Chapter 3134: Capturing the Scout

The soldiers couldn't find anything, so they could only let Ye Liuyun leave. The assassin heard that, also saw no problem, and told the soldiers to let him go. He then continued to follow Ye Liuyun.

After leaving the Royal City, Ye Liuyun boarded a Flying Boat and departed. The assassin thought for a moment, then caught up with Ye Liuyun and blocked his Flying Boat.

Ye Liuyun also stopped the Flying Boat, pretended to be shaken by his pressure, and cooperated in answering his questions. But after the assassin asked two sentences, he released a Soul that surged into Ye Liuyun's Sea of Consciousness to conduct a Soul Search verification.

"You really insist on courting death!"

Ye Liuyun sighed, instantly froze time, first placed Slave Seals on both of his Souls and pulled them into the Space World, then recalled the Red Lotus, Demon Lion and Flying Boat, and sped out of the void, rushing toward the nearby Xingqiu where the assassin still was.

He thought that controlling only this assassin might arouse the Fire Seal Dynasty's suspicion and reveal his purpose, so he simply captured a few more assassins, making the Fire Seal Dynasty think he was merely taking revenge.

Once this assassin was controlled, the Fire Seal Dynasty noticed and immediately ordered nearby assassins to converge here. Ye Liuyun's Golden Pupil spotted the incoming assassins from surrounding Xing Xi from afar.

"That does make things easier!"

Ye Liuyun smiled helplessly, taking the Red Lotus and Demon Lion to circle around the planets surrounding the Desolate Sea, capturing the arriving assassins one by one.

The Fire Seal Dynasty promptly deployed assassins to intercept and pursue along his path; Ye Liuyun could only use these assassins as sparring partners to boost Spatial Power, not only capturing them with his Soul power but also having the Red Lotus and Demon Lion jointly kill two of them.

Working together, the Demon Lion located the assassin, the Red Lotus used Red Eye to cast illusion and control the assassin, then drained its Bloodline Power; their strike was swift. Yet Ye Liuyun thought killing too many was wasteful, so he let them kill only a few, merely to confuse the royal court.

While passing a city, they were inspected by the local garrison commander leading troops; he seized the chance to place a Slave Seal on that commander, gaining another information channel to prevent Liu Sheng's exposure.

He then fled forward for a while, teleported via the Black Tower back to the Bridge Star System, where he captured several Martial Cultivators of the Sixth and Seventh Layers to gather information, then captured a few assassins from the assassin squad, after which his first clone gave him a coordinate, and he teleported away.

Thus the Fire Seal Dynasty also thought Ye Liuyun was deliberately retaliating, and only dispatched more strong Martial Cultivators to those two locations, without triggering a large‑scale investigation.

After Ye Liuyun teleported to the first clone, he split up with it, each proceeding to fulfill their assigned tasks. Without the assassins' interference, their subsequent actions went smoothly.

Ye Liuyun no longer summoned the Red Lotus and Demon Lion, acting alone; soon he arrived at the Royal City, while the two clones finished gathering information, continuing to capture people and also heading toward the Royal City.

The people they controlled quickly relayed the information.

The royal court's defensive focus remains on the Desolate Sea and the Bridge Star System. The Bridge Star System has already produced a new bandit leader, who is consolidating the various bandit groups.

The Chen family later dispatched a team to the Desolate Sea to search for Ye Liuyun, but they never found him and had to return. Xu Dan Sect has given up searching for the Golden Mountain that Ye Liuyun transformed into. The He family and Fan family have also lifted their alert status.

Ye Liuyun estimates that after a while he can once again target the Mineral Vein and medicinal herbs.

The Fire Seal Dynasty's Royal City is truly imposing, covering an area that amounts to one‑tenth of the entire planet, with outer and inner walls hundreds of zhang tall like a massive stone Great Wall; each day more than one hundred thousand soldiers patrol the outer and inner cities.

The outer city is dense with forests and even contains a vast area serving as the royal hunting grounds. The outer city also serves as the Imperial Guard and expeditionary army's headquarters, housing twenty thousand Imperial Guard troops defending the city and another twenty thousand reserve troops undergoing training.

Ordinary civilians are also stationed in the outer city, while the inner city consists of major households and powerful factions. The Chen family, Xu Dan Sect, and Wan Hua Sect each have their own territories here, facilitating contact with the dynasty. Even second‑tier forces like the He family and Fan family have a presence in the dynasty

as well.

The inner city's major taverns and inns are all pavilions and towers with carved beams and painted eaves. Practitioners of the Ninth Realm are very common here. Ye Liuyun estimates that if war breaks out, just these Ninth Realm strongmen could form a sizable army.

Seeing this, Ye Liuyun continually marvels at the Fire Seal Dynasty's strength.

"The Fire Seal Dynasty's power—without several decades, I couldn't topple it!"

Ye Liuyun thought of this and then checked Yu Xiaofeng and others' cultivation progress. Their realms have recently advanced to Dominant Ninth Realm and Dominant Ninth Realm Late Stage, so their progress is not slow.

Ye Liuyun also feels they should be given opponents of comparable realms to spar with, to hone their skills and solidify their cultivation.

"When there's time, go to the Iron Horn Star System and let them find some people to practice." He hasn't forgotten to find ways to boost the strength of these several Grand Presidents.

The Royal City's guards are lax and don't inspect passing Martial Cultivators. Ye Liuyun shapeshifted into the appearance of a wealthy young master to enter the city without drawing attention.

After entering the city, he went straight to a merchant guild called Holy Flame Tower, intending to buy a Royal City map to familiarize himself with the layout and then pick a residence.

A young woman named Qingyu came to receive Ye Liuyun.

"I am Qingyu, the attendant here. Whatever the young master commands, I can assist," Qingyu politely greeted Ye Liuyun.

"Then thank you for your effort, Miss Qingyu!" Ye Liuyun replied courteously, not refusing her.

"You seem unfamiliar, young master; how should I address you? You're from elsewhere, right?" Qingyu, noticing Ye Liuyun's distinguished aura, spoke politely, expression neutral, and guessed he wasn't an ordinary family's son, so she led him inside while chatting.

"My surname is Li, Qingyu, you have good eyes; how long have you been an attendant here?" Ye Liuyun chatted casually, surveying the merchant guild's layout.

The first floor of the guild houses ordinary resources, elixirs, weapons, treasures, and everyday items, nothing particularly special.

Qingyu, seeing his disinterest, felt secretly pleased. The higher the customer's taste, the more expensive the purchase, and her commission naturally rises.

She smiled and said to Ye Liuyun, "Young Master Li, I have been an attendant here for three years; I have no other skills, but I never forget a face."

Ye Liuyun nodded, assuming she was now quite familiar with the place.

He calmly told Qingyu, "Since you are familiar with this place, that's perfect. I'd like to buy a map first, learn the Royal City's layout, and choose a residence convenient for going out."