In the dimensional realm of his doppelganger, both the demonic tribes and beasts found their cultivation progressing at an accelerated pace.

These demonic creatures, now under Ye Liuyun’s absolute control, willingly submitted to the doppelganger’s authority. Their presence significantly sped up the refinement of the realm’s primordial energy. Meanwhile, the doppelganger retreated into the Mystic Void Stone to hasten the absorption process. From here on, Ye Liuyun would face the battles alone—though given his current mastery of spatial power, danger was hardly a pressing concern.

On the other side, the alien invaders were reeling from their recent losses. The warriors they had dispatched were no ordinary foes—gold-armored, three-eyed elites capable of unleashing both radiant and abyssal beams, alongside masters of spatial manipulation. Yet all had fallen. Now, the aliens could only guess at the true extent of Ye Liuyun’s strength.

All they knew was this: their adversary was formidable, commanding an army of millions. His provocations could not go unanswered. But Ye Liuyun struck without pattern, leaving them clueless about his next target.

In response, they fortified a stronghold in the northern region, stationing over twenty three-eyed elites and an equal number of spatial experts. Among them stood a gold-armored three-eyed warlord—a ruler in his own right, accompanied by twenty silver-armored champions.

They had also captured human martial artists, coercing them through psychic domination rather than corruption by their sinister energy, intending to use them as assassins against Ye Liuyun.

The stronghold itself was a trap within a trap: hidden spatial pockets concealed six million alien troops, while two armadas lurked on nearby satellite islands in the void. This was no mere ambush—it was a net cast across heaven and earth, waiting for Ye Liuyun to take the bait.

Having gauged the aliens’ recent deployments, Ye Liuyun suspected they were done playing games. From now on, every move he made would be measured, every step deliberate.

Each time, he would transform into the appearance of an alien race and teleport to their stronghold alongside one of their kind. He never rushed into action, instead taking the time to carefully scout the area before making his move.

His first priority was always to sever the connection between the altar and the outside world, preventing any reinforcements from arriving.

With his clone refining the primordial energy of the spatial world and sparring partners readily available, he wasn’t in a hurry to engage the powerful alien elites. His focus was on systematically dismantling their outposts.

His battles followed a consistent pattern—first deploying captured aliens to test the waters, then unleashing the Demon-Sealing Stele and the Demon Vine only after confirming it was safe. Once the altar was secured, he would send out his army to sweep through the area, eliminating any remaining aliens and corpse demons.

As for the women and demonic beasts by his side, he mostly kept them within the spatial world to train against the aliens, rarely allowing them to join the actual battles. In fact, Ye Liuyun had even captured numerous powerful aliens specifically to serve as their sparring partners—targets they could freely eliminate.

Both Ye Liuyun and his clone’s spatial worlds contained an alien altar capable of teleportation. However, he had sealed both of them, keeping them in reserve for future use.

Using the same method, Ye Liuyun proceeded to eradicate over a dozen more alien outposts.

But this time, he finally arrived at the stronghold where the aliens had laid their trap.

The moment he and his alien companion appeared, they froze in shock.

Their divine senses detected human cultivators near the altar. Even when Ye Liuyun activated his golden pupils, he found no trace of corruption in their core energy.

As they descended from the altar, he and the alien cautiously surveyed their surroundings with both divine sense and golden vision.

Ye Liuyun quickly noticed two of the aliens nearby were Three-Eyed Fiends—both at the third level of Heavenly Tribulation. But they weren’t the only ones. More Three-Eyed Fiends roamed the area, their presence unsettling.

Several other aliens were in the midst of cultivation, their true cultivation levels concealed. Yet, nothing could escape Ye Liuyun’s golden pupils—he saw through their disguises.

What’s more, not a single ripple of spatial energy surrounded them, a clear sign that they were masters of spatial power.

Realizing the situation, Ye Liuyun immediately understood it was a trap.

"Go! Capture those humans and turn them into corpse demons!" he commanded the alien creatures beside him without hesitation.

One of the creatures instantly lunged toward a human martial artist. Seizing the opportunity, Ye Liuyun himself charged at another. However, instead of biting the man outright, he launched a soul attack to search the human’s memories. The moment he did, the truth became clear—these martial artists had been captured specifically to set him up.

Meanwhile, other alien warriors moved to seal the altar’s passage, cutting off any escape route for Ye Liuyun. At the same time, a powerful three-eyed alien roared at the creature under Ye Liuyun’s control, ordering it to stop attacking the humans.

"Hold on. Ask it why we can’t proceed," Ye Liuyun mentally commanded his thrall.

The controlled creature promptly questioned the three-eyed alien, but instead of answering, the latter demanded that both of them submit to a soul inspection first. The aliens had no way of knowing Ye Liuyun could shapeshift into one of them. Seeing that the two appeared formidable, they hesitated to kill them outright and instead sought confirmation of whether they were being manipulated.

"I’ll go first!"

Without missing a beat, Ye Liuyun crushed the skull of the human martial artist he had seized and strode confidently toward the three-eyed alien.

Witnessing the two "aliens" both biting and killing humans, the three-eyed being’s suspicions waned considerably. When Ye Liuyun volunteered for inspection, it let its guard down completely, immediately releasing its own soul force to invade Ye Liuyun’s consciousness.

The moment it entered, however, the Ten Thousand Gods Token immobilized it—and in the next instant, a slave mark was branded upon its soul.

With a brief soul search, Ye Liuyun swiftly uncovered their ambush plan and the number of operatives involved before releasing the creature’s consciousness back into its body.

He then manipulated it to continue the charade of inspection. Once the act was complete, the alien let out a commanding roar to its hidden comrades, signaling that Ye Liuyun and his companion posed no threat.

Following the plan, the three-eyed alien began herding Ye Liuyun’s group away, insisting they leave the area immediately due to an ongoing mission.

The speed at which Ye Liuyun had branded the three-eyed alien with a slave seal was so swift that, to the other lurking creatures, it seemed like mere seconds. None could have imagined someone capable of subjugating them so effortlessly.

Thus, the remaining ambushers took the signal at face value and turned their attention elsewhere.

Feigning reluctant compliance, Ye Liuyun and his companion departed—though not before discreetly pocketing several energy orbs and demon crystals, unnoticed by the distracted aliens.

In this manner, Ye Liuyun and his disguised entourage distanced themselves from the altar.

Once they had slipped beyond the perimeter of the alien elites, Ye Liuyun draped himself in his cloak of invisibility and doubled back, heading straight for the hiding spot of the golden-armored alien.

Meanwhile, the ambushers reactivated the altar, resuming their surveillance of the emerging aliens from the teleportation channel.