The origin-will of the secret realm screamed in terror, “What are you doing? I was just too excited after coming out and momentarily lost control of my power! Stop right now!”

But Ye Liuyun wasn’t a fool; he could tell the difference between an accident and an attack.

His own body was now covered in cracks. The pressure of an entire world’s origin force had slammed into him, bringing the threat of death into sharp, terrifying focus. The sensation of facing annihilation was crystal clear.

He had just fired a burst of white light and was already drained. To resist this crushing weight, every last drop of divine essence in his body was burned up in an instant, yet the effect was almost negligible.

Fortunately, he had prepared in advance and drawn upon the power of his spatial world; otherwise his physical body would have exploded on the spot.

“Damned thing—you strike hard!”

He only cursed the spirit fiend once, never halting the Myriad God Token’s absorption of its soul force. At the same time he swallowed a drop of life spring to heal and used a primordial stone to replenish his divine essence.

Although the spirit fiend had been subdued, he still had to be ready for other dangers lurking in this realm.

In truth, their battle had been watched all along by the strongest beings inside the secret realm. The eruption of origin power just now had already shaken them.

Yet the force Ye Liuyun had unleashed in that instant was even more savage; its dreadful might made the entire realm shudder, and the spirit fiend’s incorporeal body was blasted away.

That overwhelming power had intimidated every one of those experts. They all knew it was borrowed from a spatial world, but who could guarantee Ye Liuyun couldn’t borrow it again?

Ye Liuyun did not collect the spirit fiend’s true body. He had yet to decide how to deal with it.

According to Ye Ling, he could control the creature and place it inside a clone’s spatial world to help nurture the origin force there. In raw strength this spirit fiend had already surpassed the original Ye Ling.

But it had nearly killed him, and he was reluctant to keep it alive. For now he left it untouched, planning to search its soul once its spirit force was weakened. If it proved useless, he would simply erase its soul, refine the realm’s origin force, and take the entire secret realm away.

The spirit fiend argued and pleaded for a long time, yet Ye Liuyun ignored it. Already twenty percent of its soul power had been devoured by the Myriad God Token, and the drain was accelerating.

Believing Ye Liuyun meant to annihilate it outright, the creature was thoroughly terrified. It stopped arguing and began to wail pitifully, admitting its wrongs and begging for mercy, promising to accept any condition.

But Ye Liuyun had nearly died at its hands—how could he forgive so easily? He continued to ignore it, waiting for it to surrender and acknowledge him as master. Otherwise he would simply destroy it without the slightest regret. His body still hadn’t fully recovered, and his anger had not cooled.

When half of its soul had been digested by the token, the spirit fiend finally panicked. That half represented countless years of cultivation, yet in mere moments it had been devoured by Ye Liuyun.

It now understood that unless it offered an attitude that satisfied Ye Liuyun, it would truly die. With genuine tears it begged to acknowledge Ye Liuyun as master and listed every high-grade resource hidden within the secret realm.

All it wanted now was to survive; it no longer cared about those resources or about being controlled and enslaved. After eons of cultivation to become a spirit fiend, it refused to perish here. As long as Ye Liuyun let it live, it would agree to anything.

Only then did Ye Liuyun speak: “I told you you’d regret it. Now you know. Since I dared release you, I also have the means to kill you.”

“Yes, yes, I was blinded by greed. Master, spare my life! Becoming a spirit was not easy; I don’t want to die. I willingly serve you for life, with no second thoughts!”

The spirit fiend immediately began the rite of acknowledging its master.

“Fine. Since you’re sincere and not entirely useless, I’ll keep you. From now on, go to my clone’s spatial world and help manage the origin force of every planet.”

Ye Liuyun had decided to keep it mainly because the creature had mentioned high-grade resources in the realm, and he was too lazy to search for them himself.

“Thank you, Master! Thank you, Master! Please save me quickly—if this continues, my soul will be completely devoured!”

The spirit fiend thanked him repeatedly and begged him to halt the Myriad God Token. In this short time only thirty percent of its soul remained; any longer and nothing would be left.

Ye Liuyun finally acted, planting a slave seal. The golden light of the Myriad God Token withdrew, and the absorption ceased.

The spirit fiend instantly slipped back into its own body and bowed low to Ye Liuyun, not daring the slightest disrespect.

At the same moment, Ye Liuyun had his second clone activate the teleportation black tower to bring everyone over.

The instant the second clone relayed the news, cheers erupted; everyone eagerly let themselves be taken into the spatial world and were transported over in a flash.

Ye Liuyun then ordered the spirit fiend: slaughter every He family disciple and guard that entered, seal the entrance and exit of the secret realm, and leave all resources for him.

The spirit fiend obeyed at once and set to work. After Ye Liuyun led everyone toward the Realm-Intent Stone Forest, it locked down the central zone of the secret realm, forbidding any living thing within a hundred-thousand-li radius.

Its soul power was now too weak; it feared the beasts here might kill it with soul attacks.

Ye Liuyun paid it no further heed and simply let everyone pick the intent stone pillars that suited them and begin cultivating.

Each stone pillar could only be used by one person at a time; the rest had to queue or go refine other intents first.

Ye Tiandao went straight for the spatial-intent pillar, planning to return for saber intent after Ye Liuyun finished. Others located pillars for heaven-and-earth intent.

Ye Liuyun let them all cultivate first. The first clone was still refining saber intent, so Ye Liuyun and the second clone did not rush into other powers; instead, they accompanied him, feeling the rise of saber intent together.

Within Ye Liuyun’s sea of consciousness, the saber-intent seed had already condensed into a blade that now stood upright, mirroring the saber intent displayed by the stone pillar, radiating the will of heaven and earth. If that blade were to strike, no mortal force could withstand it.

Yet the heavenly will revealed in Ye Liuyun’s blade was still far weaker than the saber intent shown by the pillar.