Chapter 3153: Chapter 3153
The soldiers still under Xiao Heng’s command were quickly whittled down to five hundred
Convinced their men had grown stronger, they took the initiative to petition Ye Liuyun for battle—hoping to salvage their standing in his eyes and redeem their reputations
Ye Liuyun merely smiled and granted them a chance, ordering them to muster and prepare at once
He figured Xiao Heng and Li Zhaoyuan’s drill experience was adequate and the troops truly had improved, but their ability to lead was still sorely lacking
Both men simply lacked the instinct for combat
He knew they were eager to advance, yet the current circumstances offered no room to nurture them
Forging true combat awareness required countless battlefield trials
So he intended to let them recognize their own flaws and grind away every last trace of arrogance
As for the soldiers—stronger, yes, but nowhere near strong enough to challenge above their tier—they, too, needed relentless tempering
He therefore had Tang Xinyao’s squad launch a surprise raid against them in live combat
Their camp was breached with ease; Tang Xinyao’s team carved straight through the army and withdrew without a single loss
Only Meng Tianlin and Lin Mo managed to wound two attackers, sparing them an even uglier defeat
Xiao Heng and Li Zhaoyuan refused to accept it, claiming Tang Xinyao had ambushed them
So Ye Liuyun informed Black Mountain to ready its defenses and sent Xiao Heng and Li Zhaoyuan to raid it in turn
Half of Xiao Heng’s force was wiped out; the survivors barely escaped, harried all the way by Black Mountain
“See the gap now?” Ye Liuyun asked casually after the battle, then left them to reflect on their own
Xiao Heng and Li Zhaoyuan were thoroughly dispirited—how could troops trained to such strength still lose
After a few days, however, they sought counsel from Ye Tiandao, Xiao Yunfang, and Meng Qingyin, asking why stronger soldiers still meant defeat
Ye Tiandao, poor with words and too embarrassed to say their command was lacking, simply avoided them
Xiao Yunfang and Meng Qingyin cut straight to the point: the pair’s combat awareness was abysmal; they had no grasp of war’s brutality
Unless that changed, no amount of elite troops would help
Having taught them the lesson, Ye Liuyun decided to give them more real battles—let them learn and improve through experience
The beast legions, demon beasts, and the women had cultivated enough; it was time to stretch their muscles
During this period, Ye Liuyun had refined the Purple Pupil for his first clone
He’d considered giving it to someone close, but the women feared the eye looked too bizarre and might mar their looks
The beasts already possessed their own ocular powers and saw little merit in a pupil that devoured soul force to kill—preferring the alien third eye instead
Unwilling to waste such a treasure, Ye Liuyun let his first clone refine it
The clone lacked any special ocular power in its soul, so the Purple Pupil became a life-saving trump card
Once fused into the soul’s eye, the golden pupil remained unaffected
The Purple Pupil’s abilities—penetrative sight, defense against soul attacks—were indeed stronger, yet each use consumed soul force
Unleashing the violet light to obliterate an enemy’s soul cost even more
Thus, it was kept as a last resort
The dynasty had dispatched many elite guards to hunt them and stationed troops to protect the Fan family’s medicinal planet
The Fan clan braced for war, the entire house on high alert
Ye Liuyun’s spies and the Holy Flame Guild kept him informed, so he held off further moves against the Fans
The Blazing Seal Dynasty could do nothing—unable to locate them, always a step behind, forced to rush reinforcements whenever word arrived
So Ye Liuyun used the black transport tower to return to the Ferrybridge system, planning to sharpen his forces on the local bandits
Even if the dynasty sent Void-tier warships, it would take time
He ordered each of the two demon legions to assault a planet, assigning two assassins apiece to counter any expert ambushes
Xiao Heng, Li Zhaoyuan, and their men were dropped on another planet to fight for their own cultivation resources
Yet Ye Liuyun gave them five assassins: two to handle top-tier foes, three to reclaim gear—especially energy-storage stones and the yuan-exchange cauldrons—nothing was to be left for the dynasty
Ye Liuyun himself led the beasts and Tang Xinyao’s squad against one planet, while both clones escorted the women to a city for their own practice.
The Ancient Demon Legion and the Demon Race Legion had both grown stronger at breakneck speed lately, so their city-sacking pace had shot up as well. Every sortie unleashed three thousand troops who rotated in and out of battle without pause; they could tear through three or four cities in a single day. Once the fighting ended, they scooped up all the spoils and sprinted to the next target—no one even had time to count the loot.
Ye Liuyun’s beast horde and Tang Xinyao’s squad operated the same way: hit with everything they had, then race to the next city while the Devil Vine stayed behind to clean up the battlefield. The Demon Lion slipped ahead to strip the richest spots—trade guilds and city-lord mansions—clean, stashing the choicest resources first.
Only the women’s battles lagged slightly; they still treated combat as training, but they never stopped fighting.
Two days later, Ye Liuyun received word that the imperial capital had dispatched its praetorian.
Soon after, Jiang Yunmo contacted him. The intel she passed on was far more detailed: troop numbers, strength estimates, even the expected arrival time.
She also told him, “The local bandit gangs have sent nearly a hundred Unity Sixth- and Seventh-layer experts your way, but their exact target is still unclear.”
Ye Liuyun figured that force was too small to take on either of the two demon legions, so the mark had to be either his group or Xiao Heng’s.
He thanked her and was about to pocket the voice talisman when Jiang Yunmo asked, “Aren’t you here to rob resources? Why start robbing bandits?”
She knew who he was, yet she’d still chosen to cooperate—assuming he was just a wandering cultivator after some quick profit, nothing more.
“Strength’s gone up lately; just looking for people to test it on,” Ye Liuyun replied casually.
“Oh? Then how about I give you a few targets to practice on?” Jiang Yunmo saw a chance to use him to crush her rivals.
Ye Liuyun understood her meaning at once, but he didn’t mind. “Fine. Send me the details and coordinates. If the difficulty’s reasonable, I’ll arrange an attack.”
Jiang Yunmo agreed and went off to draw up a list. Deciding which enemies to erase would take some thought.
