Chapter 2786: Chapter 2786
As the alien army began to move, Ye Liuyun, who had been monitoring them, immediately detected their maneuvers.
“Their rear forces are trying to retreat! Kuishan, Qianghui—each of you take half a million troops and cut them off! Qin Peng, send the Spirit Cats to intercept them now!” Ye Liuyun barked out orders without hesitation.
At the same time, he unleashed the Demon-Sealing Stele and the Demon Vine, directing them to assault the enemy’s rear guard.
Qin Peng was busy coordinating the main forces to support the advance of the Vanguard Corps. Upon hearing Ye Liuyun’s command, he swiftly ordered all Spirit Cats to bombard the retreating alien troops, disrupting their withdrawal.
The Demon Vine and the Demon-Sealing Stele wasted no time—they went straight for the commanders of the two alien divisions. Battle-hardened and cunning, they knew well that to defeat an army, one must first strike its leaders. Each targeted one commander, working seamlessly without conflict.
The alien commanders, faced with the crushing weight of the Demon-Sealing Stele descending like a mountain and the writhing tendrils of the Demon Vine, stood no chance. One was flattened instantly, while the other was ensnared and drained of all energy.
Meanwhile, Broken Horn and Wing had already wiped out nearly half of the alien elites. With nothing left to do, they had the remaining enemies surrounded, leaving them to be finished off by the Blue-Armored aliens.
“You two—go intercept the enemy’s rear guard as well!” Ye Liuyun redirected Broken Horn and Wing to assist in annihilating the retreating forces.
The Vanguard Corps and Yuan Hao’s personal guard—a formidable force of seventy thousand martial experts, all at least at the sixth level of Dominance—made short work of the alien soldiers.
Qin Peng could only trail behind with the main army, mopping up scattered stragglers. Frustrated, he adjusted his strategy, deploying a hundred thousand troops to flank the enemy’s vanguard and cut off their escape, ensuring none slipped away.
Before the alien rear guard could retreat, they were bombarded by the Spirit Cats. Tens of thousands of Spirit Cat warships unleashed a devastating assault, throwing the rear ranks into chaos as soldiers scattered in panic.
By the time Kuishan and Qianghui arrived with their forces, the rear guard was already in disarray. The two commanders wasted no time, ordering their troops to fan out into smaller units of ten thousand, forming a net across the void to intercept fleeing aliens.
The Blue-Armored aliens, having finished off the enemy elites, struck from behind the vanguard. Already pushed to the brink, the vanguard found their retreat cut off. Attempts to flee to the flanks were thwarted by Qin Peng’s forces, which had sealed every possible escape route.
Some minor commanders, seeing their formations still intact, tried to break through. But Qin Peng was ready—he dispatched a hundred thousand troops to intercept every attempted breakout, crushing each one as it emerged.
Ye Liuyun then released the beasts by his side and sent his forces out to engage in combat, assisting in intercepting the fleeing alien soldiers. He also deployed the other alien elites he had held in reserve, unleashing them to help block the enemy’s escape.
These alien elites were formidable—each capable of sealing off vast stretches of space. With them on the frontlines, not a single enemy could slip away.
The other commanders observing the battle couldn’t help but reflect on the sheer scale of power required to annihilate an entire army in the void of space. With escape routes in every direction, numerical superiority was essential—anything less simply wouldn’t suffice.
Ye Liuyun even had his doppelganger attempt to use spatial power to lock down a section of the battlefield. While effective in containing a cluster of enemies, it was impossible to seal the entire expanse of the void.
"Truly, more forces are necessary," he admitted in the end. Without overwhelming numbers, victory was possible—but total annihilation was not.
By now, the alien army had realized escape was futile. With their commanders slain, discipline collapsed, and most of their ranks already decimated, surrender became their only option.
Yet Ye Liuyun saw no value in keeping them alive. He rejected their surrender outright, ordering his forces to continue honing their skills until every last alien was eradicated.
The battlefield was littered with alien corpses, drifting through the void—so many that even scavenging the spoils proved difficult. Still, Ye Liuyun had a solution. He set the Demon Vine, the Demon-Sealing Stele, and the alien elites to work, slowly gathering resources while Qin Peng’s troops secured the perimeter.
The battle itself had lasted half a day, but the cleanup took nearly a full day. The Demon Vine and the Demon-Sealing Stele gorged themselves on the abundant energy, stabilizing their newly ascended realms. Meanwhile, the alien elites, knowing future opportunities would be scarce, scavenged even the smallest trinkets—storage rings included.
Ye Liuyun waited patiently. Once the battlefield was cleared, he distributed the spoils among the alien forces. The corpses of the elite aliens went first to Broken Horn and Winged One, ensuring their cultivation bases remained stable. The remainder was allocated to the Three-Eyed Alien, accelerating his advancement. The others would have to wait until he had fully consolidated his gains before receiving their share.
As for the origin energy stored in the rings, Ye Liuyun claimed it all. The remaining resources, however, he left to the aliens.
The Demon Vine and the Demon-Sealing Stele had feasted well, their freshly broken-through realms now firmly anchored.
Meanwhile, the army commanders exchanged insights on void warfare tactics.
Once everyone had been recalled to his spatial world, Ye Liuyun summoned his falcon and pressed onward—deeper into alien territory.
According to Broken Horn’s memories, they were still far from the alien stronghold. Along the way, they would pass through several star systems, most of which had already been conquered by the aliens. These systems had been transformed into outposts, serving as defensive buffers for the alien stronghold.
If Ye Liuyun wanted to lead his troops to attack the alien stronghold, he would first need to capture these star systems.
After learning this, Ye Liuyun instructed Pei Yong to recruit and train as many soldiers as possible in preparation for the battles ahead.
All the armies were also intensifying their training, pushing their limits to get ready for the coming fights. Ye Liuyun had already warned them that they would face numerous battles against the aliens, so they needed to be mentally prepared.
After traveling for some time, the three-eyed alien in his spatial world finally broke through to the ninth level of the Dominator realm. Only then did Ye Liuyun distribute the remaining resources among the other aliens, allowing them to advance as well.
With three ninth-level Dominator aliens at his disposal, Ye Liuyun temporarily halted further cultivation of others, as the remaining resources weren’t enough to elevate another alien to that level.
As for the remaining twenty thousand blue-armored aliens, Ye Liuyun suddenly realized they could still be useful in battle, so he decided to keep them for now. After all, their future enemies would all be aliens, so resources wouldn’t be scarce. Once they had more supplies, he could always cultivate a few more ninth-level Dominator aliens.
This stretch of the journey was relatively quiet, giving Ye Liuyun time to focus on his own cultivation. Lately, he hadn’t engaged in many real battles—most of his encounters had been with elite alien warriors, forcing him to rely on his mastery of time and soul power.
