Chapter 2996: Chapter 2996
That very evening, as dusk settled, Liu Yan came to find Ye Liuyun and his companions.
As soon as the clone saw him approaching, it immediately released Tang Xinyao and the others, stepping out of the main tent to wait. Liu Yan politely cupped his hands in greeting, expressing his thanks, then motioned for them to follow before swiftly leading the way.
This scene left the other martial cultivators and team captains baffled, unsure of where they were headed. None of the other expedition teams had any idea what had transpired the previous night.
Ye Liuyun and his group waited inside Liu Yan’s tent until full darkness fell. Then, they boarded a flying vessel with Liu Yan’s team and set off toward the target city.
When Li Qingyang saw Ye Liuyun’s arrival, he merely gave a slight nod in acknowledgment, offering no further greeting. He then used his true essence to conjure a topographical map, assigning defensive positions to all the bandit captains. Each strong cultivator’s location was clearly marked—traitors were denoted by black dots, while ordinary martial cultivators were marked with red.
The clone memorized the entire map. Meanwhile, Ye Liuyun, gauging the flying vessel’s landing spot, had already begun plotting their sequence of attacks with the Thieving Cat.
Surprisingly, there were over thirty experts at the sixth level of the Unity Realm aboard the vessel. However, since they all wore identical uniforms, Ye Liuyun couldn’t distinguish between members of the bandit group and their external reinforcements.
The flying vessel landed early to avoid alerting the martial cultivator elites. The ordinary bandit members sprinted to their prearranged ambush points, while the stronger fighters remained aboard for the time being, not joining the initial movement.
Once the clone was a safe distance from the vessel, it sent the Thieving Cat ahead to lie in wait. Upon reaching their assigned defensive position, it released Ye Liuyun, who was cloaked in an invisibility mantle.
Ye Liuyun traversed the void, hurrying to the locations marked with red dots—those belonging to non-traitorous Unity Realm experts. Using his temporal power to freeze time, he branded them with slave seals before stashing them away in his spatial world.
After swiftly subduing all three Unity Realm experts in the vicinity with this method, he immediately returned to the ambush point where the clone and the others lay hidden, waiting in stealth for any elites attempting to flee through that route.
Meanwhile, the Thieving Cat struck as soon as the elites from the flying vessel dispersed in groups of three, heading toward the traitors’ positions. It outpaced them, stealthily picking them off one by one. Each time, mere moments after it made its move, martial cultivator elites would arrive to investigate.
The elites dispatched by the First Star Bandits were equally bewildered—after killing their targets, they found no spoils of battle whatsoever.
This time, fewer traitors managed to escape. Some had lost the life-saving treasures they relied on, leaving them no choice but to fight head-on against the three elites, ultimately meeting their demise.
Only a few spies who were farther away managed to flee after receiving advance warning.
The martial cultivator fleeing toward Liu Yan’s side was only at the Fifth Level of the Guiyi Realm. Ye Liuyun didn’t bother intercepting him personally, instead sending his clone with Tang Xinyao and the others to cut off his escape.
Liu Yan and his subordinates also joined in, attacking the cultivator relentlessly. By the time reinforcements arrived, the spy’s true energy had been completely drained, and he was swiftly executed.
The same wasn’t just happening on their side—battles erupted in every direction, the thunderous clashes echoing through the night.
Before long, the Thieving Cat returned and was promptly stowed away in Ye Liuyun’s spatial world.
"Got about twenty of them," the cat reported. "The rest either already started fighting or got wind of the plan and bolted early."
Ye Liuyun praised him. Their target for the night had been over thirty individuals, so letting fewer than half escape was a decent outcome.
Suddenly, he sensed a Sixth-Level Guiyi expert charging toward them, pursued at a distance by two of their own allies.
Ye Liuyun immediately activated his temporal power, darting forward to devour the man’s soul, snatch his Interspatial Ring, and retreat just as swiftly.
The fleeing cultivator abruptly plummeted from the sky, leaving his pursuers stunned. Cautiously, they approached to investigate, exchanging bewildered glances when they confirmed he was truly dead—unable to fathom who had struck him down.
Noticing the missing Interspatial Ring, they immediately turned back to search, assuming the man must have discarded it earlier in his flight.
After that, no more strong opponents came from Ye Liuyun’s direction. He remained where he was, quietly absorbing the newly acquired soul energy.
Gradually, the tremors of battle from other fronts faded away. Soon after, Liu Yan received the order to withdraw and led the group back, visibly relieved.
He had no idea Ye Liuyun had intercepted a Sixth-Level Guiyi expert for them. Still, he considered stopping a Fifth-Level cultivator a decent achievement—at least it had spared some of his subordinates’ lives.
Ye Liuyun swiftly rejoined his clone, who then teleported him back into the spatial world.
On the way back, Liu Yan couldn’t stop praising their combined attack formation and promptly handed over the promised two hundred units of origin power to the avatar right then and there.
Once they boarded the flying vessel, they immediately set off on their return journey. Meanwhile, the gathered powerhouses were deep in discussion, trying to make sense of the bizarre events of the night. Two spies had been severely injured and captured alive, but one of their storage rings was completely empty, while the other still held all its resources.
The only way the powerhouses could gather information was through soul-searching, but the results left them baffled—even the spies themselves had no idea how their resources had been stolen.
Li Qingyang frowned in frustration, suspecting that some hidden expert might have intervened. Yet, even if someone had acted, it didn’t seem directed against them, as their own operation hadn’t been disrupted.
In the end, he couldn’t figure out the reason and decided to wait and observe. If someone had indeed helped them, that would certainly be a good thing.
Meanwhile, Ye Liuyun was celebrating with his companions inside his spatial world. The thieving cat had made off with plenty of valuable treasures tonight—enough for everyone to make another leap in strength.
Seizing the opportunity, Liu Yan also spoke highly of Ye Liuyun’s combined attack formation to Li Qingyang. Impressed, Li Qingyang praised the avatar and immediately declared that they would be welcomed into their bandit group from then on.
Upon returning to camp, the avatar and his group retreated straight to their tent to cultivate. Liu Yan even assigned two bandits to stand guard outside, ensuring that curious members of the exploration team wouldn’t disturb them.
They still had battles to fight that night and needed to fully restore their energy before engaging again.
The avatar then led Tang Xinyao and the others back into the spatial world to divide the spoils. After collecting their share, they first focused on replenishing their energy reserves before using the high-grade resources for cultivation.
Ye Liuyun continued refining fire-attribute origin power, while the avatar donned the Rainbow Cloud Garment to temper his body, simultaneously absorbing sea beast essence blood to enhance his bloodline strength.
As for the other high-grade resources, Ye Liuyun distributed a generous portion to the women in his group, urging them to seize the opportunity to advance their cultivation. Those at the sixth level of the Dominator Realm—including Qin Mengxi—received special attention, as he wanted them to catch up as quickly as possible.
