Chapter 2771: Chapter 2771
The capital and its surrounding regions quickly descended into chaos. Silver-armored guards fanned out across cities, arresting martial cultivators from prominent families to replenish their troops. While they managed to fill their ranks, nearly all the mercenaries and factions in and around the capital had fled by then.
Upon learning of Liu Haotian’s assassination, Meng Wenxiang and Han Qiao grew even more resentful toward the empire. They led their forces in a fierce retaliation, seizing a planet every two or three days and wiping out its ruling factions. But after venting their rage, they finally cooled down.
Meanwhile, Ye Liuyun’s army continued its steady advance. His primary goal now was to secure planets as recruitment grounds, gathering powerful martial cultivators to bolster his forces. The essence of the planets themselves no longer held much appeal for him.
Even the Star Disk Empire was likely little more than a hollow shell by now, drained of resources. Besides, they still had to contend with the alien invaders, and Ye Liuyun had no intention of pushing them to utter ruin.
So he ordered his army to halt and focus on recruitment—prioritizing the strongest warriors.
By this point, Ye Liuyun had conquered nearly a third of the Star Disk Galaxy. Apart from the relatively intact northern and central regions, vast swaths of planets in other sectors had already fallen.
His plan now was simple: take as many powerful martial cultivators as he could, leaving the Star Disk Empire to fend off the aliens on their own. He intended to move on, continuing his exploration of the cosmos.
With over two million troops and elite martial cultivators under his command, he felt far more confident about storming the alien stronghold. Of course, he knew this might not be enough—but along the way, his forces would only grow stronger through further trials.
Thus, Ye Liuyun not only halted his advance but also consolidated his forces in the eastern sector, positioning them for a swift departure toward the alien-infested north when the time came. Elders like Moran were dispatched across the territories to assist in recruiting more powerful warriors.
As for Ye Liuyun himself, he roamed the land with his thieving cat, determined to make one last sweep for whatever resources he could scavenge.
Meanwhile, Liu Qiang, driven to desperation, ordered his frontline troops to strike at the alien forces. The ensuing battle was brutal, with both sides suffering staggering losses—over a million and a half soldiers wiped out on each side.
The Star Disk Empire even deployed a powerhouse at the eighth level of Dominance to ambush and eliminate a key alien leader.
Seizing the momentum, the powerhouse led the frontline forces in overrunning the alien base, destroying their altar, and mopping up the remaining stragglers.
When Ye Liuyun received the news, he remained unfazed. While he had no intention of attacking the imperial capital, that didn’t mean he feared retaliation. Defending against the empire’s assaults would be effortless for him.
With the imperial army now reduced to less than a million troops, even if they threw everything they had—Golden and Silver-armored guards, imperial elites, and their strongest martial cultivators—Ye Liuyun wasn’t worried. If the empire chose to strike before his departure, he wouldn’t mind teaching them another harsh lesson.
However, the Star Disk Empire truly didn’t disappoint Ye Liuyun. No sooner had they finished purging the otherworldly races than they came to surround Ye Liuyun’s army. Along with them came 200,000 praetorian, 100,000 silver-armored warriors, and 30,000 golden-armored otherworldly beings.
Ye Liuyun’s golden eyes also spotted two hidden experts among the martial cultivators—both at the eighth level of Dominance Realm, deliberately concealing their true strength.
"Perfect! The Star Disk Empire must be worried I don’t have enough people—they’re delivering reinforcements right to me!" Ye Liuyun thought, his heart surging with excitement.
For this battle, Liu Qiang had mobilized nearly half of the royal family’s martial cultivators, including those two remaining eighth-level Dominance Realm experts. The imperial capital had been sealed off once more, guarded only by 20,000 golden-armored warriors and 100,000 silver-armored warriors. Liu Qiang had practically emptied the nest, coming dangerously close to leading the campaign personally.
Once Ye Liuyun confirmed there were only those two eighth-level Dominance Realm experts, he immediately activated his temporal power. Using his divine soul energy, he dragged their souls one by one into his consciousness, imprinting them with slave seals before stashing them away in his spatial world.
Next, he summoned his clones and began capturing the martial cultivator elites, along with the commanders of the golden-armored, silver-armored, and imperial guard forces.
By the time they finished using temporal power, the opposing army was utterly dumbfounded—all their commanders had vanished!
Ye Liuyun’s forces swiftly encircled them. Against the golden-armored otherworldly beings, Ye Liuyun and the Purple Kirin took turns wielding temporal power—some were captured, others slain. The rest were left to the Blade Corps for training. The Demon Vine also joined the fray, seizing the opportunity to devour corpses and boost its strength.
The Vermilion Bird followed Ye Tiandao, absorbing the souls of fallen warriors while assisting in attacking the divine souls of the golden-armored guards.
As for the silver-armored warriors, Ye Liuyun and his clones, along with numerous demonic beasts and Ling Yuan’s martial cultivators, deployed their latest Spirit Cat battleships. Reinforced by the eighth-level Dominance Realm experts, they annihilated the entire silver-armored contingent.
The martial cultivators’ battle was even more one-sided. Ye Liuyun unleashed his eighth-level Dominance Realm warriors, slaughtering most of the empire’s martial cultivators before the rest surrendered.
The imperial army barely put up a fight. Realizing they were surrounded, they surrendered almost immediately, knowing resistance was futile against Ye Liuyun’s forces. Ye Liuyun assigned Meng Wenxiang and Han Qiao to take charge of the prisoners, integrating them into their own ranks.
The entire battle was over in mere hours—by midday, Ye Liuyun’s forces were already reorganizing the surrendered troops.
Had it not been for the soul contracts binding the golden-armored and silver-armored otherworldly beings and some martial cultivators, they would have surrendered much sooner, sparing the need for such brutal slaughter.
In this battle, the Blade Corps suffered minimal losses. Even those they did incur were offset by the numerous golden-armored warriors they captured, ensuring ample replacements.
Ling Yuan’s forces suffered heavy casualties. What had once swelled to over eighty thousand troops was now reduced to a mere twenty thousand. Although some imperial martial cultivators surrendered, their numbers were negligible.
Ye Liuyun managed to capture only two martial cultivators at the Dominator Eighth Level, adding two elite combatants to his ranks.
The main army had the easiest victory, absorbing all surrendered soldiers without resistance. Under the command of Meng Wenxiang and Han Qiao, their forces now numbered a staggering one and a half million.
Ye Liuyun, however, ordered them to retain only five hundred thousand elite soldiers. The rest were stored as reserve forces within his spatial world, ensuring a steady supply of reinforcements—not just for Meng Wenxiang and Han Qiao, but also for the other three armies, each boasting a million troops.
Ling Yuan’s remaining twenty thousand martial cultivators were disbanded and reassigned to Yuan Hao, Xiao Yunfang, Meng Qingyin, Meng Wenxiang, and Han Qiao. Ling Yuan himself was sent back to assist Ye Tiandao.
Pei Yong was recalled into Ye Liuyun’s spatial world to train the reserve forces, while Yuan Hao was deliberately transferred from Yu Xiaofeng’s command to lead this colossal army of two million.
