After wiping out a squad of cultivators who’d tried to block them, Ye Liuyun had tasted the power of Divine Essence—and now he hungered for how fast he himself would climb.

Even while he simply breathed, the new-born essence cycled on its own, sipping starlight and world-force, distilling itself drop by drop. One full revolution of every meridian produced only a single bead—almost negligible—yet it still dwarfed the old days when his Profound Essence idly sipped spiritual energy; at Unity Realm that trickle wouldn’t have pushed him a minor sub-realm in fifty years.

His golden pupils already counted more interceptors ahead, sealing whole tracts of sky. They would not let him pass.

He gathered everyone.

“We split up. Second clone takes every Devil Beast, Tang Xinyao and every woman who wants to fight—off to Duqiao Galaxy for live practice

Pirate nest: no rules, no mercy; fight, loot, break through, then regroup with me

I’ll stay in Huoyin Galaxy, carve us a foothold and spar with the top dogs. The gap between us is too wide right now; if you stay you’ll never even swing a blade.”

Refined from Profound into Divine Essence, his aura felt gentler, almost part of the breeze—yet the moment he let it leak even dragons and thunder-beasts felt their blood freeze. Overlord women tasted real dread.

They all sensed the gulf widening; none wanted to be left behind.

They also knew his current foes were Seventh-, Eighth-, even Ninth-step Unity giants—tag-alongs would only distract him. Seclusion without tempering was slow death; better to hunt pirates for resources and battle scars. Agreement was unanimous.

He handed Second clone the Devil Vine and two Flame Chariots; together they used the black transport tower back to Duqiao’s capital planet—the pirate headquarters

The moment they arrived they began to kill and plunder: each fought in their own style while Second clone tackled the strongest experts city by city

Devil Vine devoured entire settlements whole, then left cleanup to the others. First Headquarters perished overnight; soon every city was gone and Second clone pocketed the planet itself—Duqiao’s heart vanished from star-maps.

Once they left Ye Liuyun and First clone resumed mowing down blockaders for exercise. With Divine Essence rising he drilled spatial force and world-momentum next.

Each fight opened with ten captive puppets paraded out—not to strike but to awe enemies into dueling one by one instead of mobbing him.

When an opponent outclassed him he froze time with a thought then hammered soul-force laced with world-energy straight into their sea of consciousness until it burst—and wasted nothing: instantly his soul morphed into Heaven-Swallowing Beast shape gobbling up every shard later refined at leisure.

Great Evolution Soul Art let his spirit take any form: soul-blade one breath titanic fist next ravenous beast after that—a playground of shapes rehearsed until instinctive.

Against equals he fought full-out caring nothing for cost; against weaker ones he isolated one discipline yet still struck with utter seriousness.

No interceptor came below Fifth-step Unity Sixth-steps were merely noble scions along for spectacle Seventh- or Eighth-step veterans did most killing so when both sides suddenly saw House Leng banners everyone paused shocked at each other’s strength

House Leng’s lead elder had banked on overwhelming might drag Leng Qingxiao siblings home but now faced one Ninth-step puppet three Eighth-steps advantage gone

Still name alone should cow this boy save hostages then reverse slaughter

“Boy House Leng fields far more than you see We will reclaim Qingxiao siblings Release them now I swear we won’t strike”

Ye Liuyun answered only by assigning tasks

“Puppet take their elder Each Eighth-step stall one opposite Eight Rest coordinate with Qingxiao pair hold line I’ll soul-strike finish them”

Under slave seal brother sister obey yet looked at elder helpless

They had followed Ye Liuyun long enough to know how terrifying his soul power was; the Cold-Clan experts in front of them were clearly outclassed.

“We still underestimated him,” Cold Qingxiao sent to Cold Qingyao. “I’m afraid no one in our clan can match his soul strength.”

Cold Qingyao sighed in agreement. “Even if every elite in the family showed up together, they might not be able to stop him.”

They could only lament inwardly; there was no way to warn the clan about Ye Liuyun’s true level.

Through the slave seal, Ye Liuyun caught their thoughts and reasoned that, having already killed so many strong foes, the next interceptors would have to be even stronger

So he decided to seize this chance and capture a few more experts.

He and his first clone stepped straight toward the Cold elder.

“What do you say?” the elder asked, assuming Ye Liuyun had come out to negotiate.

“Attack!”

Ye Liuyun barked the order, sending everyone forward at once

He and his clone each released a soul fragment that shot into the elder’s sea of consciousness

Meanwhile he retargeted his puppet against the Return-One Eighth-Heaven warriors; it could hold off four or five of them by itself, leaving the rest for his companions and keeping the fight even.