Chapter 2999: Chapter 2999
Ye Liuyun spent another twenty to thirty days cultivating within the spatial realm, yet he still hadn’t broken through to the mid-stage of the first level of Unity.
He sighed to himself, "At this level, even advancing a single minor stage is this difficult."
However, during these days, he had focused on compressing and refining his advance energy while integrating more of the world’s natural energy. He had only absorbed four sources of origin power, so his consumption wasn’t too great.
The moment Liu Yan came to find him, Ye Liuyun immediately brought Tang Xinyao and the others out of the spatial realm, barely able to contain his eagerness.
"Ready?" This time, Liu Yan didn’t say much, only asking about their condition with concern.
"All set!" Ye Liuyun replied firmly.
"Good. We’ll set out together soon, joining another squad to attack one side of the city wall. Once inside, kill freely—anything you take is yours!" Liu Yan laid out the rules plainly.
"Kill and loot as we please?" Ye Liuyun double-checked.
Liu Yan nodded with a grin. "It’s not our territory, so of course—kill and loot to your heart’s content! No need for guilt either. There aren’t any ordinary civilians like those outside in this city."
"Perfect!" Ye Liuyun couldn’t help but laugh. This place was practically tailor-made for him to sharpen his skills.
Tang Xinyao and the others’ eyes also gleamed with anticipation. The demonic beasts inside the spatial realm cheered even louder, flexing their claws and paws in excitement.
This time, their flying vessel hovered unusually close to the city, making their intent to attack unmistakable. It was also a warning to any rogue cultivators nearby—stay out of their fight.
Squad after squad of bandits, led by their captains, gathered before the walls they were assigned to assault.
Ye Liuyun’s golden pupils continuously scanned the city’s movements, while the Thieving Cat had already slipped ahead to start pilfering.
"Don’t stress—just treat it like any other battle," Liu Yan reassured them.
Liu Yan noticed his agitation and assumed it was due to nervousness from never having witnessed such a grand scene before.
Tang Xinyao and the others also appeared overly excited, leading the bandits to believe they were simply tense.
But the moment Li Qingyang announced the start of the battle, Ye Liuyun unleashed his clones and demonic beasts.
"ROAR!"
With a unified roar, the beasts revealed their true forms and charged forward alongside the clones.
Ye Liuyun swung his blade, leading Tang Xinyao’s team straight into the fray.
"Uh..."
Only then did Liu Yan realize his mistake—these people weren’t nervous. They had simply been itching to unleash carnage.
The bandits guarding the city walls, mostly at the third or fourth level of the Guiyi realm, were first immobilized by the clones’ temporal power. Then, their souls were branded with slave marks before being sucked into a spatial dimension.
Those at the first or second level of Guiyi were cleanly bisected by the clones’ blades.
The Purple Kirin froze time around it, knocking out every warrior on its section of the wall before handing them over to Chi Lian to drain their bloodline energy. Meanwhile, the demonic beasts and Tang Xinyao’s team stormed the ramparts, shattering the city’s defenses in moments.
From then on, even when facing fourth-level Guiyi warriors, Tang Xinyao’s group dispatched them with a single coordinated strike. Among the beasts, the Dragon Maiden could go toe-to-toe with such opponents directly.
After breaching the walls, Ye Liuyun and his clones didn’t bother with capturing prisoners. Instead, they led the charge in an all-out slaughter.
At full strength, he could cleave through third-level Guiyi experts in a single slash. Against fourth-level opponents, he had to exert more effort—but by blending his bloodline suppression, profound essence, and the power of heaven and earth into his blade intent, along with spatial manipulation, he kept his enemies off-balance. He warped his strikes, teleported his foes, or even shifted himself mid-combat, leaving them scrambling to react.
The bandits following behind had no idea what had happened during the frozen moments. All they knew was that while other squads were still struggling to breach the walls, Ye Liuyun’s group had already carved their way inside.
Liu Yan exchanged a glance with the other squad leader before snapping to attention and charging inside with their subordinates.
From his vantage point overlooking the battlefield, Li Qingyang hadn’t expected anyone to breach the city walls so quickly. He had been monitoring the movements of the martial cultivators inside and hadn’t even noticed how they had broken through.
But as he observed their combat, he couldn’t help but nod in admiration. "No wonder they’ve captured so many martial cultivators—their strength is formidable. Even those demon beasts fight fiercely, though they’re too savage to be let loose under normal circumstances."
Once the entire force had surged into the city and the chaotic battle began, Ye Liuyun kept an eye on Li Qingyang. Noticing that his attention wasn’t on the doppelgänger, he discreetly ordered it to start capturing martial cultivators.
Meanwhile, Liu Yan and the other bandit squad had already moved to reinforce other units. Following Ye Liuyun had left them with little action and even fewer spoils, so they had no choice but to shift to another front for plundering.
Instead of targeting the merchant guild or the city lord’s residence, Ye Liuyun’s group roamed the streets, seeking out martial cultivators for frenzied combat. Everywhere they passed, buildings crumbled under their attacks, forcing hidden fighters into the open.
While other squads rushed toward the city center—where the richest resources lay—Ye Liuyun’s forces split into two groups, scouring the outskirts for any remaining martial cultivators to test their skills against.
Even Li Qingyang couldn’t help but chuckle and shake his head. "A bunch of battle maniacs—don’t they ever tire?"
He hadn’t expected Ye Liuyun’s group to sustain such relentless fighting for so long.
But soon, his amusement turned to shock. Despite the prolonged battle, there was no sign of their energy reserves depleting—if anything, they were still expending it recklessly in their assaults.
"They’ve already swept through half the city, and they still have energy to spare?"
Li Qingyang was astounded by their seemingly boundless reserves.
Yet Ye Liuyun’s forces showed no intention of stopping. While other squads had converged on the city center to loot the wealthy, they continued their rampage through the densely populated outskirts.
"With strength like this, they could wipe out an entire city single-handedly!" Li Qingyang concluded at last.
So he didn’t rush to recall his forces, instead waiting to see how long Ye Liuyun’s group could keep going. In the end, it wasn’t until Ye Liuyun and his doppelgänger’s squad finally met in the middle of their carnage that they finally turned toward the city center.
The overwhelming bloodlust radiating from them and the savage aura of the demonic beasts instantly forced the other squads to retreat beyond the city walls.
Ye Liuyun raised his Demon-Slaying Blade once more, leading his team in demolishing buildings, blasting out those who cowered inside before cutting them down in another wave of slaughter. Some wealthy households had defensive formations in place, but they shattered them through coordinated attacks, showing no mercy—accepting no surrender, only death.
Only when the entire city had been reduced to ruins did Ye Liuyun recall his clone and its squad back into his spatial realm. Then, with Tang Xinyao and the others, he withdrew beyond the city walls.
The waiting forces outside watched them in silent reverence.
Drenched in blood and exuding an aura so murderous that none dared approach, they moved like a storm given human form.
"Hahaha! You lot are absolute beasts! Now I can truly rest easy with you on our side!"
Liu Yan couldn’t help but burst into laughter as he watched Ye Liuyun’s squad stride toward him.
