Chapter 2984: Chapter 2984
Ye Liuyun didn’t summon the demonic vine immediately, intending to use it as an unexpected trump card against his opponents.
But just then, his clone detected three more martial cultivators at the fifth level of the Guiyi Realm rushing toward them.
*Was Liu Yan lying to me? He said there were no strong fighters in this area. Or did I venture too far and draw them out?*
Puzzled, Ye Liuyun swiftly exited his spatial world.
The three latecomers—two arriving together and one approaching from a different direction—clearly weren’t allies. Yet, without exception, they all went straight to examine the dead demonic cultivator’s corpse.
"How did you kill him? Did you use some kind of treasure?" the lone cultivator demanded bluntly.
"Hand over whatever treasure you used!" one of the pair barked. "Your fight disrupted our cultivation. You’ll compensate us, or none of you are leaving!"
All three unleashed their oppressive auras, attempting to intimidate the group.
However, Ye Liuyun had slain the demonic cultivator too swiftly, and the distance had been too great for them to witness the actual moment of death. Studying the corpse, they concluded the kill hadn’t been direct—and given the apparent weakness of Ye Liuyun’s group, they assumed some external force must have been involved.
Ye Liuyun remained silent, deliberately glancing between the two factions.
His subtle hint made the three cultivators realize that if a treasure *was* involved, they’d have to fight over it. Immediately, their gazes turned hostile toward each other.
"What, you two dare challenge me?" the lone cultivator sneered, emboldened. "Shall I call my master here to teach you another lesson?"
One of the two men immediately put on a friendly smile and said to the martial cultivator, "Brother Kunhai, we’re just curious! We’ll leave as soon as we see what it is. No need to worry—we wouldn’t dare snatch it from you anyway."
As he spoke, he even tugged his companion back a few steps.
Though they pretended to retreat, their eyes were fixed on the treasure before them, unwilling to let it slip away. Secretly, they communicated through divine sense.
*"That treasure can kill a fifth-level Guiyi martial cultivator—taking out a sixth-level powerhouse would be no problem. If we can seize it, we’ll be invincible here."*
*"Exactly. Once the treasure appears, we’ll strike Kunhai with everything we’ve got. With it in our hands, we won’t have to fear him or his master anymore!"*
Their plan settled, they readied themselves to attack.
Seeing them step back, Kunhai ignored them. His only concern was securing the treasure first.
But Ye Liuyun’s golden pupils had already detected the two men subtly gathering their strength, clearly preparing to strike.
At first, he considered provoking them into fighting each other, but after a moment’s thought, he decided to issue the kill order outright.
*"Better to eliminate them directly. Fighters of their level could injure us just from the shockwaves of their battle."*
The martial cultivators here had incredibly dense true essence, their foundations solid. Ye Liuyun wasn’t willing to take risks. If he were alone, he might have tried. But with so many people around, he couldn’t guarantee everyone’s safety.
The moment his command was given, the Nine-Headed Demon Dragon and the Black Tiger unleashed beams of white light alongside him—each targeting one of the men. In an instant, the three powerful martial cultivators had their heads obliterated, their lifeless bodies plummeting from the sky. Not a single one escaped.
Ye Liuyun promptly stored all three corpses—along with the fallen demonic cultivator’s remains—into his spatial world. Lan Xin retrieved their storage rings before handing the bodies over to the Demon Vine for consumption.
But just as they thought the matter was settled, an overwhelming aura erupted in the distance, followed by a furious roar:
*"You little brats dare kill my disciple?! Prepare to die!"*
Then, they saw a massive palm of condensed true essence slowly forming in the sky, looming over them like an inescapable shadow.
Before the palm strike even descended, its overwhelming pressure had already crushed down upon them. The sheer terror of this power was far beyond anything they could hope to resist.
"Damn it, it must be Kunhai’s master monitoring us from afar!"
Ye Liuyun immediately realized they had been detected by a formidable expert. Worse still, the attack was coming from a distance—too far for them to counterattack. Their only option was defense.
He quickly sent a voice transmission to the group: "Xinyao, lead the others in a joint formation strike. The rest of you, follow her and attack with everything you’ve got!"
At the same time, he withdrew his doppelganger into his spatial world, only to summon it back out cloaked in an invisibility mantle, stealthily advancing toward the distant powerhouse.
Above them, the massive condensed palm of energy began its descent.
Tang Xinyao and the guards swiftly formed their battle array, channeling their combined strength into a single devastating strike. The others poured every ounce of their true essence into her attack.
Ye Liuyun, too, unleashed his full power, merging his profound energy and the force of heaven and earth into a single palm strike that fused with the group’s combined might.
**BOOM!**
A deafening explosion erupted as the incoming energy palm shattered, dispersing into chaotic bursts of power in the air.
"We blocked it!"
"Just what realm is this powerhouse at? That kind of force is insane!"
Relief washed over them, though curiosity about the attacker’s cultivation level lingered.
"Hmph! Let’s see how many strikes you can withstand!"
The cold voice of the powerhouse rang out again. Another colossal energy palm began forming in the sky.
Unease flickered in the eyes of the group.
They had already exhausted a tremendous amount of their true essence with such relentless attacks, leaving them with barely enough for two more strikes at most. Having fought for an entire day, even the reserves in their energy-storing stones were nearly depleted. Even if they could still muster some, they likely wouldn’t be able to withstand more than six or seven more palm strikes.
If that powerhouse had more true essence reserves than them, their lives would be in grave danger. Even if they somehow managed to scrape by with their remaining energy, once their true essence ran dry in a place like this, they’d be nothing more than lambs before a pack of wolves.
"Hold the line—don’t overthink it! My clone has already gone to deal with that powerhouse!"
Ye Liuyun sent a mental message to the group, bolstering their morale.
"Prepare!" Tang Xinyao also ordered the guards to gather their strength once more.
Then, as the massive palm descended, they mustered their full power to counter it, barely managing to block another strike from the powerhouse.
"Sixth-level Unity Realm," the clone reported to Ye Liuyun after slipping through the chaos to observe the powerhouse’s cultivation level.
Ye Liuyun immediately relayed the information, sending a ripple of shock through the group.
"So this is the strength of a Sixth-level Unity Realm expert!"
It had taken more than twenty of them, with nine amplifying their power through formations, just to barely withstand a single palm strike from such a powerhouse.
Meanwhile, the powerhouse frowned, surprised that these people had managed to block his attack. However, having witnessed the white light attacks from Ye Liuyun, the Nine-Headed Demon Dragon, and the Black Tiger, he didn’t dare approach. Instead, he could only rely on long-range strikes, keeping his distance.
He estimated that their true essence reserves would allow them to block only one more of his attacks at most. So, with another full-powered palm strike, he observed their reactions.
Yet, to his surprise, there was no trace of panic on their faces—only focused determination as they gathered their true essence, ready to meet his strike head-on.
