Youming then inquired about the Sacred Dynasty's treasure trove: "You've captured so many of their elites—did you uncover any leads on the hidden treasure?"
Ye Liuyun kept the truth to himself, replying casually, "No solid intel. Just rumors, nothing of value."
"Such a critical secret wouldn't be easy to obtain," Youming mused, taking his words at face value. "But if you *do* find anything, you must tell . A place like that isn't sothing you can handle alone. I can gather people to excavate it, and you'd get seventy percent of the haul."
"Oh? If *I* can't dig it up, you're so sure you can?" Ye Liuyun countered, feigning skepticism.
*So she really is tied to Black Kill's leadership*, he thought. *Only they'd dare snatch prey from the Sacred Dynasty's jaws.*
"Leave that to ," Youming shot back, studying him. "If you doubt , we can formalize a contract. Just share the intel—no risk on your part. Safer, isn't it?"
Her tone hinted she suspected he knew more than he let on, perhaps planning to hunt the treasure himself.
But Ye Liuyun was no amateur. He played along smoothly. "Fine, I'll agree for now. Though if you've got such resources, why bother with assassination?"
"Borrowed strength isn't true power," she said flatly. "Growing stronger yourself matters more."
"Can't argue with that," he conceded. Whatever her ties to Black Kill's upper echelons, self-improvent was always sound logic.
Youming shifted gears. "How do you plan to get us out of here?"
Ye Liuyun chuckled, "Don't forget my skills! With Ninth Prince Xiao Muyu personally escorting you out, who would dare stop you? Once you're gone, the prince will return to the secret realm imdiately."
Youming smiled in return before asking earnestly, "That face-changing technique of yours—is it sothing you'd be willing to trade?"
Ye Liuyun feigned helplessness and shook his head. "Bound by a restriction—can't trade it. If I could, do you think I'd still be short on resources or stuck at such a low cultivation level?"
Youming couldn't tell if he was lying, but for now, she had to let the idea go. The equal contract between them prevented either from revealing the other's secrets.
It was precisely because of this that Ye Liuyun dared to reveal a fraction of his abilities. Otherwise, with so many secrets, he wouldn't have risked teaming up with anyone.
When they reached the secret realm's exit, Ye Liuyun used his Thousand Illusions technique to take on Xiao Muyu's appearance, smoothly escorting Youming and the others out.
True to his word, no one dared to stop them, allowing them to stride confidently past the stationed guards.
Once they were safely away, Ye Liuyun imdiately returned to the secret realm. Riding his Swiftwing Falcon, he raced back to the tribe.
By then, the soldiers had already excavated the source energy.
However, Ye Liuyun held off on claiming it. Instead, he gathered the local tribespeople and transported them into his spatial world. Then, he waited—knowing that once Xiao Muyu was dead, the Sacred Dynasty would send troops in force.
Not long after Youming and her group left, they beheaded Xiao Muyu and returned to Black Kill to complete their mission.
The Sacred Dynasty soon noticed the extinguishing of Xiao Muyu's soul token.
After contacting the guards outside the secret realm and learning that the prince had been killed inside, they imdiately dispatched investigators to uncover the cause of death.
Seeing that only a small force had entered, Ye Liuyun wasted no ti. He ordered Yu Xiaofeng and the Tiger King to lead the demon and beast armies to annihilate the squad.
When the Sacred Dynasty received word of this, they promptly sent in a hundred thousand troops. Ye Liuyun then unleashed Pei Yong's army as well, using the dynasty's forces as live training—jointly crushing all hundred thousand soldiers.
During this period, Ye Liuyun hadn't paid the slightest attention to the ongoing battles. Instead, he had been wholly absorbed in tempering his physique within the spatial world using that stone pedestal.
Before Ye Liuyun began his training, the efficacy of the stone pedestal had already been verified by Liang Xue and the others. Every one of them had experienced a dramatic enhancent in their physical resilience.
Following the thod, Ye Liuyun and his doppelganger each dripped a single drop of blood onto the pedestal. Instantly, it began to radiate a brilliant glow. The intensity of the light corresponded directly to the strength of the user's bloodline.
As the radiant light bathed their bodies, it purged impurities and reinforced their bones, muscles, and skin. At first, the sensation was akin to basking in warm sunlight—utterly soothing. But soon, a tingling itch crept in as their physiques underwent a slow, steady transformation.
Then ca the sharp sting of pain. The changes accelerated rapidly as the light dissolved old, necrotic tissues, replacing them with new, stronger flesh. Despite the mounting agony, Ye Liuyun and his doppelganger endured, unwavering beneath the glow. He could feel his body's resilience and toughness evolving at an astonishing pace.
Physical cultivation had always been a priority for him, and he wasn't about to let this opportunity slip away. His body continuously renewed itself, growing stronger. Eventually, the pain beca so unbearable that he had to rely on the Divine Decree to withstand it, alternating his consciousness with his doppelganger to keep them both lucid.
After persisting for so ti, he noticed the tornt gradually subsiding. At first, he assud his nerves had simply numbed from the suffering. But as more ti passed, he realized the truth—his body had genuinely adapted, no longer vulnerable to the pain.
Slowly, the transformations ceased, and his physique stabilized. Ye Liuyun took a mont to assess his newfound strength. His body felt tougher, more unyielding, as though brimming with raw power.
Then, unexpectedly, warmth suffused his limbs, bringing with it an overwhelming sense of ease.
Only then did he realize it was his physical body absorbing the radiant glow emanating from the stone pedestal.
At this mont, the pedestal burst forth with even more intense light, freely allowing Ye Liuyun and his doppelganger to absorb its energy, as if determined to saturate their bodies with its brilliance.
A long ti passed before the stone pedestal finally dimd on its own, reverting to its ordinary, unremarkable appearance.
The others had all stepped away when they could no longer endure the light, causing the pedestal's glow to fade for them. But for Ye Liuyun and his doppelganger, the radiance simply vanished without them moving an inch.
"Is it over?" Ye Liuyun muttered, baffled. None of the tribespeople before him had ever experienced such a phenonon.
He dripped another drop of blood onto the pedestal, but this ti, there was no reaction whatsoever.
"Did I... absorb it all?" he wondered aloud. He quickly had others try, but for them, the pedestal functioned normally—its light still shining brightly. Only when it ca to him did it remain inert.
"I must have reached the limit of what this pedestal can offer!" Ye Liuyun finally understood.
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