Chapter 2138: Applying Pressure

Ye Liuyun, while busy clearing the poisoned corpses in the Alien Battlefield, had Wu Qingcheng arrange to pressure the Spirit Clan.

Thus the army of Kangning City again approached the Spirit Clan, setting up checkpoints near Kangning City to intercept Spirit Clan personnel entering and exiting.

It also prevented outsiders from entering the Spirit Clan to deliver resources.

He Lian Xiu led troops to garrison in Kangning City.

Across the Eastern Dynasty, they were no longer just driving out the Spirit Clan but killing them outright.

Zhang Heng also led five Ninth Layer Mid Stage Martial Cultivators and unnamed Ninth Layer Early Stage Martial Cultivators, rushing toward Kangning City.

Any Spirit Clan who dared approach was killed on the spot.

Those five Ninth Layer Mid Stage Martial Cultivators also often slipped out of the city at night to kill Spirit Clan Martial Cultivators of Seventh/Eighth Level Realm.

The Spirit Clan's merchants' guild within its territory has not resumed operations.

The Spirit Clan, helpless, can only draw from its reserves to meet ordinary Spirit Clan members' daily needs.

Xuan Yuan Ling has withdrawn to the Royal City.

The Teleportation Array in the Royal City that leads to the Alien Battlefield has also begun restricting Spirit Clan Martial Cultivators' passage, not just those of the Ninth Realm.

Ye Liuyun released the two or three dozen Spirit Clan Martial Cultivators he had captured.

After sending them back to the Spirit Clan, he let them continue poisoning, killing Spirit Clan disciples and Elders.

The Spirit Clan now faces internal and external troubles.

Originally, when Ye Liuyun advanced his troops, they thought he was forced into a corner and wanted to fight them to the death.

Now a large number of elite Spirit Clan disciples have died from poisoning, and the toxin spreads extremely fast.

Liang Xue also seized this chance to poison some elite Spirit Clan disciples.

Thus for a time, among the Spirit Clan's inner gate, outer gate, and ordinary Martial Cultivators, people showed poisoning symptoms, and they could not find the cause.

The Spirit Clan Elders gathered again to discuss how to handle the current problem.

"Too brazen! It must be Ye Liuyun's doing, using such despicable methods!"

A short‑tempered Elder shouted angrily.

Recently many elite Spirit Clan disciples and some Elders have died from poisoning, causing them great anguish.

"The Spirit Clan may have many material reserves, but many commonly used supplies are scarce; at this rate, ordinary Spirit Clan members may not be able to hold on!"

"Now no one is willing to provide us resources.

Moreover, resources can't even be delivered."

"What about sending them from the Alien Battlefield?"

"From the Alien Battlefield, now only Spirit Clan disciples can teleport here; no one else will."

"Ye Liuyun is taking revenge on us.

He wants to trap us here to death!"

"War! If we don't give them a taste of our strength, they'll still think we're truly afraid of them!"

In the end, most Spirit Clan Elders agreed to show Ye Liuyun some of the Spirit Clan's true power, hoping to make him retreat.

The Grand Elder immediately dispatched five Ninth Layer Late Stage Elders to the frontier city to take up positions.

So that no Martial Cultivator would be ambushed again by Ye Liuyun's men.

Ye Liuyun instantly controlled several of the disciples he had enslaved, rushed into that city to spread poison, and disseminated the news that the toxin sources came from those Elders.

The Spirit Clan's members, already dissatisfied with the clan's decisions due to recent resource shortages, now have even greater grievances against those Elders.

Ye Liuyun immediately returned from the Alien Battlefield, bringing ten Ninth Layer Mid Stage guards and Yu Xiaofeng, and sped toward the Spirit Clan's direction.

At the same time, Ye Tiandao withdrew his forces, returning to the Royal City to regroup.

It's not only the high‑level Alien Battlefield.

The Low-Level Battlefield is the same; all soldiers received orders to return to the Dongyun Dynasty for preparation.

In fact, Ye Liuyun is merely bluffing now, testing the Spirit Clan's limits.

By pressuring them, he wants to see if they make a wrong decision, giving him a chance to eliminate more Spirit Clan strongholds.

He will not easily go to war with the Spirit Clan.

But as long as the Spirit Clan does not launch a massive offensive, he will not concede.

Ideally the Spirit Clan would wear him down with small‑scale skirmishes.

That way he can slice like a dull knife, slowly draining the Spirit Clan's strength.

The Spirit Clan does not realize Ye Liuyun's bluff; they dare not gamble, so they mobilize Martial Cultivators and outer‑gate disciples, continuously reinforcing the frontier cities.

However, the disciples and Martial Cultivators' response is not enthusiastic.

Because the Martial Cultivators returning from the battlefield have already spread the news: the Spirit Clan covets the treasures in Ye Liuyun's hands, repeatedly striking at him, each time suffering heavy casualties.

Some rational Spirit Clan members do not support this reason for war.

Many of them even condemn the Elders' decision.

In the end, Spirit Clan Elders had to use force to suppress a few exemplars, after which the others fell silent.

But the dissatisfied atmosphere continues to spread.

Moreover, the Spirit Clan cannot solve the supply issue; poisoning incidents keep erupting, leaving the Spirit Clan people anxious.

Many Spirit Clan members, to solve resource problems and avoid poisoning, even rushed to the Alien Battlefield to kill the Foreign Tribe, distancing themselves from this trouble spot.

But this time, when they return to the Alien Battlefield, they no longer feel anyone's warm attitude.

Even some strong Martial Cultivators have begun ambushing and hunting them.

It's not only Ye Liuyun targeting the Spirit Clan; the Central Region's dynasty also seized the chance to act against the Spirit Clan, beginning to purge the Spirit Clan's Martial Cultivators in the Central Region.

After Hunt Captain Jing Yong disappeared, the God King assumed the Spirit Clan acted covertly.

Only the Spirit Clan has the strength to eliminate Jing Yong.

Thus the Zhongxing Wangchao also began dispatching people throughout its realm to kill Spirit Clan Martial Cultivators, as retaliation.

At the same time, it also spread news of various Spirit Clan misdeeds.

The Spirit Clan's standing in the hearts of many Martial Cultivators completely fell from the divine altar.

Only now did they realize how foul the Spirit Clan's reputation had become.

The Spirit Clan's Elders also felt enormous pressure.

Ye Liuyun is only one aspect; the central dynasty's blows against the Spirit Clan are also considerable.

Moreover, the central dynasty also sealed the Teleportation Array, forbidding the Spirit Clan from passing through it either inbound or outbound.

Many strong members of the Spirit Clan cannot return and can only flee within the central region.

They also have no way to send people to provide support.

Facing internal and external troubles, the Spirit Clan also wants to resolve Ye Liuyun's problem as quickly as possible.

"When Ye Liuyun reaches Kangning City, you seize the opportunity to strike!"

The Spirit Clan Elders also issued orders to the five Ninth Layer Late Stage Elders they dispatched.

But after waiting more than twenty days, they still did not receive any news of Ye Liuyun rushing to Kangning City.

In fact, Ye Liuyun had entered Kangning City long ago.

Only, he entered invisibly.

After entering, he first went to the barracks to set down Yu Xiaofeng and the strong ones he brought, then rushed straight toward the Spirit Clan's city opposite.

Ye Liuyun's army did not lay siege; it merely marched into the area beneath the city to camp, then sealed off all roads leading to the Spirit Clan.

After the five Ninth Layer Late Stage Elders the Spirit Clan sent arrived, they brazenly kept the city gates wide open.

That means as long as you dare to come in, we can kill you all!

Moreover, they indeed thought that if these soldiers wanted to attack the city, the gate truly could not stop them.

Thus Ye Liuyun slipped into the city interior with great ease.