After putting everything in order, he stowed the entire planet into his spatial world and, riding on spatial force, rushed toward the next target.

Along the way he screened the Unity Seven- and Eight-Step cultivators he had captured. The weak ones were handed straight to Chi Lian to have their power of bloodline devoured; he and his avatars swallowed the souls and erased them.

Even the Unity Nine-Step cultivator was deemed too weak—his bloodline and soul were devoured as well.

All the resources those cultivators carried were collected by Lan Xin; even the contents of their spatial worlds were surrendered.

With the power of bloodline Chi Lian supplied, Yu Xiaofeng and the others advanced rapidly; their cultivation speed would be much faster from now on. Ye Liuyun also had them devour some of the miners’ souls along with the Ancient Demons, raising their overall strength.

Fewer than twenty of the stronger prisoners remained. He clamped slave seals on them and handed them to Tang Xinyao to lead, ready for the next battle.

Ye Liuyun gave everyone a blunt lecture: “This isn’t combat training. Every fight must be finished fast, before the He family can send reinforcements. We struck suddenly; they haven’t reacted yet, but next time they might

Those prisoners are cultivation resources—use them to the last drop.”

The He family, hearing the news, truly failed to react at first; they even dispatched investigators. Only after Ye Liuyun seized another of their planets did they realize someone was deliberately robbing their mines.

Relying on his improved spatial power, Ye Liuyun crossed the void and reached the next destination in less than half a day. While ordering everyone to recover quickly, he scouted the arrangement of the local experts.

This was one of the He family’s high-grade mines; cultivators often tried to steal from it, so the guards were vigilant.

The He family’s deployment here was formidable: three Unity Nine-Step cultivators, one of them mid-stage Unity Nine

Every other realm was represented at triple the previous planet’s numbers. A direct assault would cost dearly.

The steward on site also carried a treasure that blocked soul attacks, leaving Ye Liuyun no opening. He turned his attention to the three strongest experts.

Their residences were close. Though all were cultivating, Ye Liuyun judged that if he struck at one, the other two would sense it.

After consideration, he assigned He Yunzhang a task: lure the steward away. Then he and his two avatars would strike the three Unity Nine-Step cultivators simultaneously.

He Yunzhang promptly entered the planet with a Unity Seven-Step guard, positioning himself far from the He stronghold, then used a voice talisman to contact the local steward:

“I heard one of our planets was hit and happened to be passing by, so I came to check

But I just captured a cultivator spying in the shadows—come quickly.”

The steward, hearing this, set out at once with several guards.

Once they were well away, Ye Liuyun and his avatars morphed into the steward and his escorts and approached the three Unity Nine-Step experts.

The three came out to greet them.

Without a word, the disguised steward launched a soul attack on the strongest of the three.

The other two froze, instantly on guard

“Steward He, what are you doing?”

By then Ye Liuyun had planted a slave seal and withdrawn his soul.

“One of our mining planets has been taken. By family orders I’m checking whether any of you have been compromised,” he said flatly.

Ignoring their shock, he drove his soul into the second cultivator’s sea of consciousness. Simultaneously, each avatar sent a soul into the third.

“You—”

Before the two could decide to resist, before their auras fully flared, the souls had already slipped in and planted the seals.

Ye Liuyun withdrew, laughing as if nothing had happened: “All clear—no issues!”

Nearby cultivators, startled by the burst of pressure, hurried over to investigate.

Ye Liuyun stuck to the same script, ordering the three newly subdued powerhouses to cooperate with him and plant slave seals on every curious martial cultivator who came to watch

Some of the onlookers didn’t react in time; others tried to resist, but the three experts released their oppressive auras and cowed them into submission.

Meanwhile, the steward from the He family ran into He Yunzhang. The steward’s guards were weaker than He Yunzhang himself. After a brief greeting, He Yunzhang killed the steward outright

He then declared the steward a traitor, forced the remaining guards to sign master-servant contracts, and marched them back to the garrison.

Once there, he helped Ye Liuyun subdue every late-stage Unity cultivator on-site. Only then did Ye Liuyun release the experts he controlled along with the warriors from his spatial world to slaughter the early- and mid-stage Unity cultivators.

Those early- and mid-stage fighters were battle-hardened and alert. They also outnumbered Ye Liuyun’s force, so at first they refused to surrender. Ye Liuyun sent the newly subjugated He family members charging at the front; his own people mopped up whatever was left.

Under the onslaught of these powerhouses, the defenders couldn’t hold. After losing more than half their number, they finally yielded. This time they captured over two thousand Unity cultivators—far more than last time.

The Ancient Demon race struck again as well, killing and seizing miners. The moment the fighting ended, Ye Liuyun whisked everyone into his spatial world and devoured the entire planet.

The He family reacted faster this time. The instant they got word, they dispatched reinforcements, but they were still too slow. When the relief force arrived, Ye Liuyun had just departed, leaving only empty starry sky behind.

Realizing the gravity of the situation, the He family stepped up the defense of every planet, recruiting numerous experts to garrison them and intensifying patrols and vigilance.

Ye Liuyun scouted several more planets in succession, found no openings, and promptly vanished to digest his spoils

The newly captured prisoners were handled exactly like the last batch.