Ye Liuyun first froze time, rushed forward, and released the Devil Vine and the assassins. His second avatar seized the moment to project its soul and swiftly planted slave seals on several exceptionally powerful martial cultivators, then slipped into the void with spatial power.

The resumed, Ye Liuyun summoned two puppets to slaughter the mine guards alongside him. The Devil Vine and the killers burrowed into the earth and vanished. The second avatar herded the freshly enslaved cultivators into his inner world, released the remaining elites, and set them on the guards as well.

The He family’s garrison was caught off-guard; the sudden assault threw them into panic, and they scrambled out to meet the enemy—only to be met with a crushing blow.

The Devil Vine and the assassins struck from the shadows, turning the compound into chaos.

Ye Liuyun and his avatar were using the defenders as live training dummies, deliberately targeting late-Ninth-Order cultivators. They fought without soul power, relying solely on bloodline suppression, divine essence, the momentum of heaven and earth, and spatial force—never even drawing a blade. 𝕗𝕣𝐞𝐞𝘄𝐞𝚋𝚗𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹.𝚌𝕠𝚖

Soon the stewards at each vein rallied the miners for reinforcement. Only then did Ye Liuyun release Xiao Heng’s army to butcher the miners.

Xiao Heng had two imperial-guard commanders and twenty praetorian at his side; their safety was assured, and any remaining experts could be handled.

Both Xiao Heng and Li Zhaoyuan were seasoned commanders; crushing miners who knew nothing of large-scale warfare was child’s play.

They were raiding one of the He family’s top-tier mining planets. Originally the garrison boasted thrice as many Ninth-Order cultivators as Ye Liuyun’s side.

But after its recent breakthrough, the Devil Vine alone could handle swathes of Seventh- and Eighth-Order experts. Coupled with Ye Liuyun’s two puppets, they sealed the base, preventing those cultivators from sallying out against the army.

“Who dares plunder the He family’s mines—”

The overseer leapt out to demand their identities, only to be exploded mid-sentence by a single arrow from the second avatar’s Great Desolation Bow.

“Idiot—we’re already inside, and you still want to chat?” the avatar muttered, hands never pausing.

The avatar’s newly released elites drew the Ninth-Order guards’ attention. Two late-Ninth-Order powerhouses under his command were invincible—one palm or one fist ended a life. Assassins slipped in during the melee, one strike, one kill; half the Ninth-Order defenders were wiped out in moments.

Seeing the tide turn, some tried to surrender on the spot, but Ye Liuyun had the assassins cut them down—no survivors.

“Kill! No prisoners!” he ordered every fighter under his banner.

He had hand-picked only the strongest; the weaker ones weren’t worth feeding or wasting resources on.

Thus every Seventh- and Eighth-Order cultivator was executed—no time wasted subduing them.

Once the Ninth-Order guards were gone, the second avatar recalled his elites so they could restore their depleted essence. Their consumption had been enormous and recovery slow; without a breather, five straight battles would be taxing.

The rest was left to Ye Liuyun and the avatar.

Ye Liuyun released his demonic beasts to hunt Seventh- and Eighth-Order cultivators, easing the Devil Vine’s burden.

The beasts, restless from recent confinement, burst out in gleeful carnage, raising more havoc than the Ninth-Order fights. With ample resources, none bothered looting; they only wanted more targets to hone their skills.

Ye Liuyun swept the battlefield with divine sense: Xiao Heng’s progress was smooth, the miners being crushed in a one-sided slaughter. A squad had even been assigned to clean up behind them—everything orderly.

So Ye Liuyun and the avatar kept sparring with the Seventh- and Eighth-Order cultivators.

When their side finished, the Devil Vine began clearing corpses. Suddenly Ye Liuyun noticed Xiao Heng had stopped, surrounding a group of surrendered miners in discussion.

He recalled the beasts, gave the Devil Vine a moment to finish, and hurried over.

The second avatar went to commune with the planet’s source, preparing to claim it.

“What’s wrong? They surrendered—why haven’t you taken them in?” Ye Liuyun asked Xiao Heng directly.

Xiao Heng looked troubled. “They surrendered, yes, but they refuse to enter my inner world. They want us to release them.”

Ye Liuyun stared at him in disbelief. “When you surrendered to the Fire-Seal Dynasty, did they let you negotiate terms?”

“Not at all!” Xiao Heng said awkwardly.

Ye Liuyun looked him over and couldn’t help asking, “Do you realize that every moment you waste here will bring He family reinforcements? Every extra second you delay could ruin our whole follow-up operation?”

Xiao Heng replied with obvious distress, “Yes, I know, but these people have already surrendered...”

Ye Liuyun cut him off without another word. Lightning erupted from him, bolts of world-ending tribulation thunder crashing down on the surrendered miners, turning them to ash in moments.

He had no patience left for a commander who ignored the bigger picture. He knew slaughtering the prisoners was brutal, but war itself was brutal; if they wasted time dealing with captives, they might never secure the five target planets.

If he didn’t act ruthlessly, their own soldiers could end up dead—something their countless battles had already proven.

“No wonder the planets these people come from keep losing wars—they’re not fit to lead!”

While Ye Liuyun silently vented, he hoped Yu Xiaofeng and the others would raise their cultivation quickly and rebuild an even stronger Death Legion. In his eyes, only the Death Legion and the Speartip Battalion produced commanders and soldiers worthy of the name.

When the miners’ screams finally died away, the ground was littered with charred corpses trailing wisps of black smoke. Commander Xiao and the others stood frozen. The sight made every soldier’s heart pound.

“Li Zhaoyuan!” Ye Liuyun barked.

“Here!” Li Zhaoyuan jumped at the shout.

Ye Liuyun issued his orders at once: “You’re taking command. Waste another second and I’ll kill you without question. Xiao Heng is demoted to common soldier and assigned to the suicide squad—he’ll lead every charge with prisoners in front of him.

You have half a quarter-hour to clean the field, regroup every soldier, and prepare to withdraw!”

“Yes, sir!” Li Zhaoyuan didn’t dare hesitate; he immediately began gathering the troops.