Chapter 3163: Chapter 3163
Ye Liuyun himself didn’t step onto the battlefield in human form either; he used the Thousand Illusions Technique to transform into a white ape and charged alongside the beasts. Amid a field of vicious creatures, he didn’t stand out.
They fought cautiously, merely probing the might of the imperial army’s formation.
He did stop one squad of soldiers, but he still couldn’t break the encircling net the dynasty’s army was weaving.
At that moment, the dynasty dispatched reinforcements toward the surrendered troops.
“Pull back—don’t let them box us in!” Ye Liuyun sent word to the Devil Flood Dragons.
The Flood-Dragon chieftain roared, leading his kin in retreat. Some ferocious beasts followed, yet others—too busy slaughtering—hadn’t had time to loot the field. Unwilling to abandon their spoils, they began devouring corpses on the spot.
The dynasty’s soldiers chased them down. What should have been a crushing victory ended with more carcasses left behind.
Among the packs were even sovereign-level beasts that had ignored Ye Liuyun’s orders about cultivation limits; they fled slowly and were overtaken and slain. Their packs slowed to protect them, losing still more lives.
Seeing the tide had turned, Ye Liuyun recalled his beasts and withdrew at once. He returned to the formation where Yu Xiaofeng waited and watched the army’s movements from afar.
The fighting ended quickly; the remaining beasts were encircled and butchered.
Yu Xiaofeng asked for a report at once. Even with Ye Liuyun directing, the outcome felt wrong.
“Sigh—those beasts won’t take orders! There’s no single Beast King here; each pack fights on its own. No one’s in charge!” Ye Liuyun said, helpless.
Only then did Yu Xiaofeng and the others see the problem. He advised, “Then don’t try to command them in the next fight. Adapt to how they fight—save them if you can, let them go if you can’t.”
“Exactly. That’s all we can do.” Ye Liuyun agreed. Since they wouldn’t obey, he’d simply go along.
He had gained something anyway; the trip wasn’t wasted.
The dynasty army regrouped, searched for its commanders, cleared the field, and reported to Jiang Yunyang, awaiting his decision.
Jiang Yunyang looked bewildered. After asking, he learned only that they’d been attacked by beasts. He appointed an acting commander on the spot, ordered the army to hold position, and sent men to find the missing generals.
The beast onslaught had cut the surrendered troops in half; the dynasty’s regulars suffered almost no casualties, only their commanders and top experts had vanished.
Three of the major beast clans were wiped out; two others took heavy losses. Only the Devil Flood Dragons and two obedient packs ate their fill and escaped unscathed.
“They’ve no array masters left; ordinary soldiers are holding the defenses. A sneak attack would be perfect,” Yu Xiaofeng observed, studying the enemy.
Ye Liuyun nodded. “Right, but the demon legion’s armor isn’t finished. We need to wipe them out in one stroke—if I’m exposed early, Jiang Yunyang might recall the army. Let the beasts wear them down first.”
He returned to his spatial world to handle the prisoners and check the demons’ equipment progress.
The newly-captured ninth-level experts and commanders carried plenty of resources; Ye Liuyun confiscated them all and handed the men to his second avatar.
The commander’s tactical skill was mediocre, so Ye Liuyun treated him as a common soldier and folded him into the elite unit. Their strength was solid; the second avatar accepted them all, swelling the force to four hundred.
“From now on, these will be the core of our spear-tip regiment. We’ll rebuild the strongest legion—numbers can stay small.”
Both Ye Liuyun and his avatar agreed to keep them hidden for now; they would drill them thoroughly before deployment.
Pei Yong and Qin Peng were summoned back at once to train this elite corps. For the moment they wore Fire-Seal dynasty armor—plentiful and uniform. Ye Liuyun branded them with slave seals and ordered rigorous training.
The dynasty kept sending parties to search for their commanders; patrols passed right by, never noticing the concealed formation.
Ye Liuyun stayed his hand, merely watching to ensure the army didn’t slip away.
The local beasts, having learned how deadly the army was, stirred every pack into motion. Still refusing Ye Liuyun’s orders, they struck several more times on their own terms.
Every beast that ambushed the surrendered-soldier legion succeeded, yet none pulled out in time; they were eventually encircled and wiped out. Those that tried to ambush the imperial army only broke the formation once before the army’s Ninth-Step powerhouses struck and obliterated them.
Only after two more great beast hordes had been annihilated did the beasts realize this host was no easy prey. Left to themselves, they could not drive the humans back, so they begged the Demon Flood Dragon Patriarch for aid and agreed to follow Ye Liuyun’s orders.
“Send small packs to raid the surrendered-soldier legion, then retreat at once. Hold out a few more days; once we’re fully ready, we’ll launch the final counter-attack together,” Ye Liuyun advised.
This time the beast kings finally obeyed: each time a small pack harassed the surrendered troops, struck, seized a few bodies for food, and fled. The surrendered legion could do nothing; by the time the imperial columns arrived, the beasts were long gone.
After being harassed several times, the imperial army grew weary of protecting the surrendered troops and told them to fend for themselves. After all, each raid only killed a hundred or so soldiers—an acceptable loss.
Days later, Ye Liuyun’s demon host was fully equipped: every warrior now wore true-grade-nine armor and weapons, and healing and recovery pills were stockpiled. They were ready for battle.
Ye Liuyun met with the Demon Flood Dragon and arranged for the entire beast horde to strike again. This time they would annihilate the surrendered legion first, then immediately crash into the imperial army.
“Remember: it’s still a sneak attack, just like these past days. A few small packs hit first, then the main horde charges in.
Also, tell the beasts not to attack our demon soldiers. If they can’t coordinate, stay out of it. Better from the fight is fine; causing chaos is not. In one battle we wipe them all out.
If they escape, they’ll return with even larger human armies.”
Ye Liuyun repeated his warnings to the Demon Flood Dragon Patriarch and even frightened him a little. Only when he was sure the orders would be relayed exactly did he relax.
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