The black panther was no small beast—cultivation at the Unity Fifth Layer. Ye Liuyun figured it was perfect for testing his combat strength and gauging the ferocious beasts here.

But the moment the clone drew its saber, the panther sensed the saber intent inside that strike. It howled, spun around, and tried to bolt, yet it wasn’t faster than the blade.

The clone infused the slash with spatial force; the saber appeared directly in front of the panther and cleaved it cleanly from shoulder to flank, splitting it in two.

“That easy!” Neither Ye Liuyun nor the clone had expected the local beasts to be so fragile.

They now understood their own strength better. Even under suppression, their post-breakthrough power far exceeded what they’d wielded before.

Suddenly, Ye Liuyun felt someone scanning him. Years of assassin training had honed senses no divine sense could match; only instinct could catch such covert probes.

“He’s here—must be the overseer of this secret realm!” the clone warned at once, urging Ye Liuyun back into his spatial world so they could flee at any moment.

This sensation of being watched was one Ye Liuyun hadn’t felt in ages. It wasn’t immediate danger, but the constant pressure of surveillance—much like when he spied on his own spatial world.

Without hesitation, he slipped back inside, afraid the realm might lock him down.

The clone remained outside to keep exploring and signaled He Lingwu to close ranks. The overseer hadn’t attacked yet; his motives were unclear. Having a He clansman nearby offered extra security.

The clone changed course toward another He disciple he’d sensed. Along the way, he ran into a guard and killed him outright—testing the realm’s reaction.

After waiting a while, nothing happened. He continued after the He disciple, caught up, and killed him too. Still no response.

“Maybe this realm isn’t controlled by the He family?” the clone mused. 𝐟𝐫𝕖𝗲𝘄𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝕧𝐞𝚕.𝕔𝕠𝐦

“Kill a few more and see,” Ye Liuyun replied, withholding judgment.

So the clone swept the area, slaying every He disciple and guard he found, while ordering He Lingwu—still en route—to cut down anyone he met.

He Lingwu seethed; he’d barely entered and hadn’t gathered any treasures before being told to butcher his own. Ye Liuyun had to tighten the slave seal, drag him to the clone, and let the clone finish him with a single slash.

The instant He Lingwu died, the realm’s suppression on the clone intensified. Dark clouds gathered overhead, crackling with lightning.

“It reacted!” Ye Liuyun and the clone were sure now: the realm meant to protect the He disciples.

A low rumble rolled out, and a bucket-thick purple bolt crashed down straight at Ye Liuyun.

The clone had been ready to retreat into the spatial world, but the lightning’s power proved manageable. He held his ground, letting the bolt strike while greedily absorbing its energy.

After one strike, the clouds began to disperse, assuming the target was dead. When they realized the clone stood unharmed, they regathered and lashed out twice more.

Hidden in the void at the realm’s center floated a palace hall.

A short, wizened elder squinted at the lightning hammering the clone, grinning with glee.

“Eh?”

Seeing Ye Liuyun unscathed, he twitched in surprise and ramped up the lightning barrage.

The clone weathered each blast easily, even siphoning off more thunderforce. He almost wished the strikes would keep coming.

But the clouds thickened further, and the next bolts turned blood-red.

“He’s trying to fry you with lightning,” Ye Liuyun observed. “The attacker is definitely the realm overseer, but he can’t wield the realm’s full power against us.”

They reasoned that if the overseer had complete control, he could simply lock them down or seal their true essence outright. Instead, he only heightened suppression and hurled heavenly punishment—proof his mastery was limited.

The clone’s current strength had already been suppressed to seventy percent—clearly a heavy handicap. Yet its ability to absorb lightning remained completely unhindered. Thus, it weathered three more blood-red thunderbolts with ease.

Seeing the storm clouds above still swirling and gathering lightning, the clone actually grew eager.

The repeated heavenly strikes drew every nearby He clan disciple and guard. Such a celestial anomaly convinced them a priceless treasure had appeared.

Noticing the growing crowd, the clone showed no courtesy and struck again—especially targeting the He disciples. He wanted to test whether the secret realm could truly control him or simply lock him down.

BOOM!

As the clone sprinted toward one He disciple, a condensed jet-black bolt lanced from the clouds. This time, the clone felt his body freeze for an instant—as though space itself had clamped shut.

Yet the paralysis lasted only a heartbeat before vanishing.

The black lightning crashed into him, blasting smoke from every pore. In truth, the damage was negligible: only his clothes were incinerated to ash; the clone itself remained unharmed. A brief numbness swept through him as he absorbed a rich surge of refined lightning essence.

“It seems the realm’s controller is warning us,” Ye Liuyun told the clone after a quick analysis. “He can immobilize us at will but chooses not to. Stop killing the He disciples—don’t provoke a harsher response.”

With that, both ceased their assault. The clone turned and walked away from the He clansmen.

Two more black bolts struck him before the storm clouds drifted overhead for a while, then slowly dispersed.

Inside the great hall, the short old man finally exhaled. He hadn’t expected lightning of this caliber to fail to kill the clone—instead, it only made the clone’s lightning power stronger.

He did possess a more potent five-colored lightning source, but he was reluctant to use it. Even that might not slay the clone, and there was still Ye Liuyun to consider. If the five-colored lightning were unleashed and the two alternated absorbing it, their own lightning reserves would only grow more formidable.