Ye Liuyun took a moment to calm his surging excitement, but in the end he couldn’t hold back a loud laugh.

“Haha! War God Armor, God-slaying Bow—who can stop me now!”

The pressure of a fourth-level Overlord that had just burst out, together with his laughter, immediately drew all his women over. They crowded around, asking what had happened. Ye Liuyun told them everything, sharing his joy.

The women were happy for him and seized the chance to make him roast meat for a celebration. 𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ𝓋𝑒𝑙.𝑐𝘰𝑚

His excitement still hadn’t settled, and he felt he’d been cultivating too fiercely lately, so he agreed—treating it as a bit of relaxation.

After the break, he didn’t forget his new strength; he and his clone resumed cultivating divine origin.

With each rise in realm, the time and energy required grew, so he never skipped a day of divine-origin training. Even while resting or practicing other powers, the divine origin circulated automatically inside him, slowly advancing on its own.

His recent progress had been excellent, yet just as he was immersed in cultivation, a message arrived from the garrison commander, Yu Wenqiang. Through the slave seal, Yu warned him that new orders had come down to round up rogue cultivators for the front lines, and Ye Liuyun should leave the inn at once to avoid being seized.

Ye Liuyun told him to bring a full set of army gear to the inn immediately—he would slip into the ranks and keep cultivating in peace. At the same time he asked, “Who is your army even fighting?”

Yu Wenqiang replied, “The Flame Seal Dynasty has been seizing resources from neighboring star systems. Most of our troops are deployed, and we constantly need replacements. Each time we conscript soldiers, we also grab some stray cultivators, send them to the capital to swear loyalty oaths, then ship them to the battlefield.”

“No wonder I don’t see large forces here—the Flame Seal Dynasty really is formidable,” Ye Liuyun thought, and asked offhand, “How many troops does the dynasty field in total?”

“Standing forces are over two million. Every draft calls up another two or three hundred thousand,” Yu Wenqiang estimated.

The number startled Ye Liuyun.

“All of them Unity-realm warriors?” he pressed.

“Ordinary soldiers are early Unity, elite troops mid-Unity—about thirty percent. Roughly ten percent are late-Unity powerhouses.”

There was unmistakable pride in Yu Wenqiang’s voice. Though enslaved to Ye Liuyun, he still felt the dynasty was magnificent.

Once deployed, the dynasty’s legions swept all before them; even when they met resistance, losses were light. Each replenishment only replaced about ten percent of common soldiers, so the army kept growing stronger, its experts multiplying.

Ye Liuyun contacted Yu Xiaofeng and relayed the dynasty’s might.

Yu Xiaofeng was shaken. “Looks like our earlier troop cuts came too soon. We now have a few hundred early-Unity experts, mostly former Vanguard members, and the overall army averages fifth- or sixth-level Overlord. Yet compared to the Flame Seal Dynasty, we’re still far behind.”

He sighed. Even if they expanded again, their own cultivation speed couldn’t match the dynasty’s.

They didn’t intend to fight the Flame Seal Dynasty, but knowing another force was stronger bred unease.

Soon Yu Wenqiang reached the inn, escorted Ye Liuyun back to camp, and arranged a private tent where he could cultivate undisturbed.

Ye Liuyun then instructed Yu Xiaofeng, Yuan Hao, Qin Peng, Tie Jun, and Pei Yong to hand temporary command to their deputies and let the armies train themselves.

The five commanders, along with Black Mountain, Tiger-Head Beast King, the titan demon Hatu, and the ancient demons Heiyan and Shayin, were all brought to Ye Liuyun’s side and sent into the Realm of Intent Stone Forest inside the secret realm to raise their strength and gather resources.

At the same time, Ye Liuyun prepared vast quantities of origin power, energy-storage stones, Origin-exchange cauldrons, true-grade armor, and weapons, beginning special training for them.

Heiyan and Shayin, already at Unity Fifth Level, were told to deepen their intent, then return to the ancient demons and select three thousand soldiers at Unity Third Level or higher to form an elite unit for tempering in the Crossing-Bridge star system while gathering resources on their own.

Black Mountain and Tiger-Head Beast King had only just reached Unity Second Level; their strength was still lacking. After sharpening their intent, they would return to the demons and half-beasts, raise their realms, and ultimately pick three thousand demon soldiers at Unity Third Level or above. Hatu would lead a hundred titan demons of the same rank to cooperate, forming another elite force ready for battle.

The ancient demons and demons had not fallen behind; they had stayed in First Clone’s spatial world with tenfold time acceleration.

But Yu Xiaofeng and Yuan Hao were only at the seventh or eighth level of the Sovereign Realm—far too low.

Ye Liuyun had them train inside his clone’s spatial world, sparring against demons. Once they reached the fourth level of Unity, they could re-emerge and rebuild an even stronger Death Legion.

The five of them were under real pressure; each needed to advance another five or six full realms before they could leave. Fortunately, the clone’s world had time acceleration: one year outside equaled ten inside. With abundant resources and endless opponents, ten years should be enough for them to hit Unity Four.

Ye Liuyun also sent over all the bloodline, soul, and body-refining resources his own people had no use for. At their current levels, those items were perfect; when they rose higher, he’d prepare something better.

Yu Xiaofeng had originally suggested raiding the Duqiao Galaxy for soldiers and forming a corps first, but Ye Liuyun chose to wipe the galaxy out instead.

“There’ll be plenty of strong foes later. Let the Ancient Demons and the others use Duqiao for training—they need the resources too. Besides, it’s crawling with bandits; they’d be a pain to manage.”

Under Ye Liuyun’s orders, the commanders began their special training. Black Rock and Shaying of the Ancient Demons lacked large-scale battle and drill experience, so Yu Xiaofeng would guide them for a while, helping pick and train troops.

Meanwhile, Ye Liuyun took the chance to immerse himself in the mood of Heaven-and-Earth power. It felt much like the grand momentum he’d already grasped, so it didn’t surprise him.