Chapter 1162: Rekindled Hope

Seventh Prince came out and found that he was again missing one subordinate. He was surely killed by Fourth Prince's men. They now have nine people left.

Anyway, he also knew the direction of Stone City, so he stopped sending people to follow the Crown Prince, to avoid further accidents.

He gathered everyone together, searching for treasures while advancing toward Stone City.

Ye Liuyun and Zhu Youfu rode the Earth Sovereign's ferocious beast, relying on Ye Liuyun's powerful Divine Soul Power to avoid dangers, quickly pulling ahead of the others.

Actually, even if he moved slowly, no one else dared to scheme against him.

But a two‑person team under the Fourth Prince hadn't made it that far, moving slower, and was spotted by the Crown Prince's men, who pursued them relentlessly from behind.

In the end, both were killed. Before dying, they also managed to seriously wound one of the Crown Prince's subordinates.

The Crown Prince and his group, on the way, were also discussing how to deal with Ye Liuyun.

"Ye Liuyun has too many ferocious beasts in his hands; if we want to oppose him, we might also need to use ferocious beasts to attack and defend Stone City," a subordinate of the Crown Prince suggested.

"Not bad. We indeed need to make some preparations. Starting now, we will devote all efforts to capturing ferocious beasts!"

The Crown Prince also felt that they should prepare some strength to deal with Ye Liuyun.

Although in one‑on‑one combat they are no match for Ye Liuyun, defending and attacking a city is another matter.

Although the princes have never led troops in battle, they have all studied siege and defense knowledge, so they are not completely ignorant.

The Crown Prince fixed his gaze on a martial cultivator. This cultivator was the one who wielded a whip to drive the herd of earth‑demon oxen to attack Ye Liuyun.

He nodded: "Good. You surround and capture the ferocious beasts; I'll handle the rest!"

This martial cultivator was named Taiji; the whip in his hand was a special treasure, the Beast Taming Whip.

This Beast Taming Whip was forged by a renowned artifact master from dragon sinew, giving it a certain deterrent power over ferocious beasts, usable for driving and intimidating them.

Next, they began massively capturing ferocious beasts, hoping to pit themselves against Ye Liuyun.

Only the Seventh Prince had already given up the idea of winning.

He knew Ye Liuyun possessed the Magic Vine and the Hundred‑Refined Soul Banner, so he only hoped that Ye Liuyun and the Crown Prince would fight to mutual destruction, letting him swoop in for a gain.

If he couldn't get it, he didn't mind. Thus his mindset was the best, and his speed the slowest.

The Fourth Prince's faction was racing for time to Stone City, the Crown Prince was everywhere capturing ferocious beasts, while only the Seventh Prince's group was focused on searching for treasures.

Finally, an underground palace was breached by their combined efforts.

The palace's guardians turned out to be two stone men of Di Zun First Rank. For this they even sacrificed a martial cultivator.

Yet their haul was also enormous.

Inside the palace, besides a large amount of spirit stones, treasures and resources, there were preserved three hundred stone men of the same rank; by inputting Divine Sense, they could be used.

"Your Highness Seventh Prince, this is absolutely heaven's blessing! With these stone men, attacking and defending a city becomes effortless!"

"Yes, Your Highness Seventh Prince, you now have the capital to contend with them!"

The Seventh Prince's subordinates originally shared his view, feeling there was no hope of victory.

So, although they resented Ye Liuyun in their hearts, they could do nothing but swallow their anger.

But now that they have these stone men, they certainly don't want to lose either. After all, if the Seventh Prince wins and later ascends the throne, their benefits will be greater.

The Seventh Prince also considered: "Three hundred Di Zun First Rank stone men, though not high in rank, are still sturdy. Even if Ye Liuyun and the Crown Prince have ferocious beasts, they should not be able to withstand them."

In his heart, hope was rekindled.

Thus, he input Divine Sense into these stone men, making them his own.

These stone men, like metal puppets, can be controlled in battle with Divine Sense as long as they have sufficient spirit stones as energy.

"Let's go, we'll go out to hunt ferocious beasts and first catch up on the points!"

After obtaining these stone men, the Seventh Prince also began striving for victory.

After heading out, they began to manipulate these stone men to slay ferocious beasts, speeding up point acquisition.

Even when they passed a river, the Seventh Prince heeded his subordinates' suggestion, letting the stone men jump into the river to block it, causing the water to overflow and flood the banks.

The ferocious beasts on the banks all suffered misfortune, directly drowned by the floodwaters, casualties countless.

The fish in the river, after the floodwaters receded, also dried up and died.

The Seventh Prince also felt some regret, thinking this was overly cruel. But seeing his token's points soaring, his slight guilt was quickly replaced by excitement.

Now he has a large number of points, and also three hundred Di Zun First Rank stone men, giving him full capacity to join the struggle for the throne.

"Haha, Your Highness, this victory is surely no problem. Let's also rush to Stone City; if we delay any longer, we might run out of time!"

The martial cultivators were also all excited.

Stone City possesses an inheritance, which they still remember. Previously lacking strength, they didn't dare hope for it; now that they have strength, they naturally set their minds on that inheritance.

If they could obtain the inheritance of a Divine Rank expert, there is no doubt that their future cultivation path would proceed extremely smoothly.

"Good! Let's also rush to Stone City!"

The Seventh Prince spoke, spirited and vigorous.

After gaining points, he also fully saw hope; his entire aura became immensely strong, and even his speaking confidence grew considerably.

He led his subordinates, cutting a bloody swath, rushing toward Stone City with a mighty aura.

After being inspired by Ye Liuyun, the Fourth Prince's team specifically targeted small‑sized, high‑density, low‑rank beast swarms such as bats, bees and ants, slaughtering them and also gaining many points.

After pulling away from the others, Ye Liuyun never rested, continually gathering resources such as peaks, rivers, trees and medicinal herbs into his Space World.

His Space World is constantly expanding, requiring a continual influx of resources; otherwise the newly expanded areas would appear empty and lifeless.

At this moment in the imperial palace, people's opinions of the princes' performances were also mixed.

Several ministers, each secretly backing a prince, spoke well of their own while disparaging the opposition.

Emperor Xia and the Imperial Family Ancestor merely watched silently, their expressions showing no ripple, giving no hint of what they were thinking.

Some ministers deliberately paid attention to Ye Liuyun.

"This kid's Space World isn't small at all; he's stuffed it with so much stuff!"

Emperor Xia, regarding this, also made no comment.