In the northern war zone of the alien race, the army preparing to march against the Holy Land Dynasty had completed its final preparations.

Officially, this force was said to number ten million, but in reality, it exceeded fourteen million. The additional four million aliens were intended as rations—consumed along the journey to further enhance the army’s strength.

Leading this formidable host was a golden-armored king named Sanda, hailed as the "Undefeated King." He commanded ten golden-armored aliens and over two hundred silver-armored lieutenants. The number of aliens at the third tier of the Celestial Realm alone approached ten thousand, while those at the first and second tiers exceeded a hundred thousand—a truly terrifying scale.

However, three-eyed aliens were scarce among them, numbering only three. Most of their kind had been either reserved for breeding by the golden-armored elites or directly harvested for their third eyes.

To maximize speed, the aliens had stowed away their sluggish behemoth warships, opting instead for a uniform fleet of vessels, each capable of carrying fifty thousand troops. Departing from their nearest stronghold to the Holy Land, they estimated the journey would take just over a year. The sheer number of ships made the armada appear vast and unstoppable, stretching endlessly across the horizon.

Meanwhile, Ye Liuyun was honing his skills against a half-beast zombie puppet. The demon vine, after sparring with him for a few days, had fled once more. Through relentless practice, Ye Liuyun had increased the number of his golden blades to thirty-five.

These blades could not only separate but also merge into one, their movements growing ever more fluid under his control. The demon vine, finding them its natural bane and frequently wounded, had refused to continue. Thus, Ye Liuyun had no choice but to train with the half-beast zombie puppet—though this doubled his resource consumption, as he had to replenish the puppet’s energy as well.

But with no other worthy opponents available, he had no choice but to expend the extra resources.

His mastery of spatial power was also steadily deepening. Originally trained to evade the attacks of white and black light, he could now shift his position with blinding speed. His application of spatial energy had grown so refined that he could unleash a variety of attacks effortlessly, his movements becoming so rapid that even he felt as if he existed in multiple places at once.

Now, even the half-beast zombie puppet struggled to track his movements, left disoriented by his relentless strikes. Of course, while refining his own abilities, Ye Liuyun was simultaneously helping the puppet enhance its spatial power as well.

Their progress was remarkably swift, with their spatial powers nearly surpassing the level of the Blue Armor.

Ye Liuyun’s attack range had also expanded significantly, allowing him to strike from a safer distance and avoid getting too close to the alien races, thereby reducing the risk of ambushes from the three-eyed beings.

He often compared his strength to that of Mu Xi, pushing himself relentlessly in mastering the power of heaven and earth. Now, with a single full-force strike, he could shatter the void, creating a faint ripple of spatial collapse.

However, without drawing upon the power of his spatial world, the impact of his attacks still fell noticeably short.

Once, after exhausting his advance energy energy, Ye Liuyun returned to his clone’s spatial world to replenish it. As he did, his thoughts drifted to the Underworld.

With Zhuge Feiyu overseeing matters there, he had little to worry about. Still, it had been a long time since his last visit, and he felt it was time to check in and fulfill his responsibilities as the Lord of the Underworld.

Using the Black Tower of Teleportation, he arrived directly at the Underworld Palace.

His sudden appearance startled everyone inside.

Ye Liuyun was equally surprised to find the palace crowded with spirits. Zhuge Feiyu seemed to be in the middle of a meeting, with Luo Xiu, Bai Su, and others in attendance.

"Uh... bad timing?" Ye Liuyun asked awkwardly.

"Hah! We were starting to think you’d forgotten about us!" Zhuge Feiyu laughed, rising immediately to greet him.

Luo Xiu, Bai Su, and the others also stepped forward to pay their respects.

"No need for formalities," Ye Liuyun waved them off. "I see you’re discussing something important. How’s the Underworld been lately?"

"Master, your return couldn’t be more timely—we’ve just encountered a major problem!" Luo Xiu blurted out. 𝚏𝕣𝐞𝗲𝐰𝕖𝐛𝐧𝕠𝕧𝚎𝚕.𝐜𝚘𝗺

But Zhuge Feiyu didn’t rush into the issue. Instead, he began by briefing Ye Liuyun on the overall state of the Underworld.

"The Underworld has been expanding rapidly in recent years. Basically, every new place you visit becomes connected to the Underworld through a new gateway. So even without contacting you, we know which world you’ve reached and roughly what’s happening there.

Lately, the Underworld has also seen an influx of foreign races. At first, we only kept a few powerful individuals from these races as guards.

But as you eliminated more and more of them, their lingering spirits began to pile up faster than we could purge them. Eventually, we had no choice but to admit these foreign souls into the Underworld as well.

However, you recently slew a number of powerful foreign warriors in the Holy Land. Before we could subdue them, they banded together and started rebelling against our authority."

Ye Liuyun was taken aback by this revelation.

"Everywhere I go becomes linked to the Underworld?"

He wasn’t too concerned about the foreign races. If he could handle them in the Holy Land, they’d be even less of a threat in the Underworld.

"Correct. But the connection only forms after you’ve taken control of the place," Zhuge Feiyu explained.

"But I never occupied the Holy Land," Ye Liuyun asked, puzzled.

"True. We’re not entirely sure why, but my guess is that since your strength is now sufficient to protect the Holy Land, the Underworld automatically recognized you as its ruler!" Zhuge Feiyu told him.

"The Underworld has such a function?" Ye Liuyun marveled at the revelation.

He extended his divine sense, scanning the changes within the Underworld, and quickly grasped the situation.

He even spotted Mu Xi and the others, gathered together and making their way toward the Underworld Palace.

"Prepare the Soul Banners—they’re coming!" Ye Liuyun instructed Zhuge Feiyu before striding out.

Just then, an Underworld soldier rushed in to report that Mu Xi and her forces were advancing on them.

As Ye Liuyun walked, he took a moment to sense the extent of his power within the Netherworld.

Suddenly, he realized something astonishing—his control over the cosmic forces here was beyond anything he’d ever experienced. He could practically command the entire energy of the Netherworld itself.

The Netherworld was no ordinary realm; it was the convergence point for the souls of countless worlds. The sheer magnitude of its power dwarfed that of mere spatial dimensions.

*"Why didn’t I sense this overwhelming strength before?"*

Ye Liuyun pondered silently.

*"Perhaps it’s because my cultivation has advanced, refining my mastery over cosmic energy. Or maybe the Netherworld itself has expanded..."*

Though he couldn’t pinpoint the exact reason, one thing was certain—here, in this realm, he was invincible. At this moment, he truly felt like the sovereign of the Netherworld.

With this newfound confidence, his wariness toward foreign powerhouses like Mu Xi faded entirely. Even if Mu Xi and all his allies attacked at once, Ye Liuyun wouldn’t bat an eye.