Chapter 2993: Chapter 2993
Ye Liuyun arrived at the scene shortly after.
"Almost done. Let’s move!"
Earlier, when the powerful expert had chased after the thieving cat, he had unleashed his full aura, alerting all the martial cultivators in the vicinity. Some were already closing in to investigate.
Without hesitation, the three of them retreated, teleporting through space back to their residence in the city.
Ye Liuyun handed all the corpses over to Lan Xin for disposal, along with the Interspatial Ring taken from the captured expert at the sixth level of the Guiyi Realm.
"Feed the bodies to the Demon Vine," he instructed before proceeding to extract the memories of the sixth-level Guiyi expert through soul-searching.
"Turns out he was a spy planted by the Dragon Head Bandits!"
The information Ye Liuyun obtained surprised him.
The spy, named Gao Hong, had already received intelligence that the First Star Bandits had recruited more than just three sixth-level Guiyi experts as external reinforcements. From what he knew alone, the number exceeded ten—all bound by soul contracts to ensure their loyalty.
And that was just the hired help. According to Gao Hong’s analysis, the leader of the First Star Bandits had likely also broken through to the sixth level of the Guiyi Realm.
Moreover, the First Star Bandits already had several sixth-level Guiyi experts among their ranks, though they usually remained scattered in seclusion rather than staying with the group. Otherwise, how else could they maintain control over such formidable outlaws?
Gao Hong’s mission was to wait here, preparing to lead a group of bandits in raiding the city. Many of the fifth-level Guiyi martial cultivators Ye Liuyun had killed tonight had already pledged allegiance to the Dragon Head Bandits and would have been under Gao Hong’s command.
The Dragon Head Bandits had already decided to launch an attack on the First Star Bandits the moment they emerged from the secret realm. Whether or not they had found any treasures, they planned to ambush them while simultaneously exploiting the city’s weakened defenses to seize control.
Ye Liuyun wasn’t particularly interested in the feud between these two bandit factions. What shocked him was the true strength of the First Star Bandits—he realized that competing for the treasure would be far more challenging than he had anticipated.
"Just the external reinforcements alone number over ten. Their own experts must at least match that. If I want to make a move, my current forces are nowhere near enough!"
After some thought, he decided it would be wise to capture more people in advance. These captured warriors could be used against the First Star Bandits or other powerful figures in the Desolate Sea.
With that in mind, he and his avatar set out once more with the Thieving Cat, heading in a different direction this time. Ye Liuyun instructed the cat to stealthily abduct several Fifth-Level Unity Realm martial artists, while he and his avatar used spatial techniques to ambush and capture six Sixth-Level Unity Realm warriors.
However, there weren’t many Sixth-Level Unity Realm martial artists in the area, so their options were limited. Realizing this, Ye Liuyun, his avatar, and the Thieving Cat swiftly traversed the void to another city. They had already stirred up enough trouble here—it was time to move on.
Upon arriving at the next city, Ye Liuyun and his avatar began targeting Sixth-Level Unity Realm experts on the outskirts, while the Thieving Cat slipped in to snatch Fifth-Level Unity Realm warriors. By the time dawn approached, they had captured twelve more expert before returning to their hideout.
"Seventeen Sixth-Level Unity Realm martial artists should hold them off for a while. We can capture more later if needed—there are bound to be even stronger warriors in the Desolate Sea," Ye Liuyun mused.
With that, he ceased further operations and handed the stolen resources to Lan Xin for sorting. As expected, the spoils from these warriors contained many valuable treasures. Ye Liuyun divided them into four portions—one for himself and his two avatars, one for the beasts, one for the women, and one for Tang Xinyao and her group.
Rather than immediately diving into cultivation, he took Tang Xinyao and Tang Hao to the local merchant guild.
The moment they stepped inside, Pang Muxi spotted them and hurried over.
"Mr. Ye, what brings you to our guild today? Looking to purchase something?"
Ye Liuyun got straight to the point. "I’d like to exchange some of my origin energy for the origin energy of the Primordial World."
Pang Muxi wasn’t surprised—he knew they had amassed a considerable amount of origin energy, especially after recently eliminating several bandit groups.
"No problem. The exchange rate is one-to-one, with a small transaction fee, of course." He then seized the opportunity to upsell. "But are you sure you don’t need anything else? The Desolate Sea is fraught with danger—wouldn’t you like to make some additional preparations?"
Ye Liuyun took the opportunity to inquire about the available resources here and found the exchange rates quite reasonable. In the end, he exchanged for a thousand units of the Primordial World’s origin energy and some high-tier resources with special attributes.
However, he made sure not to offer anything beyond what they had openly "plundered," so as not to arouse Pang Muxi’s suspicions. Even so, Pang Muxi couldn’t help but remark with a meaningful tone, praising their recent "harvest."
"Ah, all spent in one go! But it’s necessary for our cultivation on the road. We’ll have to earn more resources slowly from now on," Ye Liuyun replied humbly.
Yet inwardly, he was uneasy—Pang Muxi seemed to suspect they had killed those missing experts.
Sure enough, seeing that Ye Liuyun gave nothing away, Pang Muxi cut straight to the chase. "Did you hear? Last night, something happened outside the city. Many strong cultivators... vanished!"
"Vanished?" Ye Liuyun feigned confusion, then asked, "What realm were they in?"
"All at the fifth or sixth level of the Harmonized Unity Realm," Pang Muxi said, watching their reactions closely.
"Experts of that caliber? What could have happened?" Ye Liuyun widened his eyes in exaggerated surprise.
Pang Muxi smirked and countered, "But didn’t you all manage to fight off a sixth-level Harmonized Unity expert before?"
Ye Liuyun’s heart skipped a beat—*So they already know about our previous battle.*
He didn’t deny it but sighed wryly. "That was only possible with our entire group working together in a joint attack formation. We’d never dare provoke such experts on our own!"
Tang Xinyao and Tang Hao played their parts perfectly. Tang Hao remained expressionless as usual, while Tang Xinyao seamlessly matched Ye Liuyun’s act. Pang Muxi found nothing amiss.
After some thought, he also dismissed the idea that Ye Liuyun’s group could have silently taken out so many powerful figures. So he dropped the subject.
Instead, he made small talk. "Still, your strength is impressive. With your abilities, resources won’t be a problem in the future. Once you officially join us, just take on a few missions—you’ll earn it all back in no time!"
*So he already knows about my plan to join the expedition team and seek their protection. The Star Bandits sure spread information fast. Good thing I was cautious and didn’t exchange too much this time—otherwise, suspicions would’ve been raised.*
Ye Liuyun mused silently before casually exchanging a few more words with Pang Muxi and leaving the merchant guild.
Afterward, they headed to a tavern for a meal, stocking up on extra food and wine for the road. They also hoped to catch any rumors circulating among the local martial artists about the incident.
