Chapter 2920: Chapter 2920
After hearing An Ran’s introduction, Ye Liuyun immediately came up with a new idea and sent a mental message to Tang Xinyao, urging her to propose the suggestion.
Tang Xinyao wasted no time in rallying the others: "Let’s acquire some artifacts that can conceal our true cultivation levels and display them as Dominator Realm sixth or seventh stage. This way, we can lull the stronger opponents into complacency and catch them off guard when we strike.
Additionally, we should wear masks that prevent others from probing our identities. Even if we encounter people who recognize us, they won’t be able to see through our disguises."
Tang Hao and Tang Lie, the two disciples under Ye Liuyun’s control, immediately voiced their agreement.
Tang Qianyu, however, hesitated. "But we didn’t prepare such artifacts before coming here. Now that we’re already within the An Family’s territory, wouldn’t visiting a merchant guild to purchase them risk exposing our whereabouts?"
None of them had thought beforehand to conceal their appearances or cultivation levels, so they hadn’t brought any such equipment. They had only changed their clothing and prepared defensive artifacts, armor, and other gear to protect against soul attacks.
"No need to buy," Ye Liuyun chimed in smoothly. "A while back, I eliminated a group of martial cultivators from the Wan Family and happened to seize a batch of these artifacts. They’re ready to use." He promptly produced several items that could mask cultivation levels and prevent detection.
The merchant guilds within his spatial world carried every type of commodity imaginable. He could easily retrieve these artifacts from any of them without wasting time on purchases.
"Are these really gifts for us?" Tang Qianyu asked, eyeing the items.
"Of course," Ye Liuyun replied generously. "These things aren’t particularly valuable anyway—they can’t be exchanged for significant resources. Consider them small tokens for my senior brothers and sisters."
Tang Xinyao quickly took them. "Since our junior brother is being so generous, let’s not stand on ceremony. At the very least, it’s far more convenient than going out to buy them ourselves!"
Tang Hao and Tang Lie didn’t hesitate either, immediately taking the artifacts and putting them on. After familiarizing themselves briefly, they adjusted their displayed cultivation levels to Dominator Realm seventh stage. Seeing this, Tang Qianyu and the others had no choice but to follow suit. Now, outsiders would neither see their true appearances nor discern their actual strengths.
If the An Family’s elders and experts didn’t attack them immediately, Ye Liuyun would have a chance to get close to that golden source liquid.
With these disguises in place, Tang Xinyao felt slightly more at ease.
"What’s our plan once we enter the secret realm?" she transmitted mentally to Ye Liuyun.
Ye Liuyun transmitted a message to her as well: "Proceed with the exploration as planned. Keep everyone together and draw the attention of the An family elders. Since your current cultivation levels appear low, they likely won’t pay you much mind. I’ll find an opportunity during the fight to slip away and retrieve their Golden Source Liquid."
Tang Xinyao, however, voiced her concern: "But what if the An family elders refuse to let us go? Or if something happens to you while retrieving the Golden Source Liquid?"
Her worries were twofold—she feared they might fall into the hands of the An family again, and she dreaded the possibility of Ye Liuyun being captured, which would allow the An family to control them through him.
To reassure her, Ye Liuyun explained, "If you encounter a threat you can’t handle, use the array disks or defensive treasures and wait for me to come to your aid. Don’t fight recklessly!
"And don’t worry about me. I have plenty of martial cultivators by my side who can assist in battle—enough to deal with the An family’s experts. Just follow my orders. If I tell you to retreat, leave immediately. No hesitation."
Tang Xinyao still wanted to ask how many forces Ye Liuyun had at his disposal. But he ignored her question entirely, simply compelling her through the slave mark to carry out his commands. Helpless, she had no choice but to comply.
The truth was, Ye Liuyun had brought them along to serve as shields. However, he felt some obligation toward Tang Fengkuan, who had treated him well. If possible, he didn’t want these disciples to die here.
But the exact situation was still uncertain—it would depend on how many guards the An family had stationed.
When their flying vessel arrived near the An family’s base, it activated a concealment array from a distance, hiding within the void of space. This vessel had stealth capabilities, which was why Ye Liuyun had chosen it despite its slower speed.
Ye Liuyun then released Leiming, allowing her to take the form of a pet beast perched on his shoulder. "I’ll scout ahead first. Wait for my signal!"
Tang Qianyu glanced at the pet beast on his shoulder and nodded. Before their departure, Tang Xinyao had already informed them that Ye Liuyun would be the one to reconnoiter.
The other two disciples, meanwhile, studied the Thunder Dragon Beast on his shoulder, their gazes lingering on Leiming’s golden eyes. Leiming, in turn, assessed the state of their dantians with her penetrating vision. Only then did the two confirm that she truly possessed the ability to see through objects.
Cloaked in an invisibility mantle and holding Leiming, Ye Liuyun stepped out of the flying vessel. Tang Xinyao and the others remained inside, awaiting his report.
Once outside, he surveyed the surrounding void and found that the Wan family’s forces were no longer present. Likely, the An family had already dispatched people to eliminate them.
"Even better if there’s no one around!"
Ye Liuyun breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that none of the Wan family members were present. At least their retreat would be a little less troublesome now.
Without hesitation, he summoned Lei Ming back into his spatial world and cautiously made his way toward the An family’s Golden Source Secret Realm. Along the journey, his golden pupils and divine sense swept the surroundings, keeping a close watch for any movements from the An family.
Later, he even probed the secret realm from the void of space, observing the powerful experts the An family had stationed outside.
“The defensive force around the An family’s secret realm isn’t weak either—two Unity Realm second-level martial artists and ten Unity Realm first-level ones. For a secret realm that can’t be moved, this is already a considerable force. At the very least, they’ll slow down any attackers long enough for reinforcements to arrive.”
After assessing the situation, Ye Liuyun pondered how to deal with them. Then, he summoned his second clone, draping it in an invisibility cloak to monitor the An family’s movements from the outside.
This was one of the advantages of having multiple clones. If he had sent Lei Ming to keep watch, he wouldn’t have been at ease—knowing her playful nature, she might have gotten distracted and missed something important.
Following Tang Xinyao’s memories, he searched for the previously discovered flaw in the secret realm’s formation. He even released Qiong Qi, also cloaked in invisibility, to help analyze the formation.
However, the flaw in Tang Xinyao’s memory had already been patched. After circling the secret realm for a while, Ye Liuyun found no other vulnerabilities.
“No worries. This formation is already riddled with patches—it won’t be hard to pry open a gap,” Qiong Qi remarked casually after a brief inspection, effortlessly creating an opening.
“If it’s this easy... could it be a trap?” Ye Liuyun asked warily.
Qiong Qi pondered for a moment before nodding. “That’s possible. The original design of this secret realm’s formation was solid, but with all the patches slapped on over time, it’s become easy to breach. Using it as bait would be a clever move.”
