Ye Liuyun pondered for a moment before agreeing. After all, selling one still left him with fourteen. Besides, he didn’t really need that many—a few would suffice.

After collecting the resources, Ye Liuyun handed over a cloak of invisibility to Dian Qing. When Dian Qing tried it on, he was amazed by its extraordinary effect. The others who witnessed it were equally impressed, remarking how much easier it would be to deal with the alien races using such an item.

"Still, it’s not a cure-all," Ye Liuyun cautioned honestly. "I suspect that mirror the aliens previously deployed was specifically designed to detect invisibility." He didn’t want them to assume the cloak made them invincible.

"So, what other treasures do you have? Care to introduce them?" Dian Qing asked eagerly after securing the cloak, pressing Ye Liuyun further.

"Well... I’m not here to sell things!"

Ye Liuyun wasn’t opposed to trading, but he wanted to gauge their stance on forming an alliance first. He refused to exchange goods purely for resources—otherwise, he might inadvertently arm a future enemy.

Though he and Dian Qing had spoken at length, and he knew from Sang Han’s memories that Dian Qing had a decent reputation, he still hadn’t interacted with him personally. He needed to observe Dian Qing’s true character before making any judgments.

Even if he did engage in trade, he wouldn’t offer anything truly significant.

Dian Qing, however, was straightforward with him. "Originally, I hoped our Tianhong Realm and your Sacred Land Realm could form an alliance to fight the alien races together. But this isn’t something I can decide alone—I’ll need to report back to the academy and the royal family. So, if you have any other valuable items, why not introduce them to me now? I can petition the court for approval later."

"An alliance is one thing, cooperation is another, and business is separate. They don’t have to interfere with each other. What do you think?"

Ye Liuyun found his reasoning sound and decided to comply. He produced two standard Swiftwings, sets of soldier armor, puppet beasts, and one of the aliens’ colossal warships—items he had confirmed, through Sang Han’s memories, that they lacked.

The sight of the massive alien warship left the martial cultivators speechless. They also saw the puppet beasts as invaluable for countering the three-eyed aliens and breaching enemy defenses. The armor’s defensive shields struck them as nothing short of miraculous.

But when Ye Liuyun demonstrated the Swiftwings, their admiration shifted entirely to the sleek, agile aircraft.

Dian Qing immediately invited Ye Liuyun to their base to discuss the terms and quantities of their trade.

Without any pretense of formality, Ye Liuyun didn’t even wait until they reached the base. Right then and there, he quoted prices for each item and disclosed his available stock. Then, he motioned for Dian Qing and the others to go ahead, assuring them he would join them for the trade once he finished collecting the origin energy from the area.

Before they left, Ye Liuyun handed Dian Qing a communication talisman for easier coordination.

Of the people Ye Liuyun had previously controlled, only Sang Han and one disciple remained. He didn’t release them from their slave marks either, keeping them firmly under his command to monitor the movements of the Tianhong Royal Family and the Shengyuan Academy.

Once they were gone, Ye Liuyun summoned Wu Qingcheng and the others, instructing them to thoroughly cleanse the area of any remaining alien beings and corpse demons before extracting the origin energy.

Meanwhile, he and his clone returned to the spatial realm to conduct a soul search on the captured alien elites. But the aliens had indeed taken extreme precautions—many of their memories had been wiped clean before these gold and silver-armored warriors were deployed.

Frustrated but undeterred, Ye Liuyun gathered all their resources. After a full inventory, he counted over seven hundred intact planetary origin energies, with even more fragmented ones—a substantial haul by any measure.

As for the captives, he kept them alive as training dummies for his allies. The eight Dominator-level alien warriors were rare and valuable sparring partners, especially the two elders, whose true strength surpassed even Ye Liuyun’s.

Regrettably, Elder Quan Sheng had lost an arm to Ye Liuyun’s Demon-Slaying Blade, and it wouldn’t regenerate. Seeing no further use for him, Ye Liuyun devoured his soul to avoid wasting resources, then fed the corpse to the Nine-Headed Demon Dragon.

Next, Ye Liuyun prepared to refine the aliens’ third eyes. But upon reflection, he felt his own ocular abilities were already formidable enough. There was no need to absorb so many more.

*"What should I do with these thirty third eyes?"*

In the end, he split eight white-light and eight black-light eyes evenly with his clone. The remaining white-light eyes went to the Demon Vine and Mu Lai, while all the black-light ones were given to Mu Lai.

Mu Lai had now reached the Dominator realm, proving useful in every battle. Ye Liuyun saw no reason to shortchange him, so he also handed over all the alien corpses collected from the battlefield to help boost his strength.

As for the demon crystals found in the aliens’ storage rings, he divided them equally among Lei Ming, the Nine-Headed Demon Dragon, and Mu Lai.

Mu Lai was genuinely taken aback by Ye Liuyun’s generosity. In the alien hierarchy, such treatment was unimaginable. A prisoner, a slave—such beings had no right to resources. Merely escaping being devoured alive by their master was considered a stroke of luck.

Not only was he thriving, but his cultivation had also advanced. Now, Ye Liuyun was even handing over the captured alien Third Eyes and resources to him. Mu Lai was so overwhelmed with emotion that he momentarily found himself at a loss for words.

Ye Liuyun, however, paid no mind to his reaction. To him, rewards were simply due where they were earned.

Soon after, Ye Liuyun and his doppelgänger set to work refining the alien Third Eyes. By the time Wu Qingcheng and the others had finished their tasks, he had just completed the refinement within his doppelgänger’s spatial realm.

"All of you should return and focus on cultivation for now—we’ve gained quite a few resources recently. I’ll head to the Tianhong Dynasty to conduct some business before returning to deal with the aliens."

After storing them all in his spatial world, Ye Liuyun also replenished the energy of the two half-beast corpse demon puppets as a precaution. Only then did he set off for the Sheng Yuan Academy’s outpost.

Along the way, he confirmed with Sang Han that Dian Qing had already submitted the alliance proposal to both the academy and the royal family upon his return. The royal court had swiftly approved the request, and now they were simply waiting for the dynasty to deliver the promised resources.

"As expected of the most influential figure in the Tianhong Realm—his word carries real weight."

Ye Liuyun then proceeded to the Sheng Yuan Academy outpost. However, before arriving, he had his doppelgänger conceal itself outside to wait for him. After all, this was his first business dealing with these people—it was better to err on the side of caution.

Once fully prepared, Ye Liuyun met Dian Qing again with an air of confidence.

The moment they saw each other, Dian Qing informed him that both the royal family and the academy were eager to form an alliance. For now, their joint effort would focus on eliminating the alien outposts in the western warzone.

Dian Qing spoke frankly, "Admittedly, this arrangement might seem a bit unfair to you. The northern zone has already been cleared by you, so now you’d essentially be helping us take down the aliens in the west.

"But I think since you’re already here searching for resources, why not collaborate while you’re at it? We’ll act together, but our forces won’t interfere with each other—each side keeps what they claim, with no complications. 𝒻𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝘯𝘰𝑣ℯ𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝘮

"The aliens have suffered heavy losses this time, but they won’t just give up. This is the perfect opportunity for us to test our cooperation before moving on to bigger things. What do you think?"