Chapter 2838: Chapter 2838
Ye Liuyun managed to block the demon vine’s strike, even though he had thrown that punch while still unfamiliar with his newfound power. Once he fully mastered it, the force behind his strikes would undoubtedly grow even stronger.
"Seems like I’ll have to ramp up my strength next time!" the demon vine remarked to Ye Liuyun.
"Sure," Ye Liuyun nodded. "Just take it slow—no need to go all out at once."
He knew that if the demon vine unleashed its full power, even with his recent breakthrough, he wouldn’t stand a chance.
After familiarizing himself with the strength of the Dominator Sixth Level, Ye Liuyun immediately returned to his training to consolidate his gains.
But he wasn’t the only one making progress. Thunderclap, the Dragon Maiden, Liang Xue, Wu Qingcheng, and even the demonic beasts had all broken through their own bottlenecks around the same time.
They frequently ventured into the void to spar, testing and adapting to their enhanced abilities.
Before long, even the Black Tiger achieved a breakthrough. His weaker aspects—bloodline and soul power—had been refined, and with the ample resources Ye Liuyun had provided, especially after absorbing the core of a Unity Realm martial artist, the Black Tiger finally ascended to Unity First Level.
Once the Black Tiger stabilized his new strength, Ye Liuyun had him spar with Liao Tianyang. However, due to Liao Tianyang’s comparatively weaker physique, he ended up losing the match.
After both had replenished their energy, Ye Liuyun pitted the Black Tiger against Black Mountain. This time, the Black Tiger was outmatched—Black Mountain’s overall prowess was simply too formidable. Still, the fight helped the Black Tiger better grasp the nuances of Unity Realm power.
Ye Liuyun then instructed the Black Tiger to store the uninhabited planet into his spatial world and handed him a stockpile of harvested Three-Eyed Alien cores for refinement. He even gifted him a Shapeshifting Pill, prompting the overjoyed beast to nuzzle Ye Liuyun affectionately with his massive head.
Feeling the pressure, both Black Mountain and Liao Tianyang retreated into the spatial world of Ye Liuyun’s clone to intensify their training. Ye Liuyun also tasked Lin Luoyi with crafting specialized elixirs tailored to their needs, ensuring their weaker attributes were swiftly bolstered.
Meanwhile, Ye Liuyun himself traveled through the void toward the star system Liao Tianyang had charted, honing his spatial power along the way. Whenever they encountered wild beasts or rogue cultivators, he and his clone would lead the group into battle, using each skirmish to further adapt to their enhanced abilities.
Among his powers, his mastery of World Force advanced the fastest. Every day, he and his clone took turns projecting their souls into the spatial world to attune themselves to the energy of heaven and earth. Sparring sessions with the demon vine became increasingly intense, with each strike pushing the limits of his endurance.
Yet, every minor improvement on his part made it difficult for the demon vine to gauge its strength—sometimes it struck with the same force as before, other times it overcompensated and left Ye Liuyun severely injured. But he never complained, treating each wound as another trial in his relentless pursuit of strength.
As Ye Liuyun’s strength continued to steadily grow, he encountered a group of martial cultivators while attempting to harvest the essence of a planet. These cultivators slightly outnumbered his own group and were marginally stronger—perfect for a training bout. Without hesitation, Ye Liuyun summoned his companions, ready for a fierce battle.
The leader of the opposing group, a ninth-level Dominator Realm martial cultivator named Jing Tao, took one look at Ye Liuyun’s party—particularly the number of women among them—and immediately saw an opportunity to subjugate them.
"I am Jing Tao," he declared, his tone dripping with arrogance, accustomed to instilling fear just by dropping his name.
But when Ye Liuyun and his companions showed no reaction, Jing Tao assumed they simply hadn’t recognized him. He sneered and added, "From the Four Directions Star System! My boss is Li Kuo!"
Ye Liuyun and the others could tell he was just puffing himself up. Maybe this "Li Kuo" was notorious in these parts, but they were outsiders—they neither knew nor cared about local power structures. Besides, the way Jing Tao referred to his superior as "boss" made it clear they were nothing more than mercenaries or bandits, not some legitimate royal force.
"Enough talk!" Thunderclap barked, hands on her hips, exuding more swagger than any of Jing Tao’s thugs. "Either fight or get lost!"
Since breaking through to the sixth level of the Dominator Realm, she had been itching for a fight, her words always laced with provocation.
Jing Tao scoffed. "You must be outsiders. Ignorant fools! My boss, Li Kuo, is a Unity Realm expert—he’ll be here soon. And our Four Directions Star System has four Unity Realm powerhouses!"
His eyes swept over their cultivation levels, noting that the strongest among them—Vermilion Bird and Scarlet Viper—were only at the eighth level of the Dominator Realm. Clearly, they had no idea how terrifying a Unity Realm cultivator could be.
"Your cultivation is too low to grasp the might of a Unity Realm expert," he sneered. "Let me put it this way—one Unity Realm warrior could wipe out all of us without breaking a sweat. Now do you understand the gap?"
He smirked, expecting shock or fear to dawn on their faces. Instead, he was met with either outright disdain or expressions as if they were staring at an idiot.
The silence stretched awkwardly. No one played along with his bravado, leaving him standing there, the wind thoroughly taken out of his sails.
He could only fake a cough to save face, saying, "Forget it! You people wouldn’t understand even if I explained. Let’s settle this with action! I was going easy on you since there are women in your group, but your ignorance has pissed me off..."
As he spoke, his gaze locked onto Ye Liuyun, assuming he was the leader of the group, and decided to strike at him first.
But Lei Ming couldn’t hold back any longer and said to Ye Liuyun, "Bro, stop listening to this idiot’s nonsense. Let’s just take him down already?"
Ye Liuyun and the others had already guessed what the man was about to say and do—they were just waiting to see his little performance. But after Lei Ming’s remark, Ye Liuyun agreed it was better to act now before the man spewed something vulgar that might offend the women’s ears.
Since they’d have to fight sooner or later anyway, Ye Liuyun didn’t hesitate any longer. He raised his blade and swung it straight at Jing Tao.
"Attack!"
At Ye Liuyun’s command, the group immediately charged forward.
Ye Liuyun’s strike was lightning-fast, arriving in an instant. Jing Tao barely had time to react, forced to unleash all his Qi energy in a desperate defense.
With a thunderous crash, most of the blade’s force was blocked—but not before leaving a deep gash from Jing Tao’s face down to his chest. The sight was almost comical, turning his once-imposing demeanor into sheer humiliation.
"You dare ambush me, you little brat? You’re dead!" Jing Tao’s face twisted in fury. He quickly channeled his Qi to heal the wound, then retaliated with a powerful punch aimed at Ye Liuyun.
Both sides clashed in an instant, the battle erupting in full force.
