If Sang Han had claimed he personally scouted the area, Dian Qing would have been suspicious—why would the alien race let him return unharmed?

The detailed layout of the map could only have been drawn from close observation. And at such proximity, Dian Qing found it impossible to believe the aliens wouldn’t have detected Sang Han.

Once Dian Qing confirmed everything, he led the entire group forward—Sang Han included.

Ye Liuyun, cloaked in his invisibility mantle, seized the opportunity to edge closer, ready to strike at a moment’s notice. He even summoned his doppelgänger and Mu Lai in advance, disguising them under their own invisibility mantles to position themselves even nearer.

His plan was twofold: if Dian Qing, Sang Han, and the others faltered, he would intervene. But if they managed to hold their own against the aliens, he would take advantage of the chaos to loot some resources.

Meanwhile, the alien ambushers had grown restless over the past two days. Ye Liuyun’s trail had suddenly gone cold. Based on his expected route, he should have arrived long ago.

But now, several of their outposts had been wiped out by human martial cultivators. They couldn’t confirm whether it was Ye Liuyun’s doing, so they had no choice but to wait in place for further intel.

To their surprise, instead of Ye Liuyun, Dian Qing and his forces appeared.

Though the Tianhong World had already annihilated millions of their troops, reports indicated that Dian Qing posed far less of a threat than Ye Liuyun. The aliens hadn’t prioritized dealing with him.

But now that Dian Qing had come knocking, the aliens had no intention of sitting idle. The attacks originally meant for Ye Liuyun were unleashed upon Dian Qing’s warriors instead.

Thanks to Dian Qing’s meticulous preparations, the battle erupted into a fierce clash from the very first moment.

Dian Qing faced off against the alien elder, Hong Guang, while Sang Han engaged Elder Quan Sheng.

Though Sang Han had been effortlessly subdued by Ye Liuyun without even landing a single strike, against the aliens, he fought with unrestrained ferocity.

His attacks were overwhelming—each palm strike carried such force that Quan Sheng was forced to keep his distance, unable to close the gap.

Quan Sheng had no choice but to deploy the Blood Silkworm Threads. However, since they couldn’t get too close to Sang Han, encircling him with the threads proved difficult. Moreover, Sang Han was adept at wielding frost energy, capable of freezing the threads solid.

Once frozen, the Blood Silkworm Threads lost their flexibility and cutting edge, rendering them far less effective. For Elder Quan Sheng of the alien race, this was like meeting his natural nemesis—his signature weapon had been severely neutralized.

Meanwhile, Dian Qing and Hong Guang fought cautiously, both probing each other’s strength with steady, measured strikes.

As for the disciples accompanying Sang Han, they truly lived up to their word, throwing themselves into battle with reckless abandon, heedless of their own safety. One disciple even charged straight at a three-eyed alien, acting as a human shield to create an opening for his comrades to strike.

Ye Liuyun couldn’t help but admire their courage. But this was war—he couldn’t very well order them to retreat. All he could do was let them fight with everything they had.

The three-eyed aliens inflicted heavy casualties on the martial warriors, forcing them to constantly rotate fresh fighters into the fray. Those aliens with stronger spatial abilities were even deadlier, making the battle all the more grueling.

Casualties mounted rapidly among the martial warriors. At one point, two three-eyed aliens even attempted to ambush Dian Qing and Sang Han.

In a flash, Ye Liuyun’s doppelganger struck. Two blades descended, each a coalescence of multiple golden sabers crackling with lightning. The two aliens were cleaved apart on the spot.

Dian Qing and Sang Han had noticed the ambush but were too preoccupied to react. Just as they braced for the worst, an unexpected ally intervened.

Having been forewarned by Ye Liuyun, Sang Han wasn’t surprised. Dian Qing, though unaware of the savior’s identity, remained composed, recognizing the assistance as friendly and refocusing on his own opponent.

The aliens, however, were rattled. The attack bore similarities to Ye Liuyun’s signature ambush style—yet it was a radiant white blade infused with lightning, delivered in a single decisive stroke. They couldn’t be certain if it was him, but they knew better than to let their guard down.

Whether it was Ye Liuyun or not, that strike had just proven lethal enough to demand their utmost caution.

Meanwhile, Ye Liuyun’s golden pupils locked onto a golden-armored alien wielding a mirror, shielded by five three-eyed guards as it swept the battlefield with its gaze. Strangely, the mirror seemed harmless to the martial warriors.

Yet this golden-armored alien was the hardest to kill. Wave after wave of warriors had charged, only to be cut down by the five guards’ crossfire. Breaking through their defense was nearly impossible.

Even a martial cultivator at the Dominator Realm had fallen under the combined assault of those three-eyed aliens. Among the five of them, three emitted white light while the other two radiated black—a perfectly balanced distribution that made it difficult for the martial cultivators to gain the upper hand.

"A mirror for detecting invisibility!"

Ye Liuyun stared at the mirror for a moment before suddenly realizing its purpose.

"If it doesn’t have offensive capabilities, then it must be used to detect something. And the only thing worth detecting with a specialized treasure would be invisibility."

With that thought, Ye Liuyun immediately summoned two half-beast corpse demon puppets to attack the five three-eyed aliens.

The puppets were impervious to the aliens’ attacks and possessed formidable strength, making them more than capable of handling the small group. But to his surprise, the moment the puppets appeared, the aliens recognized them instantly. Hongguang and Quansheng let out furious roars, alerting all their kin to Ye Liuyun’s arrival.

"Master, their target is you!" Mulai, who understood the aliens’ warning, quickly relayed the message to Ye Liuyun.

"So these aliens were lying in wait for me!" Only then did Ye Liuyun realize that this trap had been set specifically for him.

Under the furious cries of Hongguang and Quansheng, several three-eyed aliens soared into the starry void, charging toward him.

Ye Liuyun didn’t even need to engage them directly. The moment they breached the void, his doppelganger activated temporal power, swiftly beheading the aliens before storing their corpses in his spatial realm.

Meanwhile, the two half-beast corpse demon puppets each delivered a devastating punch, amplified by the power of the spatial realm, sending the five aliens flying. Martial cultivators immediately followed up, blades and swords flashing, finishing them off.

The two puppets then turned their attention to the golden-armored alien, a formidable Dominator Realm expert who proved no easy opponent. The alien retaliated fiercely, but in his haste, he overlooked the fragile nature of the mirror in his grasp.

When both sides unleashed the full force of their spatial realm powers in a brutal clash, the resulting shockwave proved too much—the mirror shattered into pieces.

At that moment, Hongguang roared again and summoned the Zhenyuan Tower. He had already deduced that Dianqing’s greatest advantage lay in the purity of his true essence and the overwhelming power of his spatial realm. The Zhenyuan Tower was the perfect counter.

With the mirror for detecting invisibility now destroyed, Ye Liuyun would soon strike. They had to act first—or risk being completely overwhelmed.