Clone One let the demon beasts feast to their hearts’ content before stowing them away and heading back to the inn.

Using his crimson pupils, Ye Liuyun duped Ninth Prince Jiang Yunhan in a single move and netted four of the Chen clan’s master refiners plus six high-level disciples; Tong Xin immediately took charge of them and had them pass on their forging experience.

Chen Xing and Liu Yuanyang hadn’t even begun refining the Underworld Flame and Soul-Poison Flowers they’d obtained from Jiang Yunhan before Ye Liuyun confiscated them and handed them to his two clones for refinement. The prince still had one more Soul-Poison Flower—just enough for the two of them to split.

According to Jiang Yunhan’s memories, many royal scions had already refined this flower to boost soul offense and defense.

“I’ll have to be extra careful when I move against the royal family from now on.”

Ye Liuyun reminded himself, then spread out every resource he’d taken from Jiang Yunhan and began cultivating with both clones at once.

For the next two days he burned through soul-oriented resources first, pushing the power of his crimson pupils as far as possible. After the clones finished refining the Soul-Poison Flowers, they moved on to the flames, then upgraded bloodline and physique.

Inside the accelerated space of the clones, twenty days passed in the blink of an eye; his soul force rose again, and he was ready to strike at Master Huoyang.

He shifted into the appearance of the wealthy merchant Jin Chengshan and, as agreed, went looking for Chen Huoyang.

The Chen clan was already in turmoil, dispatching numerous experts to track down Chen Xing and the missing smiths. Meanwhile, the Myriad Transformation Sect had sent investigators to look into Yao Feng’s disappearance.

The Chen clan suspected Ninth Prince Jiang Yunhan but lacked solid proof; they could only try to locate the prince first.

When Ye Liuyun re-entered the Chen estate, he found security tightened; as soon as he stepped through the inner gate, even more powerful divine senses locked onto him.

He dared make no rash moves. Today he probably couldn’t spirit Chen Huoyang away, so he would use his crimson pupils to whet the man’s appetite and figure out later how to lure him out of the clan.

Over the past three days Chen Huoyang had been in high spirits: his vitality restored, he looked years younger—light of step, brimming with energy.

He’d traded ten remaining drops of Life Spring Water to Patriarch Chen Jian’an for a rare metal. Thus, when “Jin Chengshan” arrived, Chen Huoyang greeted him warmly, asked after his needs, studied the Demon-Slayer Art and Armor on the spot, and laid out a forging plan.

Ye Liuyun voiced no objections. Subtly, he used his crimson pupils to slip Chen Huoyang into a mild illusion—nothing overt, just the sense that this merchant traveled far and wide and could procure unusual materials.

What truly interested Chen Huoyang was still Life Spring Water; he figured Jin Chengshan knew little about forging materials and couldn’t source anything special. With Life Spring Water, he could barter directly with the clan or other smiths for top-tier ores.

So Chen Huoyang told Ye Liuyun that if he had more Life Spring Water, he would gladly trade forged items for it—he was treating the water as currency.

Ye Liuyun didn’t care; he simply said he had none on hand now and would confirm the next time he came to collect the weapons.

Chen Huoyang agreed, went off to prepare the required materials, and only then would he begin forging.

Ye Liuyun left the Chen estate without making a move. He swept the inner compound once more, but the clan’s experts were simply too numerous; a frontal assault was impossible.

Back at his lodgings, he fed the coordinates into the teleportation black tower so that, when he next went after Chen Lianyu, he could snatch several smiths at once and vanish without a trace.

Then he returned to the accelerated space inside his clone and resumed cultivation, this time refining the bloodline- and physique-boosting resources they’d recently acquired. Both he and his clones had grown noticeably stronger.

On the appointed day with Chen Lianyu, he donned the invisibility cloak, slipped out of the city, revealed his true face, and headed straight for the Chen clan.

“I’ll have to hide this face again from now on,” he thought with mild regret—he should never have shown it in the first place.

Chen Lianyu greeted him warmly, excitedly explaining how to improve the Gilded Armor and recommending several rare metals.

“Do you have a lot of this material?” Ye Liuyun asked. Once he abducted her, he still needed her to refine more suits, and his spatial world didn’t contain these ores—she’d have to bring enough.

“I don’t have any left; I got these from my master. But they’re more than enough to upgrade your armor!” she answered cheerfully, unaware of what was coming. 𝚏𝕣𝕖𝚎𝚠𝚎𝚋𝚗𝐨𝐯𝕖𝕝.𝕔𝐨𝕞

Ye Liuyun considered for a moment, then locked eyes with her using his soul-linked crimson pupils while continuing the conversation, praising her forging methods.

Meanwhile, Chen Lianyu had already fallen under the illusion; what she saw was Ye Liuyun forcibly branding her with a slave seal.

“Go to your master and get me more of this material—I need to forge dozens of these armor sets!” Ye Liuyun ordered outright.

“But my master doesn’t have that much either!” Chen Lianyu said hesitantly.

“Then who does?” Ye Liuyun asked offhandedly.

He was worried that if this dragged on, someone would notice.

“Ancestor Huoyang still has some!” Chen Lianyu thought for a moment and told him.

“Then go to your master first—get whatever he has!” Ye Liuyun immediately had Chen Lianyu lead the way.

With no choice, Chen Lianyu showed him the path, her face full of helplessness.

Her master was an elderly man at the mid-stage of Return-to-One Ninth Heaven—far above Chen Lianyu’s level. Evil Creature knew nothing of him; only the Chen family called him the Heavenly Fire Ancestor.

In truth, he had long been able to craft Void-grade artifacts, but the Chen family never publicized it. Every item he forged stayed within the clan, reserved for elders and elite disciples.

When they reached the Heavenly Fire Ancestor’s residence, he was refining artifacts in the Refinery Hall. Both the inner disciples’ quarters and the refining area were shielded by arrays; outsiders couldn’t detect anything happening inside.

“Lianyu? Who’s this boy? Why bring an outsider?” the Heavenly Fire Ancestor asked curiously.

Ye Liuyun’s golden pupils had already sensed that the old man’s soul power was formidable—almost a match for his own. Before he could decide how to deal with him, Chen Lianyu cried out.

“Master, save me—he’s controlling me with an illusion!”