Chapter 1096: Complete Victory

After a single battle, just the Reinforcement Troops numbered over fifty thousand.

On the walls of Yi Cheng, Ye Liuyun and Qin Peng listened to the forward report while leisurely sipping tea.

Qin Peng produced a Transmission Talisman and issued the interception order again.

Another squad of Warships charged straight out, the same Warships, the same interception method, and intercepted half of King True Essence's Warships.

"Where did Ye Liuyun get so many soldiers?"

King True Essence only now began to suspect that some of Ye Liuyun's Warships were empty.

Because by troop numbers, this force should far exceed Ye Liuyun's over one hundred thousand men.

The intercepted Warships also made the same decision, abandoning their ships and switching to hand‑to‑hand combat.

And this time, the ones who surged out of the Warships were fifty thousand Demon Cultivators.

"Damn it! Ye Liuyun has dragged Demon Cultivators from the Demonic God Sect!"

The Demon Cultivators under Ye Liuyun are the lowest‑tier within the Sect, but even they are far stronger in realm and combat ability than ordinary soldiers.

Moreover, after training, their coordination and forward‑charging momentum would block even King True Essence's hundred‑thousand army with just fifty thousand of them.

At first, seeing only fifty thousand Demon Cultivators, King True Essence hesitated, pondering whether to swallow this force.

But when he saw their orderly ranks, mutual coordination and morale, he decisively ordered the remaining Warships to speed away.

Can't win!

If they truly fought, few of them would remain. If the pursuing troops caught up, they'd have no escape.

What he didn't know is that up to now, his fate was already sealed for total annihilation.

Because after fleeing further, they encountered another Demon Cultivator interception; this time only thirty thousand Demon Cultivators intercepted, yet they stopped sixty thousand of his men.

In numbers, the two sides were evenly matched.

But from behind, ten thousand Demon Cultivators were already in pursuit, and reinforcements would soon arrive.

"Alas, the tide has turned, accept your fate; even if you run forward, there will still be interceptions," Marquis Pingnan muttered, "That kid really has some skill!"

"We have to run then! Give it a try, maybe we can break through!"

King True Essence immediately urged the remaining Warships to accelerate their retreat.

But every stretch of road, Demon Cultivators would indeed intercept their Warships.

King True Essence's entire army was eventually isolated and surrounded, being eradicated piece by piece.

In this battle, Ye Liuyun caught King True Essence completely off guard.

At that moment, he stood up and called to Qin Peng, "Let's go, it's time for us to finish up the remaining work."

Together with dozens of senior‑rank Demon Cultivators and five thousand soldiers bearing Monster Beasts, they were directly teleported via a Teleportation Array to Marquis Ning's garrison, guarding the inevitable return point of King True Essence.

"If we go straight, do you think Ye Liuyun has no plan?" King Pingnan shouted.

At this moment, Marquis Pingnan and King True Essence began to quarrel.

King True Essence retorted, "Then you think if we take a detour he wouldn't anticipate? Since we still have nearly ten thousand left, we might as well charge straight through."

The two argued for a while, but Marquis Pingnan ultimately couldn't win against King True Essence and flew straight toward Ye Liuyun's forces.

In fact, no matter which way they went, the outcome was the same.

Ye Liuyun had already set up Teleportation Arrays on every crucial route, ready to transport at any moment.

Behind King True Essence's Warships, two dragon‑eagles trailed at a distance, hovering as if merely watching the spectacle.

Those two dragon‑eagles were Ye Liuyun's Monster Beasts. Thus, whichever direction they chose, Ye Liuyun would be waiting ahead.

By the time they saw Ye Liuyun, it would be too late to change course.

In all four directions of their Warships, Ye Liuyun's Warships appeared in the distance.

They had fully entered Ye Liuyun's ambush circle, with no escape.

King True Essence and Marquis Pingnan also disembarked, rallied the remaining soldiers, and prepared to fight desperately.

Ye Liuyun waved his hand, and nearly one hundred thousand soldiers descended from the surrounding Warships. Yet their numbers and momentum already overwhelmed King True Essence's troops, leaving them gasping.

"King True Essence, conserve your strength; no matter how you struggle, the outcome is the same! Why force your soldiers to die with you?"

Ye Liuyun truly had no desire to fight him. The result was already sealed; acting now would only cause more deaths.

"Alas!" King True Essence sighed, speaking slowly, "Everyone says you're incredibly powerful; now that I see you, the rumors are indeed true!"

"What a pity! You didn't even verify before choosing to become my enemy!" Ye Liuyun lamented.

King True Essence nodded, "Indeed, I regret it!"

Then he ordered the remaining soldiers, "I command you to lay down your weapons and surrender; cease this futile resistance!"

After arranging the soldiers, he no longer attended to them and walked straight toward Ye Liuyun.

Marquis Pingnan, seeing this, shook his head and followed.

"How do you intend to deal with us?" King True Essence asked Ye Liuyun as he approached.

"Kill!" Ye Liuyun replied with a single word.

These two were personally named by Emperor Xia, and they even dared to dispatch troops against him; he must kill them, otherwise others would become even more brazen.

King True Essence and Marquis Pingnan exchanged a glance, their eyes full of helplessness.

Victory belongs to the king, defeat to the bandit; they had nothing more to say. After years of fighting on battlefields, they'd seen it all.

Thus, the two offered no resistance; their Souls were instantly snatched by Ye Liuyun.

Ye Liuyun first performed Soul Search, then absorbed their Souls.

Afterward, he instructed Qin Peng to have their heads severed, seal them in a specially crafted wooden box, and prepare to present them to Emperor Xia later.

"Take men and retrieve whatever remains of their two households, bring back all their remaining resources! The people are dead; if we don't take them, others will seize them!" Ye Liuyun told Qin Peng.

"Understood!" Qin Peng replied, then went down to arrange it.

The subsequent matters no longer required Ye Liuyun's concern.

He just performed a Soul Search, obtained information from Prince True Essence's Soul, the Cheng Clan is preparing to excavate the Mineral Vein.

Previously the two sides had been deadlocked; continuing to drag it on would yield nothing for either.

Thus the Cheng Clan proposed that the younger generation of both families go together to seek the secret of this Mineral Vein. After all, the youth represent a family's future.

If it were these elders of theirs fighting, they would know each other's strength too well; the end result would only be mutual loss, so it's better to leave the opportunity to the younger generation.

If there happens to be some opportunity inside, letting the youth go would be more valuable than having these elders do it.