After Sang Han and the others had departed, Ye Liuyun also gathered Wu Qingcheng and his companions into his spatial realm. Donning his cloak of invisibility, he kept a distant watch on the movements of the alien race, ready to act should the situation take an unexpected turn.

Ye Liuyun had not only allowed Sang Han to leave but had also handed over the few disciples accompanying him, along with the captive disciple previously apprehended by Ye Liuyun.

Sang Han found Ye Liuyun’s actions oddly devoid of ulterior motives. Moreover, since their capture, Ye Liuyun had neither plundered their belongings nor even inspected their storage rings.

Before they could approach the alien stronghold, Sang Han turned to the disciple who had originally followed Cui Xinghe and demanded an account of what had transpired.

The disciple recounted the events truthfully, holding nothing back.

"Are you certain you’re speaking the truth? Not under their control?" Sang Han pressed, his voice laced with suspicion.

"I swear on my life, every word is true. If I lie, may my cultivation stagnate forever..." The disciple swore vehemently, desperate to prove his honesty.

At this, another disciple beside Sang Han spoke up, his tone bitter. "Cui Xinghe never had a good reputation to begin with. He abused his status as a Holy Son, always chasing skirts. Back in Tianhong World, people tolerated his behavior out of respect for our Sheng Yuan Academy’s prestige. But here, outsiders had no reason to indulge his whims."

The disciple’s resentment stemmed from being dragged into the mess by Cui Xinghe’s actions.

Sang Han thought back to the striking beauty of Wu Qingcheng and the other women, and suddenly, everything made sense.

"Damn it!"

He smacked his thigh in frustration and cursed through gritted teeth, "That bastard Cui Xinghe deserves to be torn to pieces! How many lives has he ruined?"

Then, in a fit of self-reproach, he slapped himself twice across the face, startling the other disciples. "This is my fault! Had I just listened to their explanation, so many wouldn’t have died for nothing!"

He had led over two hundred martial cultivators—each one a valuable asset against the alien threat. Now, their deaths were nothing but a senseless waste.

What infuriated him even more was that the remaining survivors were now all under enemy control. Overwhelmed by regret, he had just slapped himself twice in bitter remorse.

"I brought this upon myself! But the worst part is dragging all of you into this mess!" Sang Han lamented with a heavy sigh.

"Let it go, Dean Sang. What’s done is done, and regret won’t change anything. When we face those alien creatures in battle, we’ll take down as many as we can before falling on the battlefield. At least that way, we’ll die with honor for our academy!" one disciple tried to console him. 𝓯𝙧𝓮𝓮𝒘𝓮𝙗𝙣𝒐𝒗𝒆𝓵.𝓬𝓸𝒎

"You’re absolutely right! A glorious death in battle against those monsters is far better than living as slaves!" Sang Han’s eyes burned with conviction as he wholeheartedly agreed.

Thus resolved to meet their fate, the group set out to scout the alien forces. They exercised caution, resisting the urge to strike prematurely and risk alerting the enemy or jeopardizing the academy’s plans. From a safe distance, they maintained vigilant surveillance while keeping in contact with headquarters.

Meanwhile, Shengyuan Academy was mobilizing its forces. Their most powerful warrior wasn’t the dean, but an elder named Dian Qing—the same warrior whose prowess had turned the tide in their previous decisive victory against the alien invaders. Naturally, Dian Qing would lead again against this formidable new threat.

While gathering five hundred third-tier Heavenly Realm warriors proved manageable, assembling over a dozen Dominator-level experts presented a real challenge—especially when facing thirty elite Three-Eyed aliens. They would need to deploy significantly more Dominators, yet the entire Tianhong Realm could only muster twelve such warriors at present, with the rest already dispatched to eliminate alien outposts.

Shengyuan Academy immediately issued urgent summons to all martial practitioners, ordering them to assemble at the academy’s temporary stronghold. The directive emphasized strict discipline—no unauthorized reconnaissance or attacks until Elder Dian Qing arrived to coordinate operations.

Dian Qing and his team promptly teleported to the outpost Shengyuan had seized from the aliens, awaiting the gathering of allied forces. Before long, warriors from various factions began converging at the location.

Yet when the muster was complete, Dian Qing could only count seventeen Dominator-level experts—eighteen including Sang Han’s surveillance team. Staring at these numbers, even the seasoned warrior had to admit their odds looked grim against thirty Three-Eyed adversaries.

However, with only these people available, they had to make up the numbers with quantity. Thus, Dian Qing gathered another thousand martial cultivators at the third level of the Heavenly Human realm.

Before setting out, Dian Qing briefed everyone on the numbers and strength of the alien race.

He also warned them, "We lack enough Dominator-level experts, so when the time comes, it’ll be up to all of you to fight the Three-Eyed Aliens head-on. If anyone fears death, you may leave now—we won’t force you!"

The Tianhong World had suffered under the ravages of the alien race before, so hatred for them ran deep. No matter how wicked these people might have been in their daily lives, they were united when it came to fighting the invaders.

Because of this, not only did no one withdraw, but many more actually joined in. In the end, the number of third-level Heavenly Human martial cultivators swelled to over twelve hundred.

Dian Qing promptly called a halt before the numbers grew any further.

"Thank you all for your support, but too many fighters will only hinder our command in battle. This number is more than enough! If even we can’t eliminate those aliens, then the task of defending the Tianhong World will fall to those who remain behind!"

After exchanging a few polite words with the others, Dian Qing immediately led the team out.

The rest stayed behind, setting up camp to await news. If Dian Qing and his forces were truly defeated, they would rush back to the Tianhong World at once, pooling all their resources to break through to the Dominator realm and prepare for the aliens’ next assault.

When Dian Qing’s massive force arrived, Ye Liuyun spotted them immediately.

He studied the leader, Dian Qing, and couldn’t help but marvel at his strength—his true essence was even more refined than Ye Liuyun’s own.

This was the first time Ye Liuyun had encountered a martial cultivator in the same realm whose essence surpassed his own advance energy.

Moreover, Dian Qing didn’t appear old—his face bore the look of a man in his forties or fifties, devoid of any sinister aura. The fact that he was leading the charge against the alien race also earned him some goodwill from Ye Liuyun, who decided he might lend them extra support when the time came.

Right then, Ye Liuyun relayed all the intel he had gathered on the aliens’ positions to Sang Han through the slave mark, instructing him to draw up a detailed layout of their defenses.

Once Sang Han completed the map, he handed it over to Dian Qing, who used it to make tactical adjustments.

After finalizing the arrangements, Dian Qing turned to Sang Han and asked, "How did you obtain such precise information?"

Though Sang Han was a deputy dean, Dian Qing’s higher cultivation and status within the sect meant he didn’t need to stand on ceremony.

Sang Han had initially planned to claim he scouted it himself, but Ye Liuyun made him say that several disciples had sacrificed their lives to gather the intel. Fortunately, Sang Han stuck to the script—otherwise, Dian Qing might not have believed him.