal army had expanded to a staggering one and a half million troops. He, Xiao Yunfang, and Meng Qingyin each commanded five hundred thousand soldiers, their advance toward the imperial capital showing no signs of slowing.
Yet despite Ye Liuyun’s departure from the capital, chaos continued to reign. The major factions—especially those who’d lost their entire fortunes—demanded answers from the empire. With no thieves apprehended, they refused to lift the capital’s lockdown.
This ironically smoothed Ye Liuyun’s recruitment of martial experts, as the empire lacked the bandwidth to interfere. The imperial court itself was suffering in silence—their own treasuries had been cleaned out, but admitting this would risk total anarchy. Should the major factions discover the truth, they might unite to overthrow Emperor Liu Qiang’s regime.
The emperor himself had suspended his cultivation to manage the crisis. His golden-armored and silver-armored palace guards remained on perpetual high alert. Smaller factions, scenting opportunity, joined the clamor—some falsely claiming losses to demand compensation from the empire.
Their collective argument was simple: the empire bore responsibility for capital security. With widespread thefts occurring, the empire must compensate victims first, then pursue the thieves to recover assets.
Daily, Liu Qiang dispatched silver-armored guards to comb households for suspects. They rounded up and interrogated virtually every drifter in the capital, yet found no trace of the culprits.
The emperor knew perfectly well this was Ye Liuyun’s handiwork, but maintained the charade. Naming the young lord would only intensify compensation demands—the factions would blame imperial provocations for drawing Ye Liuyun’s wrath onto them. None dared confront Ye Liuyun directly; besieging the empire was safer.
Still, Liu Qiang burned with curiosity: how had Ye Liuyun simultaneously robbed so many establishments before vanishing like smoke in the wind?
After half a month’s lockdown, the capital remained sealed by stubborn faction leaders. News of the crisis had spread empire-wide. Meanwhile, Ye Liuyun—now publicly recruiting martial experts and seizing planets—played the innocent, using his visible activities to deflect suspicion from the grand heist.
In the end, Liu Qiang was thoroughly exasperated by the relentless agitation of these powerful factions.
"Since you refuse to listen to reason, don’t blame me for playing hardball!"
With that thought, he struck first against the most unruly faction. Deploying 20,000 gold-armored guards and 100,000 silver-armored guards, he obliterated the entire clan, confiscating all their resources for the state.
Liu Qiang’s brutal crackdown appeared to intimidate the other factions on the surface, but in secret, they only grew more united, plotting to overthrow his rule.
Their coffers had already been emptied. If they didn’t plunder the empire or target smaller factions, they wouldn’t survive.
Just as Liu Qiang was about to declare the imperial capital reopened, believing the crisis had passed, these major factions launched a coordinated assault on the imperial palace, sparking civil unrest.
Forced to delay the reopening, Liu Qiang had no choice but to crush the rebellious factions first, then unleash a city-wide purge. He even took the opportunity to raid some of the smaller factions that had joined the chaos, recouping some of his losses.
However, these factions—both large and small—had branches spread far beyond the capital. Upon learning their main lineages had been annihilated, they immediately surrendered to Ye Liuyun, hoping to avoid the empire’s retribution.
Some even went so far as to loot their own city halls before surrendering, offering the spoils to Ye Liuyun as a form of protection payment.
Without lifting a finger, Ye Liuyun gained even more supporters. His forces advanced faster, seizing more planets—either outright claiming them or draining their core energies until the worlds collapsed, leaving nothing for the empire.
The internal strife among the empire’s factions soon spread to the military. Liu Haotian, Meng Wenxiang, and over twenty other commanders—scions of the rebellious factions—were stripped of their ranks on the spot.
Fortunately, the remaining commanders didn’t turn against them. Han Qiao even led his troops to shield Liu Haotian and Meng Wenxiang, while Meng Wenxiang’s own forces rallied behind Han Qiao to protect their commander. The empire hesitated, unsure how to handle the situation.
Without Liu Haotian and Meng Wenxiang’s leadership, Han Qiao was at a loss. He had no choice but to seek Ye Liuyun’s help.
Ye Liuyun rushed to their aid at once. But before acting, he first consulted Liu Haotian and Meng Wenxiang—because saving them without their consent would only brand them as traitors, tarnishing their honor irreparably.
In the end, Liu Haotian decided to stay. Even if it meant death, he would demonstrate his unwavering loyalty to the Empire.
Meng Wenxiang, on the other hand, chose to defect to Ye Liuyun. With his family gone, he had nothing left to lose and no reason to remain loyal to the Empire. Han Qiao felt the same and immediately pledged allegiance to Ye Liuyun as well. Surprisingly, Liu Haotian supported their decision, urging them to serve Ye Liuyun faithfully in the future.
It wasn’t just Meng Wenxiang and Han Qiao—other captured commanders also pleaded with Ye Liuyun to rescue them. Ye Liuyun didn’t refuse; after all, it was a simple matter for him.
With tearful farewells, Meng Wenxiang and Han Qiao parted ways with Liu Haotian, leading their 400,000 troops straight to Ye Liuyun’s side. A few other commanders followed suit, bringing an additional 200,000 soldiers. Some, unable to rally their forces, fled with only their personal guards.
Just like that, Ye Liuyun returned from the military camp with an extra 600,000 troops under his command.
No one in the Imperial army dared to stop him. They could only watch helplessly as Ye Liuyun marched away with the massive force.
Upon their return, Ye Liuyun entrusted Meng Wenxiang and Han Qiao with the command of the 600,000 soldiers, allowing them to manage the troops independently. The only change was their new designation—they were now the Wolfhunt Legion.
When Liu Qiang received the news, he flew into a rage. Recent events had already been disastrous enough, and now he had lost 600,000 troops in one fell swoop. How could he not be furious? His forces were already stretched thin, and this loss only made matters worse.
He directed his wrath at Liu Haotian, blaming him for lax discipline and inciting desertion among his subordinates. Without hesitation, Liu Qiang ordered his execution.
Only afterward did he recall Liu Haotian’s earlier suggestion—to deploy the Silver Armor Guards to forcibly conscript martial cultivators from noble families, replenishing the army’s numbers at breakneck speed.
