Chapter 1061: Encountering an Ambush

The clone is now already carrying Ye Tiandao and all the Monster Beasts, and is cultivating inside the Xuan Kong Shi.

Various core pills were also piled in heaps, allowing them to absorb at will.

The originally planned itinerary went exceedingly smoothly; Ye Liuyun would not often release his Divine Sense to probe the outside, and instead taught everything to the Skeleton Puppet.

However, on this day, they were suddenly ambushed.

And at the outset, a high‑rank strongman shattered the Flying Boat that Ye Liuyun and his party were riding.

Their Flying Boat had little defensive capability to begin with; under the heavy blow it plummeted straight down from the sky, crashing onto the ground and shattering.

Ye Liuyun and his companions hurriedly burst out of the Flying Boat, released their Divine Sense to survey the surroundings, and were immediately struck head‑on.

Ye Liuyun casually pulled the people beside him back into the Space World.

But Feng Xiaoxiao could not be pulled in.

So Ye Liuyun could only use his own body to stand in front of Feng Xiaoxiao, taking all the attacks for her.

Even though Ye Liuyun's Physical Body was robust, he was momentarily dazed, his clothes shredded, and even his Exotic Scale Armor was blasted apart.

Fortunately, they were only superficial wounds, not hindering his continued fighting, and he could recover quickly.

Feng Xiaoxiao felt deeply grateful that Ye Liuyun could shield her.

Ye Liuyun's Divine Sense quickly scanned the area; the attackers were not just a single high‑rank strongman, but six early‑stage Earth Sovereign Martial Cultivators launching a surprise assault.

"Bandits?"

Seeing their attire, Ye Liuyun felt very surprised.

He had previously asked Xia Tianqiong and others, and was told that Zhongyang Dalu was extremely peaceful, with no bandits at all.

Yet these Martial Cultivators were all dressed in bandit garb.

Nevertheless, regardless of the situation, he couldn't just stand there taking hits.

He immediately summoned Huo Wu, letting her block for a moment, giving him time to pause and assess the situation.

He then took Feng Xiaoxiao down to the ground and began setting up the Formation Flag.

When he released his Divine Sense earlier, he faintly sensed additional ambushes nearby, so he dared not be careless, at least keeping a precaution.

"How are your injuries?" Feng Xiaoxiao guessed Ye Liuyun must be badly hurt. That was the attack of six high‑rank strongmen; as a fourth‑tier Martial Cultivator, even with battle armor, he would sustain internal injuries.

However, at this moment Ye Liuyun couldn't attend to her at all.

"Stay inside the Formation, don't run around!" he ordered, then continued busily arranging.

As soon as his Formation Flag was set, Huo Wu withdrew back.

"Boss, it's bad, we're ambushed!"

After Huo Wu appeared, more high‑rank strongmen showed up on the other side, and she was locked in a stalemate, gaining no advantage.

Huo Wu's cultivation level was high; her Soul was far stronger than Ye Liuyun's. Speaking, she relayed all the information she had probed to Ye Liuyun.

"That many?"

Upon learning this, Ye Liuyun felt a wave of scalp tingling.

Just from Huo Wu's probe, there were over a thousand bandits encircling Ye Liuyun's party on three sides, leaving only a single retreat route.

"That's not right! The bandits' formation looks like a military unit!"

Based on their layout, Ye Liuyun realized the bandits' tactics were exactly military strategies.

Although they wore bandit clothes, their discipline was strict and their ranks orderly.

Bandits could never have such a tidy formation.

At this moment, nearly thirty high‑rank Elders surrounded them again; among them the strongest was at the fifth‑rank Earth Sovereign level.

Having seen Ye Liuyun set the Formation Flag earlier, they did not rashly charge in, but instead encircled the flag's perimeter.

Ye Liuyun immediately activated the Formation's Defense Array to prevent an easy breach.

"Who are you?" Ye Liuyun asked aloud, but received no reply.

They merely guarded the outer edge of the Formation Flag, preventing Ye Liuyun's group from breaking out.

"It seemed these people were definitely targeting me, not mere bandits," he thought to himself.

However, he did not rush to unleash the Monster Beasts; he wanted to gauge the opponent's strength first.

Even if they launched a strong assault on the Formation, this set of flags would not be broken in a short time.

Later, Ye Liuyun noticed their troop movements; the previously ambushed bandits were now tightening the encirclement around him.

Their movements further confirmed to Ye Liuyun that these were certainly not ordinary bandits.

Their advance and retreat were measured, discipline strict, formation orderly; at a glance one could tell they were a trained army.

"Who wants to kill me? Using an army as well?"

Ye Liuyun considered possibilities and thought the Crown Prince was the most likely suspect.

But the Crown Prince had no command over troops.

"Could it be that the Imperial Court wants to eliminate me? That seems unlikely; I haven't affected the Court's power at all!"

"It seems we have to use Soul Search to find the answer!"

Ye Liuyun couldn't figure it out and stopped pondering the issue, instead discussing countermeasures with Huo Wu.

"Release the Monster Beasts and wipe them out outright. As for those soldiers, they should be easy to deal with," Huo Wu suggested.

"Not necessarily! Let's wait a bit longer!"

Ye Liuyun and Qin Peng had studied offensive strategies many times, so they had some experience.

He noticed they were adopting an attack formation. He was puzzled—were they planning to use soldiers to strike the Formation?

But soon, he discovered the opponent had dispatched several Super Warships, intending to move ahead of the squad to assault the Defense Array.

"The preparation is truly thorough! They even employed Warships!"

Ye Liuyun now fully understood. These people had considered every possible contingency in their ambush.

He instead calmed down at this moment, carefully observed those soldiers, and discovered they were all carrying treasures that defended against spiritual soul attacks—clearly they had come prepared.

"Looks like it's still people who know me best!" Ye Liuyun said to Huowu: "The Soul Banner won't be needed!"

"I'll lead the ferocious beasts out to kill, throw their formation into chaos, then wipe out these venerable-rank experts!" Huowu also remained composed, without panic.

Ye Liuyun slowly shook his head.

"If we clash head-on, the cost will be too great!"

He estimated that if they used the ferocious beasts to clash head-on, at least half of the ferocious beasts he had would die!

Those ferocious beasts, he had planned to use them against the Cheng Clan, but now they're all used up—that would be a huge loss.

At this moment, Feng Xiaoxiao was completely frightened silly, tightly clutching the Qing Lin Wolf.

She had never experienced such a scene before!

Over thirty venerable-rank experts, plus several thousand bandits, and there's also a warship.

"We're doomed! Even if Ye Liuyun releases all those monster beasts, we can't beat so many people!"

She slumped onto the ground, no longer hoping.