The ferocious beasts there were about on par with those in the Fire-Seal Galaxy—not particularly high-level overall

It was just that this Teng Serpent’s crimson-pupil illusion was unusually strong, and many beasts had weak soul power, so he could slaughter them in droves, haul the corpses out to sell, and trade for the cultivation resources he needed.

By sheer luck he had stumbled upon a chance to take human form, which let him leave that world. Afterward he discovered this lucrative business of selling beast carcasses.

Previously, human martial cultivators had tailed him into the beast realm, but he lured every one of them into a few deadly zones and had them killed.

An elder of the Void-Pill Sect had also dealt with the serpent; the elder was guided straight into the Demon Flood-Dragon clan’s territory, surrounded, and barely escaped alive. Since then the elder dared not re-enter the secret realm, nor make another move against the serpent.

In truth, the Teng Serpent had simply duped the Demon Flood-Dragons, making them believe humans were about to invade their world. Yet by borrowing the beasts’ strength he successfully fooled the Void-Pill Sect. The elder even helped hire a formation master to lay a concealing array at the realm’s entrance so no one would blunder inside.

From the serpent’s sea of consciousness Ye Liuyun extracted the method to enter and exit the secret realm, learned the situation of each beast clan, then planted a slave seal and forced him to hand over every resource he possessed.

“Master!”

Under the seal’s compulsion the Teng Serpent acknowledged Ye Liuyun as lord. Though he hated to part with his hoard, he surrendered it all.

Ye Liuyun tucked the serpent away and ordered him to guide his first avatar in refining those crimson pupils. Once inside, the serpent informed the avatar that the pupils could not be fused into a soul.

Since the avatar could not abandon his golden pupils for crimson ones, he passed the pair to the Vermilion Bird to refine and boost its strength.

When the remnants of the two bandit gangs finally caught up, Ye Liuyun enslaved them with seals and stowed them in his spatial world.

The Void-Pill disciples he had earlier enthralled with illusions arrived soon after. They boarded his flying craft and sped toward the beast realm’s entrance.

Ye Liuyun refrained from seizing control of them right away, lest the sect notice. Only after they entered the beast realm did he plant slave seals, erase the soul contracts in their minds, and imprison them in his spatial world.

Once inside, the disciples found the environment matched the illusions they had seen—yet there was no alchemist in sight. They cried out that they had been tricked.

Ye Liuyun chuckled and consoled them: “Don’t worry; the alchemists who can guide you will arrive in a few days.”

Now bound by slave seals, the disciples had no choice but to obey.

Ye Liuyun released the Teng Serpent to lead the way. The serpent immediately reverted to its true form and hissed excitedly, seeming overjoyed to be back.

Ignoring the display, Ye Liuyun surveyed the beast realm. The ambient spiritual energy was indeed rich; presumably no human cultivators had ever set foot here, leaving the environment pristine.

With divine sense and golden pupils he saw nearby beasts already answering the serpent’s roar.

Inside his spatial world, many demonic beasts were still refining the resources they had just obtained. Only Stone Ape, Red Refinement, Nine-Headed Demon Dragon, Demon Lion, Vespera, and Xenocide were absorbing beast cores and could halt at any moment to fight.

Ye Liuyun asked them; they agreed at once and were released. Tang Xinyao’s squad and the women led by Ye Tiandao were also freed to join the battle.

The instant they emerged, Ye Liuyun forced the Teng Serpent back into its true form, letting Red Refinement drain its power of bloodline while he gouged out the crimson pupils and drove the serpent’s soul into his own sea of consciousness.

Everyone stared in shock.

Ye Liuyun explained, “This thing wasn’t honest. The moment we arrived it told the local beasts we’re invaders and plotted how to wipe us out.”

Understanding dawned; they cursed the serpent as deserving death. Red Refinement began devouring its bloodline in earnest.

“Then every beast here sees us as enemies?” Demon Lion said, catching on.

“Exactly. But the nearby beasts aren’t very strong—perfect practice for you. Fight first; if you can’t handle them, I’ll step in

The exit lies elsewhere; we’ll need about two days of fighting to reach it.”

Ye Liuyun had ignored the Tengshe’s roar at first because he figured they could hack their way to the exit without much trouble—perfect live practice for everyone.

The group snapped into combat readiness. Several low-realm beasts charged in and were instantly cut down by the women.

By then, Chilian had already drained the Tengshe into a dried husk. Ye Liuyun devoured the serpent’s soul in his sea of consciousness. He handed the beast’s core and crimson pupils to Chilian so she could refine them later and boost her self-defense.

He then pointed the horde of demonic beasts toward the exit and told them to carve a path.

The first wave of intercepting beasts were low-realm but numerous; the women at Unity One and Two used them for sparring.

Everyone else followed behind, moving at a decent pace. Half a day later, however, Ye Tiandao, Tang Xinyao, and the beasts had to step in—the women could no longer hold the line.

Ye Liuyun collected the women into his spatial artifact so they could rest and wouldn’t need babysitting.

Those who remained were all at Unity Four—uniformly matched. Ye Liuyun and his first clone finally joined the fray, trading raw divine essence with the beasts.

Once their divine essence dropped to fifty percent, both Ye Liuyun and his clone switched to spatial force and world power for offense and defense while using the Essence-Exchange Cauldron to refill and convert energy back into divine essence.

Ye Tiandao’s saber intent grew sharper by the minute, clearing the path ahead. After advancing in spatial comprehension, Demon Lion began practicing combat with spatial force; a single spatial compression often erased several beasts at once.

Another half-day passed, and the beasts now reached Unity Six, yet the team still showed no strain.

Even Tang Xinyao and the others had improved so much that solo fights were routine; coordination was barely needed.

Everyone multitasked—fighting while devouring souls to strengthen their own. They’d learned to waste no chance or resource.

“Looks like everyone’s leveled up lately,” Ye Liuyun said, pleased.

He himself used soul attacks often, honing the art of channeling world power through his soul to annihilate beast spirits. During battle he devoured plenty of soul energy, even stockpiling extra inside Soul-Seal Pearls for future cultivation.