Ye Liuyun had never imagined that a good deed could backfire so badly.

If it had been him in Long Tao’s shoes, he wouldn’t have wasted words—he’d have struck first and talked later.

But Long Nu and Lei Ming were here, and he feared they might read too much into things. So he forced himself to argue with Long Tao, letting the two women see the dragon’s true colors.

He shot back at once: “Don’t paint yourself as some noble saint. If you really wanted them to live, you’d let them leave with Ao Ding. The truth is you refuse to sacrifice anything, and you can’t stand being second to anyone!”

Long Tao knew he was in the wrong and couldn’t out-debate Ye Liuyun. He simply signaled the other dragons to release their pressure, readying an attack.

What chilled Ye Liuyun even more was that the other true dragons showed no shame—only excitement flashed in their eyes.

Long Tao kept threatening: “I appreciate your concern for our race, so I’d rather not fight you. But your cultivation is too low; destiny has already decided. You just happened to arrive when we’re desperate.

If we weren’t starving for resources, we wouldn’t rob you. Don’t even think of fleeing—one roar from me and the dragon souls outside will swarm you. They’re all Taixu-realm spirits. Even after eons of erosion, their soul force dwarfs yours.

Those souls have lost their minds; they slaughter even us. You’ll never break out. Hand over your resources and I’ll let you leave.”

Ye Liuyun glanced at Long Nu; disappointment filled her eyes as well. She understood his silent question and said directly, “Don’t worry about me—I feel the same. Alas, not every dragon is good. Seal me in your inner world; I don’t want to raise a claw against them.”

“Me too! Little Bro, I’m with you!” Lei Ming chimed in, sensing the coming fight.

Ye Liuyun nodded, a weight lifting from his heart.

“Looks like the old bastard managed to offend even Long Nu and Lei Ming.”

He promptly sealed Lei Ming, Long Nu, and the Nine-Headed Demon Dragon into his spatial world.

Long Tao merely shrugged, indifferent. “Planning to fight us all by yourself?”

Ye Liuyun stared at him, voice like frost. “I hope you won’t regret your choice.”

As he spoke, the God-Slaying Bow appeared in his hand. At the same moment, his two avatars raised the Demon-Hunt Bow and the Great Desolation Bow. 𝐟𝕣𝕖𝐞𝐰𝕖𝚋𝐧𝗼𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝗰𝐨𝐦

All three bows were drawn to full. Ye Liuyun locked onto Long Tao; the avatars swept their sights across the other dragons, deterring them.

Two puppets stepped forward, weapons ready.

The instant the God-Slaying Bow was drawn, a Taixu-realm pressure rolled out.

Ye Liuyun was only at the fifth level of Unity, yet the bow unleashed power equal to the fifth level of Taixu. Even if Long Tao hadn’t dropped in cultivation, he couldn’t block a single arrow.

Under the bow’s lock, Long Tao’s soul and body shuddered; he couldn’t even launch an attack. The dragons’ aura was crushed outright.

Every trace of draconic pressure vanished. Add the dread radiating from the Great Desolation Bow and the Demon-Hunt Bow, and every dragon felt death breathing down their necks.

“I surrender! I was wrong!” Long Tao’s voice shook as he forced the words out.

He hadn’t expected Ye Liuyun to possess such a terrifying weapon.

“Pay the price for repaying kindness with cruelty.”

Ye Liuyun’s voice was ice. He released the string; the God-Slaying Bow loosed its arrow of condensed divine essence.

He had been pushed past mercy.

With a boom, Long Tao couldn’t dodge; his head exploded, soul scattering along with it.

“This bow truly lives up to its name,” Ye Liuyun marveled inwardly.

“Aooo!” Several true dragons couldn’t hold back furious roars.

The two avatars showed no mercy either; they simply loosened their grips and blasted apart the two loudest bellowers, scattering the rest of the dragons in terror.

Ye Liuyun immediately stowed the God-Slaying Bow, drew the Demon-Slaughtering Blade, and charged the nearest true dragon. As he cleaved it open he also sent his divine soul straight into its sea of consciousness to devour its soul.

Meanwhile, the crimson pupil on one of his soul bodies glared at another dragon, casting an illusion that left it standing there like a statue.

The two avatars likewise stopped firing arrows, switched to blades, and closed for melee. The second avatar also used the crimson pupil of its soul to control one dragon while killing another, swallowing its soul in the process.

The two puppets never moved; they merely kept watch to ensure none of the dragons escaped beyond the formation.

These true dragons—only at the seventh or eighth level of Unity—were no match for Ye Liuyun at all. Resources were scarce here, so their soul power was weak, their overall strength mediocre, their elemental powers feeble; even their physiques were far inferior to the dragon girl’s.

Thus, when Ye Liuyun and his avatars devoured souls, a single slash was enough to sever a dragon’s head. With the crimson pupils of their souls also controlling a portion of the enemy, the slaughter became even easier.

In the end, all twenty-six true dragons were exterminated; not one survived.

When the killing was done, Ye Liuyun’s anger finally cooled. Gazing at the corpses, he sighed inwardly, blaming himself for meddling. If he hadn’t tried to help the Dragon Clan, he wouldn’t have come here; if he hadn’t come, he wouldn’t have slain these dragons with his own hands.

But what was done was done—regret was useless. He reminded himself once more that every race held both good and evil. Never again would he be careless. Even when helping others, he must possess absolute strength and secure a retreat first, lest he be “repaid with ingratitude” yet again.

He divided the dragon corpses in half: one half went to Lei Ming, the dragon girl, and the nine-headed demon dragon; the other half to the women at his side. When they saw the bodies, they only lamented the dragons’ fate; none blamed Ye Liuyun for being ruthless.

Having finished the slaughter, Ye Liuyun did not leave in haste. Instead, he set his sights on the dragon souls and corpses outside.

Five hundred Taixu-realm dragon bodies and souls still lay there. Though years had worn away some energy, most remained intact—top-tier, scarce resources he could never ignore.

So he took out the hunting rat. Yet the moment the creature sensed the dragon aura, it trembled and dared not move, let alone steal any corpses.

Ye Liuyun therefore used the crimson pupil to cast an illusion, making the rat believe it was pilfering demon-jiao corpses instead.

Between the slave seal and the illusion, he finally coaxed the rat into action.

He gave the hunting rat a Interspatial Ring, instructing it to bring back one corpse at a time; only after he had dealt with it would it fetch another.

He dared not steal too many at once. If a soul inside one of the dragon pearls suddenly awakened, trouble would erupt. One at a time, however, he could handle.