Chapter 2891: Chapter 2891
"Very well! We’ll still need your soul power to deal with the other two families. You should find a safe place to cultivate first."
Qiong Qi also realized that brute force wouldn’t work against the other two clans. The strength of these great families far exceeded his expectations.
Especially their main headquarters—they were teeming with powerful experts. The Zhou family was a prime example. If not for the beast’s surprise self-destruction tactic, they might have been surrounded by even more formidable opponents.
Ye Liuyun considered for a moment and decided that the Qin family would be the safest option. Without delay, he activated the Spirit Cat Battleship, traversing the void to return. To avoid drawing attention, he stowed the battleship away early and covered the final stretch at full speed on his own.
Upon arriving, he relayed news about the Wan family, simply stating that their beasts had gone berserk and they were too preoccupied to pose a threat, so the Qin family needn’t worry.
Timing-wise, his journey had been perfectly calculated.
But Qin Mengxi was skeptical. "You just happened to arrive at the Wan family right when their beasts revolted? That’s far too convenient."
Ever since Ye Liuyun had stirred up trouble last time—inciting martial artists to kill Wan family elders and disciples—she had pegged him as anything but harmless. Now, the moment he left, the Wan family suffered a catastrophe? She didn’t buy such a coincidence. Still, since his actions hadn’t harmed her family, she saw no reason to expose him.
Instead, she confronted him directly, hoping he’d include her in future operations so she could broaden her horizons.
Ye Liuyun couldn’t admit anything, insisting it was pure chance and sidestepping her request.
Qin Mengxi was simply too weak—bringing her along would only hold him back. This time, he hadn’t even deployed his usual allies, not even Tian Dao.
"Are you looking down on me because of my low cultivation?" she pressed bluntly.
"Of course not. I really didn’t do anything!" he deflected, though the words rang hollow.
Qin Mengxi didn’t press further. Instead, she turned and left to cultivate, determined to catch up to him in strength.
But what she didn’t know was that although Ye Liuyun was only one level higher than her in cultivation, his actual combat prowess far surpassed hers. Moreover, his battle experience was something she might not match even after years of training.
Ye Liuyun merely glanced at her briefly. Seeing that she wasn’t going to report him but had instead gone to cultivate, he relaxed and led everyone back into the spatial world of his avatar to accelerate their training.
The divine souls that had surged into his consciousness sea had just been fully digested by the Ten Thousand Gods Token. With such an overwhelming amount of soul energy, Ye Liuyun had his avatar release the souls again so they could both absorb them together.
The secret realm he had seized from the Zhou family, he now knew, was specifically for condensing soul energy. So after absorbing all this soul power, he planned to refine it further.
Meanwhile, Qiong Qi went to absorb the fire sources. He would take half for himself, leaving the other half for Ye Liuyun.
Ye Tian Dao, on the other hand, used the Five-Colored Body Tempering Stone to train his physical body. This stone was even more comprehensive than the Sword Wind and Blade Rain Canyon in enhancing physical strength—the canyon only improved metal-based attributes.
The Five-Colored Body Tempering Stone not only enhanced overall body quality but also purified impurities within the flesh.
After absorbing massive amounts of soul energy, both Ye Liuyun and his avatar found their soul forms growing three to four times larger. However, their current soul shapes appeared hazy, clearly not yet fully refined after absorption.
"Perfect timing to enter that soul secret realm and test its effects!"
Without delay, Ye Liuyun stepped into the soul secret realm to continue refining his soul.
The secret realm was already under his complete control. Some Zhou family disciples were still cultivating inside, but Ye Liuyun subdued them all and handed them over to Ye Tian Dao for disposal.
Within the secret realm, there was an immense pressure bearing down on the soul—the closer one moved toward the center, the stronger the pressure became. Relying on the sheer strength of their souls, Ye Liuyun and his avatar strode straight to the heart of the realm and began their refinement.
Immediately, their hazy soul forms were compressed, shrinking rapidly. This compression inflicted excruciating pain on their souls. The Ten Thousand Gods Token in Ye Liuyun’s possession instantly radiated a brilliant light, keeping him conscious.
His avatar, however, didn’t last long before collapsing into unconsciousness.
Using his golden pupils, Ye Liuyun observed that even though his avatar had passed out, the compression process continued uninterrupted—meaning the effect remained unchanged.
"Ah!" Ye Liuyun sighed, actually feeling envious of his clone.
The agony of the soul was an inhuman torment. He wished he could just pass out, but the Divine Order Token kept him painfully awake. All he could do was endure, treating it as a form of self-tempering.
Yet, precisely because of this torment, his soul power had been compressed far more densely than his clone’s. Once Ye Liuyun noticed this difference, he immediately yanked his clone’s soul back into his own consciousness, forcing it to endure the same excruciating suffering.
Within the secret realm, the compression of the soul progressed rapidly. In less than two days, Ye Liuyun’s soul had shrunk back to its original size.
"Whew!"
Ye Liuyun finally exhaled in relief.
His soul had now been compressed to its absolute limit, and the unbearable pain had gradually faded. Observing his current soul state, though its size had returned to normal, it had solidified to the point of resembling a physical body. Even its attacks now carried tangible force.
"This condensed soul is truly powerful! Seems my previous soul wasn’t refined enough!"
Judging by the size of his soul, Ye Liuyun realized that his original soul had also undergone significant compression.
Without delay, he hurried to the Ancient Desolate Secret Realm and ushered everyone else into the Soul Refinement Realm.
"Your physical training is mostly complete. Now, go refine your souls!"
Thus, the group entered the secret realm to temper their souls, while Ye Liuyun himself returned to the Five-Colored Body Tempering Stone to further hone his physique.
This time, under the stone’s influence, his body expelled even more impurities, elevating his physical strength yet again.
He had the three Unity Realm beasts subdued by Qiong Qi take turns attacking both him and his clone. Whether the assaults were spiritual or physical, he didn’t bother defending—no matter how hard the beasts tried, they couldn’t lay a finger on him.
Now, his clone’s soul and physical strength had finally caught up to the original body.
"Only the power of bloodline remains! Once we seize the Blood Spirit Pool from the Tang family, you’ll be completely on par with me," Ye Liuyun told his clone.
The clone, however, reminded him, "If we can secure the An family’s secret realm with that golden liquid, maybe we can use it to create another clone. The tree demon’s Golden Transformation Fruit has long ripened—it’s been reserved for you all this time."
Ye Liuyun nodded in agreement, his anticipation growing. "The Dragon Pool in the Hidden Dragon Academy definitely won’t be enough for my current level of absorption. We’ll see—if there’s enough of that golden liquid, crafting another clone wouldn’t be a bad idea!"
