Chapter 2933: Chapter 2933
Over the course of a few months, Ye Liuyun and his companions had methodically swept through the outermost planets of the Scattered Demon Realm, reclaiming them one by one.
During this time, Ye Liuyun had already scouted the next ring of planets and found them teeming with even more ancient demons—stronger and far more numerous than before.
Now, they could no longer launch direct assaults on the locations where the source energy lay. Instead, they had to land in sparsely populated areas and advance step by step, whittling down the ancient demons’ forces to lessen the pressure for the final confrontation.
But the planets in the next ring inward were dominated by massive tribes, each swarming with ancient demons. Even with their current strength, taking on a single demon tribe required their full effort.
To their dismay, the moment they engaged, neighboring tribes rushed to reinforce their enemies. From the very first battle, they had to rely on Qiong Qi to set up defensive formations—otherwise, they wouldn’t have stood a chance.
Qiong Qi suggested that Ye Liuyun summon a full army to aid in the fight. With just their current numbers, even if they continuously captured prisoners, they couldn’t quickly build a formidable force.
The Scattered Demon Realm spanned hundreds of planets. If they continued at this sluggish pace, it might take them decades to reclaim them all.
Ye Liuyun checked in on the number of ancient demons Heishan had captured so far—barely a thousand. However, most were at the Unity Realm. The weaker ones had already been released as expendable troops, a clear sign that Heishan was prioritizing elite soldiers over maintaining a horde of weaker demons that would drain resources.
"A thousand Unity Realm ancient demons—that’s equivalent to several major tribes," Ye Liuyun mused.
After some thought, he concluded that they still had the strength to expand rapidly. Moreover, the combat abilities of the women and demonic beasts under his command were improving swiftly, and his second clone’s spiritual power was steadily growing.
Ye Liuyun estimated that, if they persisted a little longer, his second clone’s spiritual power would soon match his own, and the women would be sufficiently battle-hardened.
So he pressed on, continuing to fight and capture prisoners. He even assigned Li Daoyuan and a group of martial artists with strong spiritual power to assist Heishan in capturing more demons.
Though progress was slow, they eventually reached the source energy’s location—only to be stunned by what awaited them.
Tens of thousands of ancient demons stood in disciplined formation, ready for battle. Leading them were over thirty experts at the third level of the Unity Realm. It seemed the demons had realized their planets were being seized and had rallied every last warrior to defend their home.
As Ye Liuyun surveyed the sea of enemies before him, he understood their resolve. They were fighting for their homeland. And for a moment, even he couldn’t help but feel that their relentless slaughter had made them no different from the very invaders they despised.
He once again attempted to communicate with the Divine Decree Token, wanting to check whether it had collected enough energy. If it had, there would be no need for him to continue slaughtering these ancient demons.
The Divine Decree Token remained silent at first, but after a moment, it suddenly manifested, casting a golden light over the horde of ancient demons ahead before swiftly retreating back into Ye Liuyun’s consciousness.
The ancient demons immediately erupted into roars and chaotic arguments. Shortly after, more than half of them emerged from their encampment, dispersing into the distance. The remaining demons, however, stood their ground, poised for battle.
"What’s going on?" Ye Liuyun asked in confusion, turning to Qiong Qi.
"Seems the Divine Decree Token persuaded some of them to leave. The rest? They’re determined to fight you to the death!" Qiong Qi speculated, eyeing the expressions of the remaining demons.
After speaking, Qiong Qi busied himself reinforcing their defensive formations. Even with many demons gone, around twenty thousand remained—a formidable force. Among them were still over a dozen at the Unity Realm. Without the protection of their formations, if the demons charged en masse, Ye Liuyun and his group would be hard-pressed to hold them off.
Fortunately, none of the ancient demons they faced were adept at breaking formations. They rarely used treasures, lacking even basic defenses against soul attacks, which gave Ye Liuyun’s side a significant advantage.
"ROAR!"
A Unity Realm demon at the third level bellowed, leading the entire horde in a frenzied charge toward Ye Liuyun and his allies.
"Can we hold them back?" Ye Liuyun asked Qiong Qi, concerned.
He was worried about the sheer number of third-level Unity Realm demons leading the assault—their formations might not withstand the onslaught.
Qiong Qi, however, remained unfazed. "No problem. We’ll repair the formations as we fight!"
"Then let’s fight!" Ye Liuyun declared to his companions, leading them into the outer defensive formations.
The ancient demons surged forward rapidly. Some breached the formations, while others bombarded them from the outside. The thunderous impacts of their attacks resounded as the battle erupted once more.
The leader of the demon horde, a Unity Realm powerhouse, charged straight into the formation, where Ye Liuyun intercepted him. The moment the demon laid eyes on Ye Liuyun, it lunged without hesitation.
It had just witnessed Ye Liuyun stepping to the front of the group, realizing that he was the leader of these people. But when it sensed that Ye Liuyun’s cultivation was only at the eighth level of the Dominator Realm, it let out a wild laugh, swung its spiked mace, and smashed down toward his head with brutal force.
However, the space around Ye Liuyun was layered in multiple overlapping dimensions. The mace merely plunged into the void, collapsing several layers of space without ever reaching him.
In the brief moment the creature hesitated, it suddenly felt the space around itself lock into place. Unfazed, it roared furiously, unleashing both spatial energy and true essence in an explosive burst, attempting to shatter Ye Liuyun’s spatial confinement.
Yet, the spatial force it had just released was immediately crushed by an even higher-dimensional pressure. Just as it prepared to gather strength for another assault, it abruptly realized—along with the space surrounding it—that it had been forcibly teleported into a spatial the Null.
Panic set in. With a desperate surge of all its true essence and physical might, it barely managed to tear free just before the the Null sealed shut completely.
"The power of the third level of the Unity Realm truly is formidable!" Ye Liuyun mused, surprised that the creature had managed to brute-force its way out.
Though the ancient demon’s body was now riddled with deep gashes, blood streaming freely, leaving it in a wretched state, it had still managed to escape—thanks to its overwhelming true essence and monstrously resilient physique.
Now, however, it could only kneel on the ground, panting heavily, clearly drained from the ordeal.
Ye Liuyun gave it no time to recover. In an instant, he teleported both the demon and the surrounding space into his own spatial domain.
Once inside, the ancient demon found itself completely immobilized under Ye Liuyun’s control. His spatial world contained hundreds of planets, and the sheer power of its foundational energy was beyond any resistance the demon could muster. Suppressing it to the point of utter helplessness was effortless.
The demon roared in fury, thrashing uselessly before finally resorting to launching its divine soul directly into Ye Liuyun’s consciousness. The savage nature of these ancient demons left no room for surrender.
Without hesitation, Ye Liuyun branded its soul with a slave seal, then delved into its memories to uncover what the Ten Thousand Gods’ Decree had done to them—and why their ranks had fractured.
