Chapter 2874: Chapter 2874
"It was too easy—why didn’t he use the Soul-Stilling Bell?"
Though puzzled, Ye Liuyun wasted no time and immediately rushed forward, planting a slave seal into Li Daoyuan’s divine soul.
"Li Daoyuan’s divine soul is actually this weak?" Ye Liuyun couldn’t help but feel surprised.
"Master, we succeeded!" Lin Qing’ao exclaimed excitedly.
He had never witnessed the true strength of Li Daoyuan’s divine soul before, but now it seemed utterly ordinary—no wonder he always relied on soul-defense treasures.
"Hmm?" Ye Liuyun casually swept his golden pupils over Li Daoyuan and suddenly realized something was off—his cultivation level was only at the first stage of Unity Realm.
Just as he was about to perform a soul-search on Li Daoyuan to uncover the truth behind his cultivation, an overwhelming aura erupted from Li Daoyuan’s training chamber. The moment it spread, everyone present shuddered in fear.
"Damn it! This is a decoy!" Ye Liuyun instantly realized the Li Daoyuan before him was a fake.
At the same time, his clone immediately turned his golden pupils toward the training chamber.
Li Daoyuan’s true body was charging out!
Without hesitation, the clone released his divine soul, forcing it into Li Daoyuan’s sea of consciousness.
But within Li Daoyuan’s mind, a Wind-Thunder Fan lay in wait. With a single flick, a tempest infused with lightning surged forth, crashing into the first invading soul. Though neither Ye Liuyun nor his clone feared lightning, the gale was specifically designed to repel souls—it violently expelled the intruding spirit.
The clone’s second soul rushed in immediately after, only to discover that Li Daoyuan’s true divine soul was far more formidable than the clone’s. Alone, he stood no chance.
Worse still, Li Daoyuan’s physical body had already begun attacking. If his soul didn’t return soon, his own body would be destroyed.
Even if he activated his temporal powers, Ye Liuyun’s main body was too far away for their time-based abilities to synchronize. At most, he could use his two divine souls to drag away one of Li Daoyuan’s, but then he’d have to retreat to defend against Li Daoyuan’s counterattack.
And if Li Daoyuan escaped with just one divine soul left, he’d be even more vulnerable. If he ran into any enemies along the way, he could easily be killed. Ye Liuyun needed to capture Li Daoyuan alive and intact—he couldn’t afford to let him die.
So the remaining divine soul of the clone held back from attacking. Meanwhile, Li Daoyuan, focused solely on defense, waved his fan again, sending the clone’s divine soul flying back.
Once both of the clone’s divine souls returned to its body, Li Daoyuan immediately struck, sending the clone hurtling away with a single palm strike.
Ye Liuyun, meanwhile, was directing the stunned experts and guards to charge at Li Daoyuan. But Li Daoyuan didn’t waste time engaging them—he struck down a few approaching guards with another palm strike before darting into the starry void.
The moment his clone had been attacked, he realized that Lin Qing’ao and the other experts had betrayed him. And when he discovered that the Soul-Suppressing Bell had been rendered useless, he knew someone had tampered with it.
Though he couldn’t immediately figure out how—he had only ever lent the bell to Li Xinran—he suspected Lin Qing’ao must have tricked her somehow.
With no time to dwell on it, he stowed the bell away and switched to the Wind-Thunder Fan for defense. His priority now was to escape and assess the situation later.
If Lin Qing’ao and the others had turned against him, they must have also found a way to control the guards. So he had already guessed that the guards were likely compromised as well.
He had wanted to take Li Xinran with him, but as soon as he emerged, the disguised clone—posing as a guard—attacked him. Meanwhile, the other experts and guards in the estate were already rushing toward him.
Realizing that lingering any longer would not only doom his rescue attempt but also trap him, he concluded that there might even be a trap waiting for him near Li Xinran. Without hesitation, he fled, deciding to find another way to save her later.
Ye Liuyun’s clone, having tempered its body through countless battles, managed to withstand Li Daoyuan’s strike. But by then, it was too late to coordinate an attack with Ye Liuyun’s main body.
Ye Liuyun led all the experts in pursuit, but Li Daoyuan’s superior cultivation and speed made escape effortless. Unable to catch up, Ye Liuyun had no choice but to return with his forces and devise another plan to deal with Li Daoyuan.
Upon returning, he immediately deployed a team of formation masters to set up defensive arrays, preparing for the possibility of Li Daoyuan’s sudden return.
As for Lin Qing’ao, he was utterly dumbfounded. He hadn’t expected Li Daoyuan to slip away even under these circumstances. Worse, he feared Ye Liuyun would blame him—after all, he hadn’t even known Li Daoyuan had a clone.
Through the slave mark, Ye Liuyun realized he hadn’t intentionally concealed anything and chose not to blame him. Instead, he ordered both him and Pang Yuan to hand over all their Divine Unity realm experts so he could store them in his spatial world.
His concern was that Li Daoyuan might return for revenge. If these two were killed by Li Daoyuan, the experts inside would perish for nothing.
Pang Yuan didn’t overthink it and immediately complied. However, when Lin Qing’ao released his people, he dropped to his knees, begging for mercy—he assumed Ye Liuyun intended to kill him.
Ye Liuyun had no choice but to explain, urging him to quickly devise a plan to counter Li Daoyuan. Meanwhile, he also had his doppelganger store Li Daoyuan’s own doppelganger in the spatial world to prevent Li Daoyuan from tracking its location.
When Li Xinran received the news, she reached out to Ye Liuyun through the slave mark for details and even tried contacting Li Daoyuan—but received no response.
Ye Liuyun told her, "Your father used his doppelganger as a decoy to escape! Contacting him is pointless. He’s probably guessed you’ve been subdued, so no matter what you say, he won’t believe you."
Ye Liuyun immediately went to her, instructing her to gather the rest of Li Daoyuan’s family into the spatial world before sending her to the Ancient Desolate Secret Realm for body refinement.
Meanwhile, his doppelganger emptied the Li family’s treasury and then inspected Li Daoyuan’s cultivation chamber, discovering some leftover resources—likely abandoned in his hasty departure.
As for the Li family’s guards, Ye Liuyun had Tian Dao Ye collect them into the spatial world as well. They were no longer useful; keeping them around would only be a hindrance since they stood no chance against Li Daoyuan.
All other unnecessary personnel were expelled from the Li estate, leaving the entire compound eerily silent—only Lin Qing’ao, Pang Yuan, and fifty Divine Unity experts remained.
Ye Liuyun then summoned a few formation masters to set up multiple defensive arrays within the estate, ensuring Lin Qing’ao and the others’ safety.
Just then, a blacksmith named Lin Huo, whom Ye Liuyun had previously captured, suddenly received a message from Li Daoyuan and immediately reported it.
Turns out, Li Daoyuan wanted him to repair the Soul Suppression Bell—its defensive capabilities far surpassed his Wind-Thunder Fan, and it had originally been forged by Lin Huo himself. Of course, Li Daoyuan had no idea Lin Huo had long been under Ye Liuyun’s control.
