Ye Liuyun had Black Mountain take temporary command of the Ancient Demon Legion, giving the demon army a safety net.

Black Mountain seized the chance to ask Ye Liuyun for two more fighters—Wen Yuan and Feng Qiong, the last of the alien race—to be transferred into his own ranks.

Only five hundred of the aliens had remained; they’d been used as sparring partners and were now completely exhausted.

Yet Wen Yuan and Feng Qiong, both with unique talents, had been spared because their combat strength was merely average.

They’d been locked inside the second avatar’s spatial world, undergoing purification on a planet suffused with Buddhist light; every trace of evil had already been cleansed from them.

Wen Yuan’s formations no longer held any edge in the Fire-Seal Galaxy, and Feng Qiong’s thunder-fire summoning consumed too much energy; Ye Liuyun seldom used either of them anymore, so he agreed.

Before letting them go, he checked the slave seals in their seas of consciousness once more. Only after confirming everything was intact did he allow Black Mountain to take them away.

Thus the three-thousand-strong demon legion and the three-thousand-strong Ancient Demon Legion merged for the moment and began sweeping through the Crossing-Bridge Galaxy.

Ye Liuyun himself, along with Tang Xinyao’s group and the women who wanted combat experience, marched in the opposite direction. He had the Devil Vine guard them, clean the battlefield, and grow stronger in the process.

The demonic beasts were still absorbing and refining resources to raise their cultivation; Ye Liuyun didn’t disturb them. He even sent White Tiger a batch of the alien third eyes he’d stockpiled, so that after refining the golden pupils he could refine the third eyes as well—one more life-saving trump card.

Ye Liuyun and his two avatars focused mainly on cultivation, emerging occasionally to slaughter bandits for practice. Both avatars devoured soul power whenever possible, sealing extra spirit energy in Soul-Seal Pearls for Stone Ape to strengthen his own soul.

The Crossing-Bridge Galaxy had sunk into chaos. The heads of the two largest bandit groups—chiefs, vice-chiefs, squad leaders—had all perished in the Desolate Sea, and every planet had broken into civil war, each ruler acting on his own.

Hence the sudden appearance of the demon army drew no galaxy-wide attention; only a few planetary lords rallied local allies to resist.

At their current cultivation, the demons no longer relied on the old formation tactics. They still valued cooperation, but individual combat came first. Ye Liuyun ordered them to temper themselves and forbade the use of equipment.

With only a few thousand soldiers of modest realm, any city that met them assumed they were a stray band of demons. Even if they captured a city or two, no one believed they intended to sweep the entire galaxy.

Yet the legion’s strength soared. They had ample food, cultivation pills, endless battle tempering, and plundered resources; advancing was effortless, supplies inexhaustible.

During combat they devoured souls as they fought, so their collective soul power kept rising; ordinary cultivators stood no chance if they tried soul attacks. Ye Liuyun also taught them simple soul-defense techniques to cultivate on their own.

He deliberately slowed their advance—fight, pause, temper, repeat.

As the demon legion grew stronger, it split off from the Ancient Demon Legion and the two columns advanced side by side, covering more ground while watching each other’s backs. The ancient demon puppets were temporarily assigned to the demons, boosting their offense and defense and keeping them safe.

The women formed a squad of their own, led by Ye Tiandao and guarded by Devil Vine: Songstress, Little Lan’er, Xiao Yunfang, Meng Qingyin, Li Xinran, Fyeng Wanru, A-Xing, Piao Yun, Lin Fei’er, Qing Yan, and Qin Mengxi—twelve in all. They coordinated with Tang Xinyao’s team, focusing on tempering and resource acquisition.

Ye Liuyun ordered them to control the pace of conquest, raising soul power in every battle.

After Phantom Hand and the Purple Kirin had fallen, everyone around him began stressing soul cultivation. The Crossing-Bridge Galaxy was the perfect place to gather resources, and Ye Liuyun often helped them devour soul power.

Because both columns advanced slowly, an entire month passed and they had yet to take a single planet.

By then the beasts had finished refining their resources. Dragon Girl’s realm hadn’t changed, but her physique had grown even tougher. Lei Ming had broken through and stabilized at the mid stage of Unity Fifth Heaven, catching up to Dragon Girl.

White Tiger, after refining the golden pupils, had smoothly absorbed the alien third eyes and could now fire black-white beams. With that ace in hand, Ye Liuyun felt far more at ease about him. Vermilion Bird and Chilian had both refined red pupils, gaining stronger illusion attacks.

Every beast had reached the initial stage of Unity Fifth Heaven. After being cooped up so long, they were itching for battle.

So Ye Liuyun assigned the five Unity Ninth Heaven mid-stage experts from Void-Pill Sect and the Chen clan—one each to Ye Tiandao, Xiao Yunfang, Meng Qingyin, Fyeng Wanru, and Lin Fei’er—to guard the women. He himself, along with his three avatars and the beasts, headed for the ferocious-beast world to hone their skills.

The beasts had already outgrown the Crossing-Bridge Galaxy; fighting in the beast world would give them proper tempering, plus beast cores for food and cultivation.

Lei Ming, Dragon Girl, and the others who’d missed the last trip were brimming with anticipation.

Yet after Ye Liuyun arrived via the black teleportation tower, he didn’t release them all at once. Instead he let them out one by one, matching each against suitable opponents so they could push their limits, get familiar with their new strength, and let him gauge their true power.

With Demonic Thunder Blasts, Lei Ming could now fight early Unity Ninth Heaven beasts. Dragon Girl, using her gauntlets, could do the same; if she added the Mad Dragon Combat Art, she could probably handle mid Unity Ninth Heaven foes.

Little Blue Ice could freeze late Unity Eighth Heaven beasts with the Soul-Lock Bead, and her ice power could outright seal smaller early Unity Eighth Heaven creatures.

Vermilion Bird’s soul power had always been formidable; with the red pupils she could now directly control Unity Ninth Heaven beasts. Chilian, after acquiring the red pupils, could barely manage Unity Eighth Heaven beasts, but her bloodline absorption had become faster. As long as the red pupils bought her a moment, she could drain a Unity Eighth Heaven beast dry.