Zhuge Feiyu didn’t stand on ceremony with Ye Liuyun; he swept up every resource on the spot and went straight back to the Underworld to refine them.

Ye Liuyun kept only the two lotus seeds. They could strengthen the soul—perfect: one for him, one for his clone.

The He family disciple and the guard, freed from the suppression of the yin spirits, quickly returned to normal.

Now they were stunned not only by the secret realm’s origin spirit-fiend but also by Ye Liuyun’s identity. Yet since Ye Liuyun offered no explanation, they dared not ask.

They didn’t dare wander either; they could only sit idly to one side and wait while Ye Liuyun cultivated. Both secretly cursed their luck—following Ye Liuyun, they probably wouldn’t get a scrap of resources.

Sensing their thoughts, Ye Liuyun immediately used the slave seal to silence them, forbidding any further speculation. Then he and his clone withdrew into his spatial world to focus on boosting their soul power. He planned to raise it at once so he could better contend with the powerful beasts here—and that origin spirit-fiend.

Meanwhile, the realm’s origin spirit-fiend had already learned everything that had happened. As the very source of this secret realm, nothing within it escaped his awareness.

Ye Liuyun knew the spirit-fiend was watching, yet he didn’t care in the slightest.

“That human brat is an Underworld God who can commune with the Underworld?” The spirit-fiend was astonished by Ye Liuyun’s identity.

What’s more, after learning who the spirit-fiend was, Ye Liuyun showed no fear.

When Zhuge Feiyu had threatened to unleash an army of yin spirits, the spirit-fiend’s heart had already lurched. He wasn’t afraid of those spirits, but dealing with them would cost him considerable power.

And when Ye Liuyun claimed he had ways to handle him, the spirit-fiend became even less willing to attack outright.

He resolved to let the realm’s beast overlords test Ye Liuyun. If they still couldn’t kill him, he would simply allow the human to leave. One cultivator’s bloodline more or less made no difference.

As long as the He family kept sending people in, he would eventually gather enough blood to forge a flesh body and break free of the great hall’s restrictions.

He glanced at the half-formed blood figure behind him—condensed from the bloodlines of countless humans. A few hundred more victims, and it would take on a complete human shape.

He had no real interest in a human vessel, but the hall shackled his true spirit-fiend form; without such a body he could never leave. Allowing someone to carry him out in a spatial world was equally unthinkable. This crude method was his only option.

Ye Liuyun and his clone refined the lotus seeds without a hitch. A single seed boosted each of their soul strengths by ten percent, making the realm’s suppression far easier to bear.

He promptly led the clone out of the cave to continue exploring for resources. The moment they stepped outside, a lion-tiger beast roared, unleashing a sonic attack.

Ye Liuyun instantly countered with a Soul-Shock Wave, blocking the assault. He himself had no fear of sonic attacks, but he worried the two He family members behind him couldn’t endure it.

His clone released a soul projection that shot into the beast’s sea of consciousness, morphing into a soul blade that cleaved both of the creature’s souls apart.

The lion-tiger’s souls were formidable, yet it lacked offensive techniques and couldn’t withstand the soul blade. It died on the spot, its souls devoured.

Once the clone’s soul withdrew, Ye Liuyun waved a hand and stowed the beast’s carcass into his spatial world.

The He family disciple and the guard hadn’t even recovered from the sonic blast when the fight ended.

“A Ninth-Step Unity lion-tiger beast!” the disciple blurted, stunned that such a powerful creature had been annihilated in a single exchange.

A piercing shriek rang from above as a golden eagle dove at Ye Liuyun. He answered with an upward slash of his blade.

The clone followed suit, the two of them hacking upward in tandem. Both employed spatial power, striving to halt the eagle’s momentum.

Their saber intent arrived the instant it was unleashed, yet the eagle neither dodged nor evaded, relying solely on its flesh to endure. Still, its charge was finally checked; Ye Liuyun locked it mid-air with spatial force.

The eagle thrashed and shrieked in alarm. Three streaks of golden light shot toward Ye Liuyun.

But Ye Liuyun had long since been watching the eagle with his golden pupils; he knew it could refine its innate golden primaries. Before the three rays even emerged, he shifted himself away with spatial power.

The golden beams sliced only air. From the clone’s golden eyes burst a beam of white light that melted the eagle’s head clean off. The bird’s body and soul were both strong, but he feared those three primaries might circle back to strike them—so he killed it decisively.

Ye Liuyun flicked his wrist, and the golden eagle’s corpse along with its three golden primordial feathers vanished into his storage.

The He family disciple and the guard were both dumbstruck.

Another peak Ninth-Order Heaven-Returning beast! The same thought echoed in their minds—how strong was Ye Liuyun, really?

Yet the onslaught wasn’t over. A crimson fire-serpent burst from the ground, also at peak Ninth-Order, jaws snapping at the clone’s ankle. The clone simply shifted space, flinging the serpent aside.

The snake tore free of the spatial bind almost instantly, but it was already too far to bite again. It hissed, unleashing a jet of flame straight at the clone.

The clone only smiled, standing his ground as the fire washed over him—then began drinking it in.

The serpent shrieked, spitting more tongues of fire, all of which the clone calmly absorbed. Its tail whipped around like a blazing whip, yet the clone blocked it bare-handed.

At the same moment, Ye Liuyun struck with a soul attack. A sliver of his spirit shot into the serpent’s sea of consciousness.

Inside, everything was an ocean of fire. Ye Liuyun’s soul blazed with Golden Crow Sacred Flame, condensed into a soul-blade, and hacked the serpent’s spirit apart in a few strokes. Then it morphed into a Heaven-Swallowing Beast and devoured every scrap of soul power.

Ye Liuyun stepped forward, cut out the serpent’s core, and stowed the body in his spatial realm as provisions.

The clone, having finished absorbing the flames, took the core and began drawing its fire essence straight into himself.

This triple kill left not only the He family pair gaping, but even the source-spirit demons inside the great hall speechless.

This human is that powerful? What is that white light he wields—could it actually destroy this hall?