Now that the alien race had suffered heavy losses of their elite forces without managing to capture Ye Liuyun, Elder Muxi decided to negotiate while continuing the fight.

At the same time, he personally led a squad of elite alien warriors toward the Holy Land Dynasty. They had already traced Ye Liuyun’s origins to this kingdom—Wan Teng had mentioned him during his defeat. Whether or not they could strike a deal with Ye Liuyun, they were determined to annihilate the Holy Land.

Even if Ye Liuyun agreed to exchange Mu Lai, their hunt for him would not cease.

After retrieving the half-beast corpse demon puppet, Ye Liuyun had his clone release the others, and they resumed their systematic extermination of the remaining alien forces in the area. Then, he deployed his army to sweep through the region.

The troops moved in warships and on Hawks, scouring the skies for concentrations of alien soldiers and corpse demons. Scattered stragglers weren’t worth their time—when this world collapsed, those lone survivors wouldn’t last long anyway.

Each time, they made sure to destroy the alien breeding grounds first, cutting off any chance of reinforcements.

Meanwhile, Ye Liuyun and his companions focused on extracting the world’s core energy, letting everyone absorb what they could. Once the army finished its sweep, he would reclaim the energy before moving on to the next alien stronghold.

At the next outpost, the alien forces immediately attempted negotiations the moment Ye Liuyun’s group struck.

"What’s there to talk about?" Ye Liuyun was baffled by their sudden willingness to parley.

"We’ll trade resources for one of your captives," proposed a golden-armored alien commander in charge of the stronghold.

Ye Liuyun’s first thought was Mu Lai. He was the only one valuable enough—to the aliens, everyone else was just lowborn or slaves. As for the formidable half-beast corpse demon puppet? It probably didn’t even qualify as a slave.

So Ye Liuyun immediately consulted Mu Lai, asking how much it would be worth in an exchange.

"At least the primordial energy of fifty planets!" Mu Lai replied.

"That valuable?" Even Ye Liuyun was taken aback by its worth.

He then turned to the golden-armored alien negotiator and asked, "Who do you want to trade for? And how much are you offering?"

"We wish to exchange for one of our three-eyed golden-armored nobles. We’re prepared to offer the primordial energy of three planets in return," the alien responded.

Ye Liuyun promptly summoned Mu Lai and had the alien repeat the offer.

"Y-yes, we want to trade for it—with the primordial energy of three... three planets!"

The golden-armored alien hesitated noticeably when mentioning the three planets, clearly worried about Ye Liuyun’s reaction.

"So you’re only worth the energy of three planets?" Ye Liuyun sneered, glancing mockingly at Mu Lai.

He had deliberately called Mu Lai out to hear the offer firsthand, stoking its resentment toward the aliens.

"Outrageous!"

Mu Lai let out a furious roar.

Its voice dripped with indignation as it lashed out at the aliens. "I’m only worth three planets?!"

"W-well... Elder Mu Xi instructed us to say that..." The golden-armored alien visibly cowered in fear.

And it wasn’t alone—every alien on the opposing side trembled under Mu Lai’s wrath.

Even though Mulai was now captured by Ye Liuyun and had become one of his followers, the innate fear the otherworldly beings held for him remained.

Mulai, his temper flaring, didn’t hesitate—he unleashed a streak of white light, striking down the golden-armored alien in an instant.

"Kill them. These negotiators have no sincerity," Ye Liuyun remarked coolly.

Only then did the opposing aliens remember that Mulai was now Ye Liuyun’s slave.

In a desperate attempt to free Mulai, the aliens collectively released their spiritual energy, surging toward his consciousness. But Mulai’s third eye shot forth a beam of black light, sweeping across their souls and obliterating them on the spot.

As the lifeless bodies of the aliens clattered to the ground, Ye Liuyun couldn’t help but feel a pang of pity for them.

The Demon-Sealing Stele and the Demon Vine, however, showed no mercy. They lunged forward, eagerly absorbing the remnants of the aliens’ energy.

Meanwhile, Ye Liuyun’s clone led the others in continuing their purge of the alien forces.

As for Ye Liuyun himself, he was already scheming—how to trick the aliens one more time.

Since they had proposed negotiations, it meant they were willing to offer resources. Ye Liuyun planned to take those resources first, without ever handing over what they wanted.

He saw no reason to play fair with these creatures.

Sure enough, when they attacked the next alien stronghold, the aliens upped their bargaining offer—this time to the essence of fifty planets.

But this time, Ye Liuyun kept Mulai hidden, ensuring he remained unaware that the aliens were trying to trade for his return.

"Make it a hundred," Ye Liuyun countered.

Ye Liuyun doubled the asking price for the negotiation.

"That’s outrageous!" The alien creatures weren’t ones for reasoning—they simply shrieked that his demands were too high.

Bored with their protests, Ye Liuyun cut them off. "Take it up with your superiors. If we can’t reach a deal, I’ll just kill you all right now."

Left with no choice, the aliens relayed the terms to Mu Xi.

"Agree to it," Mu Xi ordered. "Once we retrieve Mu Lai, confirm his soul is intact, then activate the altar to bring him back. I’ll seize the chance to cross over and wipe them out."

Pleased with his own cleverness, Mu Xi thought he had devised the perfect plan.

"Fine, we accept!" the aliens told Ye Liuyun. "But we must send Mu Lai home immediately. After the exchange, you must allow us access to the altar to transport him away."

"Of course," Ye Liuyun lied smoothly. "Once he’s in your hands, you’re free to take him wherever you wish."

With the deal struck, the aliens used a teleportation array to deliver the promised essence energy of a hundred planets.

Internally, Ye Liuyun was ecstatic, but he kept his composure, feigning indifference as he insisted on inspecting the essence for tampering.

The aliens grew suspicious of his intentions, but Ye Liuyun countered, "I have to make sure you haven’t laced these crystals with dark energy."

Reluctantly, they agreed—though they encircled him, watching his every move.

But the moment Ye Liuyun stepped among the glowing orbs, control slipped from their grasp.

In the blink of an eye, both he and the crystals vanished. Using spatial manipulation, he teleported himself and the treasures away before swiftly storing them.

"You liar!" the aliens howled in betrayal.

"Please," Ye Liuyun scoffed. "You think I’d trust you? Over a dozen of those crystals were tainted with your foul energy—did you really think I wouldn’t notice? You broke faith first."

He wasn’t lying. Hidden within the hundred orbs were traces of the aliens’ sinister power, a trap they had prepared in secret.

They never expected his golden eyes would see right through their deceit.