Chapter 2196: Plan Change

The ferry's scheduled delivery is still more than two months away, and Ye Liuyun didn't keep waiting here; he returned to Phoenix Perch City to attend to his own affairs.

But each day he still set aside time to practice how to locate that Formation node more quickly and how to release Thunder and Lightning Power.

He could even, whether enlarging or shrinking the Formation, hit the target with a single strike.

He controlled the Thunder and Lightning Power just right, enough to destroy that node without affecting other Formations, and it was hard for anyone to notice.

The operation of Phoenix Perch City was entrusted to Song An, and everything progressed steadily without drawing Zhongxing Wangchao's attention.

The number of Martial Cultivators under Ye Liuyun's control continued to increase.

"This time, we can take the initiative, capture a few more major cities, gather more resources, and then withdraw!"

Song An suggested this to Ye Liuyun.

Ye Liuyun fully agreed, setting the strike date for the day Zhongxing Wangchao began its crossing.

With ample time, they could also teleport more troops over.

In his hand now, besides the Death Legion's fifty thousand elite soldiers, there were forty thousand conscripted last time and another forty thousand captured previously.

After several months of training, these soldiers also needed real combat to hone their skills.

Therefore, this time Ye Liuyun had Xiao Yunfang assign the Death Legion's fifty thousand elite to rest, and instead brought the eighty thousand new recruits for field training.

Teleporting those eighty thousand without detection also required a great deal of time.

Moreover, Xiao Yunfang needed to send people to the Ten Thousand Merchants Alliance in Linhai City to obtain those one hundred thousand sets of armor.

Liu Yang and Mo Shaowen were, at this moment, leading Ye Liuyun's Black Armor Guards to continuously capture scattered Ninth Realm Martial Cultivators across the major northern cities.

As the ferry delivery date approached, Ye Liuyun rushed back to the Refining Alliance, using the Thousand Illusion Technique to become an apprentice of the Purple Flame Divine Lord, learning refining techniques alongside him.

Fifty ferries were placed in the Refining Alliance's Grand Hall, undergoing assembly.

Ye Liuyun also spent each day familiarizing himself with these warships and their Formations, and after returning at night he continued practicing destroying that critical node.

"Brother Ye, aren't you planning to act against Wu Ben?"

That night, Tong Xin saw that he had no intention of moving against Wu Ben, and asked about it.

"There's no way to act against him! Controlling him with Soul would be discovered by Zhongxing Wangchao, and killing him would only cause them to replace him with someone else."

Ye Liuyun explained.

"Then what do you plan to do?"

Tong Xin asked.

"We'll see then! If there's no way, we can only let nature take its course!"

Ye Liuyun didn't say much more to him.

In fact, he had already thought of a solution.

It was to use a Time Aura: after Wu Ben finished inspecting and signing for the ferries, he would employ the Time Aura to freeze time, then destroy the node.

Thus he could covertly destroy those warships without affecting the inspection, and without Zhongxing Wangchao noticing.

But at the handover stage, Ye Liuyun discovered that Wu Ben inspected extremely meticulously; each ferry's every function had to be tested, and after checking one, it was stored into Space World one by one, leaving him no chance to act.

Ye Liuyun suddenly thought, "If these warships, after being handed over to the army, have to undergo another inspection like this, my tampering would be exposed immediately."

Ye Liuyun made an instant decision and chose to change the plan.

He immediately had his clone inform Wu Kun, telling him to go to Dongyun Royal City and wait.

He, meanwhile, waited until Wu Ben finished the inspection, then took his leave from the Purple Flame Divine Lord and followed him out.

Again using the Time Aura, he froze time.

But instead of destroying the ferries, he emptied all supplies from Wu Ben's Storage Ring, then hurried to the Teleportation Array and returned to Phoenix Perch City.

By the time Wu Ben realized the contents of his Storage Ring were missing, Ye Liuyun had already entered the Teleportation Array and left the central kingdom's Royal City.

Wu Ben turned pale with fear, cold sweat streaming over his body, and immediately informed Mo Xiaotian.

"What?

Lost?

How did it get lost?"

Mo Xiaotian found it unbelievable.

"I don't know! I was fine when I left the Refining Alliance.

As I was walking, I suddenly found everything in the Storage Ring had vanished!"

"It could be that we fell under an illusion!"

Mo Xiaotian immediately thought that they had been hit by an illusion.

He promptly ordered the garrison to seal the city, block the Formation, and launch a citywide hunt for Martial Cultivators with strong Souls.

However, at this moment Ye Liuyun not only returned to Phoenix Perch City, but also passed through its Teleportation Array back to the Dongyun Kingdom.

After returning, he immediately led Wu Kun into a Secret Realm and retrieved those fifty ferries.

This time, he assigned Wu Kun the task of modifying the Formation.

"It must not only pass inspection, but also be undetectable.

When it hits the water and faces danger, it would be best

to have its shield completely collapse."

Ye Liuyun himself got busy as well.

He disassembled the ferries, located the hulls, and began tampering with the hulls.

He replaced several crucial support points with material of lower hardness.

Then he reassembled the ferries, so that externally there was no discernible difference.

He and Wu Kun labored together for over a month before completing the modifications to the ferries.

Then Ye Liuyun, satisfied, led the fifty ferries back to Phoenix Perch City once more, and asked Tong Xin about the situation.

"But stealing something from a strong person's hands is really impressive!"

"Hehe, how did the Zhongxing Wangchao handle the aftermath?"

Ye Liuyun asked Tong Xin.

"City lockdown, sealing the Formation, a month of scrambling and still no one found."

Wu Ben had bad luck; his head was cut off.

"Rebuild the fifty ferries! Anyway they aren't short of money."

"You've actually helped our Refining Alliance earn a lot of money this time!"

Tong Xin laughed.

"The ferries are almost finished; notify me a month early!"

Ye Liuyun told Tong Xin.

"Huh?"

"You still want to steal?"

"They'll definitely tighten security this time!"

Tong Xin reminded Ye Liuyun.

"Don't worry! I won't steal this time.

I have other important matters to attend to!"

Ye Liuyun laughed.

Tong Xin also agreed.

They really did notify Ye Liuyun a month early.

Ye Liuyun also rushed over early, waiting for the ferries to be completed.

During that period, he never left the residence of the Purple Flame Divine Lord, cultivating daily.

As Ye Liuyun had not expected, the day before the ferry handover, the Teleportation Array was sealed early, and the city was placed under full martial law.

The ones arriving for the handover were three great adepts of the Ninth Layer Summit, accompanied by 30,000 Imperial Guard guards, encircling the Refining Alliance tightly.

The entire handover site was sealed off; unrelated personnel couldn't even get a glimpse.

After the handover was completed, those people left immediately.

At that moment, Ye Liuyun activated the time aura, freezing time, then swapped the fifty ferries in the strong one's Storage Ring with his own well‑crafted ferries, and returned to the residence of the Purple Flame Divine Lord.