"This..." The alien negotiator across from them also seemed troubled.

After a moment’s thought, it made another proposal to Ye Liuyun: "Perhaps we overlooked something during preparation. Then why don’t you hand over the energy orbs tainted with evil aura, and we’ll replace them for you."

"Bring me twelve untampered ones first. I’ll inspect them before anything else!" Ye Liuyun refused to yield an inch.

Hearing him demand "twelve," the alien was startled. *Has he already figured out which ones we tampered with?*

With no other choice, it had to report back to Mu Xi.

At this point, Mu Xi was already in too deep—having committed to a hundred, what were twelve more? Gritting its teeth, it sent over another twelve orbs.

"Hand them over for inspection. I don’t trust you lot!" This time, Ye Liuyun didn’t even bother approaching, simply ordering the aliens to toss the orbs to him.

The aliens exchanged glances. If a hundred had already fallen into his hands, what difference would twelve more make? Reluctantly, they complied and threw the orbs over.

Ye Liuyun swiftly collected every single one.

"Now!"

Only then did he signal the Demon-Suppressing Stele and the Demon Vine to strike, slaughtering the aliens on the spot.

"What are you doing? We already replaced the source energy for you!" Some of the aliens still tried to reason with him.

Ye Liuyun merely smirked. "Too late! Consider this source energy your punishment for trying to cheat us!"

His clones, along with Lei Ming, Liang Xue, and the others, could barely contain their laughter. They had been holding it in all this time, afraid of tipping off the aliens.

"You have no honor!" one alien protested through telepathy.

With a thunderous roar, Lei Ming swung his massive hammer, smashing the alien’s skull into a pulp of brain matter. "Honor means nothing when dealing with scum like you!" he bellowed.

Ye Liuyun acted just as decisively, immediately engaging their strongest alien opponent in combat.

Meanwhile, on their way to the Sacred Planet, Elder Mu Xi was so enraged that he obliterated a nearby islet with a single palm strike, his furious roar echoing through the void.

The golden-armored and silver-armored aliens accompanying him—all formidable warriors in their own right—remained utterly silent, not daring to utter a word in the face of his outburst.

"Damnable insects!" Elder Mu Xi cursed through gritted teeth.

His scheme to trap Ye Liuyun had backfired spectacularly.

Truth be told, accumulating the essence energy of 112 intact planets was no small feat for the aliens—it had required overwhelming force to conquer so many thriving worlds.

Yet Ye Liuyun had swindled it all away with mere words. Not only had they lost the essence energy, but their forces had suffered heavy casualties too. The humiliation burned like acid in Mu Xi’s throat, a disgrace he couldn’t even voice aloud.

"Full speed ahead!" he snarled. "I will exterminate every last human!" 𝘧𝓇𝑒𝑒𝑤ℯ𝑏𝓃𝘰𝑣ℯ𝘭.𝘤ℴ𝘮

The alien contingent surged forward toward the Sacred Planet. As elite warriors with formidable spatial abilities, their movements through the cosmos rivaled the speed of diving falcons. They only paused occasionally to pillage islands that caught their interest, otherwise maintaining relentless momentum.

Simultaneously, Mu Xi dispatched additional Three-Eyed aliens and spatial specialists from their stronghold to hunt down Ye Liuyun.

Unfazed, Ye Liuyun methodically secured the altar before systematically purging the world of remaining aliens and corpse demons. The Vermilion Bird, meanwhile, followed the army to absorb wandering spirits, steadily strengthening its divine soul.

Ye Liuyun and his avatar also devoured the souls of several powerful alien beings, stockpiling energy for future battles where they could unleash dark light attacks.

Realizing how much the aliens valued Mulai, he decided to use the creature as bait in the next encounter. The moment Mulai appeared, those alien elites would undoubtedly focus their soul attacks on it.

As for the twelve corrupted strands of origin energy tainted by the aliens, Ye Liuyun purified them all with his divine light. He handed a few to Lei Ming and the others for cultivation while replenishing his spatial world with additional origin energy to strengthen its foundation.

Now flush with resources, Ye Liuyun was back in the game. There was no rush to launch another offensive. Instead, he and his avatar refined their spirit blades, reforging them into golden sabers condensed from divine light.

He knew the aliens would retaliate, so he prepared specialized techniques to counter them. His divine light power could only be adapted in application—enhancing its potency was far more difficult. Even absorbing demon crystals to boost his demonic energy yielded negligible improvements against the current alien threats, and the progress was painfully slow.

He even tested his method on Guo Xiao, a warrior corrupted by the aliens. Sure enough, he managed to purge the malevolent energy from Guo Xiao’s core. But the core itself had already mutated into an alien one, and the true energy it generated afterward remained tainted.

Left with no choice, Ye Liuyun eliminated Guo Xiao to prevent future calamity.

While waiting for his army to regroup, he and his avatar retreated into the Void Stone to cultivate, absorbing origin energy. Each battle drained him immensely, requiring vast resources to replenish—yet this was the only way to refine his profound energy.

After every session, he couldn’t help but sigh, "Martial cultivation devours resources like a bottomless pit! Without an endless supply, breaking through realms is just a pipe dream."

Once his forces returned, Ye Liuyun harvested the world’s origin energy and set off for the next alien stronghold.

This time, he deployed only his avatar, the Demon Vine, the Demon-Sealing Stele, the half-beast corpse puppet, the Nine-Headed Netherdrake, the Vermilion Bird, Mulai, and the two armored aliens—Lan Jia and another—for combat. The rest were sent to seize the altars.

The moment he arrived, he noticed the enemy’s defenses had been reinforced yet again. Everywhere he looked, elite warriors stood guard. That was why he couldn’t afford to send weaker fighters into this battle.

To make matters worse, another half-beast corpse demon puppet was stationed here as well. This fight was going to be brutal.

"ROAR!"

The half-beast corpse demon puppet lunged at Ye Liuyun first, and the battle erupted instantly.

But as instructed, Mulai acted swiftly—he unleashed a dark beam of energy, obliterating the puppet’s consciousness, which had been controlled by Mu Xi. Without hesitation, Ye Liuyun used his spatial power to seize the puppet, infused it with his own will, and instantly gained another powerful ally.

"Mulai!"

Elder Mu Xi, who was still en route, immediately recognized Mulai as the one who had destroyed his puppet. Furious, he let out another enraged roar.

But no matter how much he seethed, after a moment’s consideration, he still refrained from ordering an attack on Mulai.

Meanwhile, several three-eyed aliens remained on the battlefield.

Ye Liuyun and his doppelgänger relied on their superior golden pupils to swiftly eliminate two of them.

Yet two others persisted—one targeted the Demon-Sealing Stele, while the other attacked the Demon Vine.

Both were devastating threats to the aliens, making them prime targets.

But to the aliens’ shock, the Demon-Sealing Stele merely bore a white scorch mark from the enemy’s beam, and the Demon Vine’s tendrils, though half-dissolved, refused to break.

Their resilience came from the massive amounts of energy they had absorbed from the alien scales, hardening their surfaces beyond expectation.