Chapter 2997: Chapter 2997
Ye Liuyun and his companions had been cultivating in the second avatar’s spatial realm for about five or six days when Liu Yan came to fetch them—it was time to set out.
This time, Ye Liuyun would lead the team while his avatar continued cultivating in the spatial realm.
As they walked, Liu Yan discussed with Ye Liuyun: "Brother, I’ve already spoken to the boss. Our squad is short on numbers, so you and your people can join our bandit group directly.
"But the exploration team is also understaffed and needs replacements. Ideally, we should also fill our squad’s vacancies.
"Tonight, we’ll be stationed near the city. Don’t you still have men under you? Could you take them and seize ten people to replenish the exploration team, and another thirteen to bolster our squad?"
As he spoke, he slipped a Interspatial Ring into Ye Liuyun’s hand. With a sweep of his divine sense, Ye Liuyun found three hundred units of origin energy inside.
Instead of accepting it, Ye Liuyun immediately pushed the ring back into Liu Yan’s hand.
"Brother Liu, from now on, we’re all part of the same team. Your concerns are mine as well. Besides, you’ve already done us a favor by letting us join the bandit group directly—I should be thanking you! If I took these, I’d just be a greedy scoundrel.
"Don’t worry, I’ll do my best to capture the people we need. But I might not be able to get them all in one night."
Hearing this, Liu Yan clapped Ye Liuyun’s shoulder excitedly. "Good brother! It’s fine if we don’t get them all at once. We’ll be active these next few nights anyway—we can split the captures over several rounds!"
Still chatting, the two entered Liu Yan’s main tent. Liu Yan even had his subordinates clear out a dedicated resting area for Ye Liuyun and his group, telling them they could stay there from now on.
He then handed over prepared uniforms for them to change into.
Ye Liuyun didn’t hide anything from him—he immediately took everyone back into the spatial realm to change.
"So we’re really bandits now!" Tang Xinyao and the others laughed as they put on the outfits.
Ye Liuyun merely smiled. "Here, whether you’re a bandit or not makes no difference. Everyone’s just after resources. If you don’t rob others, you’ll be the one getting robbed!"
"Indeed, openly plundering without any disguise!" Tang Xinyao echoed with a sigh.
After changing into their disguises, they exited the spatial world and briefly acquainted themselves with the other bandits. Then, they all boarded the flying vessel, heading toward their target city for the night.
When Li Qingyang saw their attire, he nodded approvingly at Ye Liuyun before proceeding as before—unfolding a map to assign defensive positions.
From a distance, Ye Liuyun scanned the map once with his golden pupils, committing it to memory, and then relayed the details to his clone and the Thieving Cat.
"Clone, first capture two experts at the sixth level of the Unity Realm, then move to intercept at the front of the group. Let those below the sixth level pass—leave them to Tang Xinyao and the others.
"As for the Thieving Cat, same as last time—steal as much as you can, but don’t push yourself too hard. Just avoid getting caught. I’ll handle capturing targets for Liu Yan myself."
With tasks swiftly assigned, the Thieving Cat vanished the moment they disembarked from the vessel, using its spatial abilities. Once Ye Liuyun and his group reached their designated position, he split from Liu Yan and headed toward the area where Unity Realm cultivators of the third and fourth levels were active. Seizing the opportunity, he released his cloaked, invisible clone, and the two moved separately.
Luck was on Ye Liuyun’s side—he stumbled upon a bandit squad resting in a nearby cave. He waited until the sounds of battle erupted from the direction of their stronger members before making his move. First, he used his temporal power to seize a fourth-level Unity Realm bandit leader, followed by nine others at the first and second levels. Then, he unleashed his beasts to assault the remaining bandits.
The leader, Zhou Tao, immediately alerted his men when he sensed the commotion outside. But against Ye Liuyun’s temporal abilities and soul attacks, he was utterly helpless. His subordinates fared no better against the beasts.
With battles raging all around, no one paid much attention to their skirmish—perfect for the beasts to hone their skills.
Meanwhile, the clone swiftly captured two sixth-level Unity Realm experts before retreating to guard the front of the bandit retreat route, preventing any strong foes from breaking through.
However, not a single powerful enemy fled in their direction by the time the withdrawal signal came. Instead, the sounds of battle echoed from the outskirts—apparently, even in retreat, these experts avoided heading toward the city.
By the time Ye Liuyun’s beasts finished off the remaining bandits, the Thieving Cat had already returned to the clone’s spatial world. It had acted a bit earlier this time, snatching a few extra treasures, but wisely withdrew before pushing its luck.
Ye Liuyun gathered the demonic beasts back into his spatial world and captured three more martial artists at the Third Level of the Guiyi Realm who had come to investigate before withdrawing his clones and returning to Liu Yan’s group.
Liu Yan had heard the commotion of their battle. "How did it go? How many did you catch?"
"Thirteen," Ye Liuyun replied. "First, we’ll replenish the numbers of the exploration team. I also captured a martial artist at the Fourth Level of the Guiyi Realm—he can serve as the team’s captain. And for you, I caught three more at the Third Level as reinforcements. The rest can be dealt with next time."
"Excellent! Your people are truly formidable!" Liu Yan exclaimed, surprised by how many Ye Liuyun had captured in one go—far exceeding his expectations. He was even more astonished that Ye Liuyun had managed to subdue a Fourth Level Guiyi martial artist.
Ye Liuyun could only explain, "They’re demonic beasts—not well-versed in human customs. If they come out, they tend to cause trouble."
"So they were demonic beasts—no wonder I heard beastly roars!" Liu Yan finally understood and never again brought up the idea of letting them out. He was wary of the chaos they might stir.
That night’s battle unfolded much like the previous ones. Li Qingyang and the other powerful figures noticed that while the enemies’ storage rings had been emptied, their own operations remained unaffected, which eased their concerns slightly.
Still, the mystery of who could steal from storage rings baffled them. At the very least, they agreed that the thief must possess extraordinary spatial abilities.
Since Ye Liuyun had spent the night battling and capturing enemies with his demonic beasts, he couldn’t possibly have been involved in the thefts. This completely cleared him of suspicion in Li Qingyang’s eyes.
In truth, sending Ye Liuyun to capture the raiders had been Li Qingyang’s way of killing two birds with one stone—replenishing their forces while testing Ye Liuyun’s loyalty. Had the Thieving Cat not struck that night, suspicion might have fallen on him.
But Ye Liuyun’s performance was flawless. With his mastery of cosmic and spatial energies, combined with his invisibility cloak, even a Sixth Level Guiyi expert wouldn’t detect him unless they got too close.
Having smoothly passed Li Qingyang’s test, Ye Liuyun handed over the captives to Liu Yan.
Liu Yan then escorted Zhou Tao, the captured Fourth Level Guiyi martial artist, along with his nine subordinates to the exploration team’s camp. He divided the hundred recruits equally between two large tents, fifty in each, and officially appointed Zhou Tao as their captain.
