Chapter 3174

Military authority—I definitely won't hand it over; that wouldn't be a wasted effort! Besides, the dynasty doesn't lack your troops; as long as you don't move against the dynasty, what good is your military authority to you?

The so-called restriction is merely to let you keep attacking those star systems; otherwise, with so many troops in your hands, you'd have to attack star systems to gain resources anyway—it's all the same.

Fine then; anyway I definitely won't give the dynasty a chance to swallow my troops. But after I agree to you, once you obtain the Ford Bridge Star System, what's in it for me? Ye Liuyun then discussed terms with Jiang Yunmo.

First help me clear the Ford Bridge Star System; resources and troop sources will be yours. I'll plan the reconstruction, and the reconstructed forces will be mine. I'll then allocate a dedicated planet for you to station troops, which you can handle as you wish—how does that sound? Jiang Yunmo suggested.

Ye Liuyun thought the suggestion wasn't a loss for him; he just needed to always guard against the Fire Seal Dynasty.

"I have no objection. But aren't you afraid that once you strengthen your own power, Jiang Yuntian will turn against you?" Ye Liuyun reminded her.

"At least not for now. The Fire Seal Dynasty has never had a queen before, so he wouldn't think I'd contend for power with him. By then those princes will come to win me over, and our chances will actually be greater!"

Jiang Yunmo, in Ye Liuyun's presence, certainly wouldn't hide his ambition.

"Alright then, I agree. Go ahead and handle it!" Ye Liuyun also confirmed. No matter what happens later, first get the resources in hand.

"How many troops should I report? When the dynasty allocates resources to you, they'll send people to verify the numbers." Jiang Yunmo asked Ye Liuyun.

"Just report a hundred thousand!" Ye Liuyun confirmed.

Thus Jiang Yunmo applied to the dynasty for a force of a hundred thousand.

Soon the dynasty agreed to Jiang Yunmo's request, and Ye Liuyun's dynasty troops were now considered part of the dynasty's establishment.

However, after Ye Liuyun finished his cultivation and emerged, he found that Xiao Heng had exhausted all the reinforcement troops; now only the fifty thousand soldiers he had selected remained.

He thought, and realized that before the dynasty's resource delivery personnel arrived, he still had roughly three plus months.

So he took out a transmission talisman and directly asked Jiang Yuntian: "Only Jiang Yunmu remains; do we still need to fight him?"

Jiang Yuntian had finally waited for his reply, but seeing Ye Liuyun not mention returning his soldiers, he directly asked: "What about my troops?"

"They were used up in the battle with Jiang Yunfei's army!" Ye Liuyun blurted out a random excuse.

"All dead? Then where did your reported hundred‑thousand troops to the dynasty come from?" Jiang Yuntian certainly didn't believe it and directly questioned him.

"There's still time; just round up some reinforcement troops and that'll be enough!" Ye Liuyun laughed.

"Hmph, you want to absorb Jiang Yunmu's troops as well to make up a hundred thousand, right? Then why bother me? Want me to fund you while you go recruit troops? You've taken all the advantages!" Jiang Yuntian also directly exposed Ye Liuyun's intention.

Ye Liuyun calmly said: "Suit yourself! I merely still have time now. Once the dynasty's resources are issued, I'll have to advance according to the dynasty's demands, and then I won't have time to help you deal with Jiang Yunmu. You figure it out!"

"As for the troop numbers, if you don't want me to go after Jiang Yunmu, I'll just round up some people from nearby planets to make up the count."

Having said that, he put down the transmission talisman and waited for Jiang Yuntian's decision.

Although Jiang Yuntian also hated Ye Liuyun for swallowing his troops, he was more rational; he knew the lost soldiers could never be recovered.

After calming down, he felt it was still best to continue cooperating with Ye Liuyun. His elite forces had suffered considerable losses, and taking on Jiang Yunmu himself would be tough; it would be better to provide some resources and let Ye Liuyun deal with Jiang Yunmu as well.

That way, dealing with those princes later would be much easier, and his position would be more secure.

As for Ye Liuyun, although he now appears the biggest winner, his troops have already submitted to the dynasty, so he will surely have a chance to retaliate later.

This Ye Liuyun who caused him such a loss will surely be sought out for repayment sooner or later.

"Hmph, let you be smug for a while; later I'll settle the score slowly."

Jiang Yuntian thought that over, immediately made his decision, and sent Ye Liuyun some more resources, also giving him Jiang Yunmu's coordinates.

Ye Liuyun merely smiled, accepted the resources, and also had Jiang Yunmo transfer additional resources from the Holy Fire Chamber of Commerce.

The Holy Fire Chamber of Commerce lies within the Royal City, making it easy for the dynasty to control. Since his future with the dynasty and Jiang Yunmo is uncertain, he thought it best to make as much use of it as possible.

After receiving these resources, Ye Liuyun immediately gathered everyone into the Space World and, via the Black Tower's transmission, set out to find Jiang Yunmu.

As before, he cautiously transmitted to a distant location, confirmed there was no ambush, then rushed toward Jiang Yunmu's army.

As soon as his troops appeared, Jiang Yunmu already guessed it was him coming.

He also received the news, knowing that the armies of Jiang Yunyang and Jiang Yunfei had been destroyed one after another; although he wasn't sure if it was related to the Great Prince, he still went straight to negotiate with Ye Liuyun.

Ye Liuyun also didn't expect that Jiang Yunmu would dare come to negotiate with only a guard detachment.

"Fourth Prince, your courage is indeed not small; aren't you afraid I'll act against you?" he curiously asked Jiang Yunmu.

"You wouldn't dare kill a prince; otherwise Jiang Yunyang and Jiang Yunfei wouldn't have returned alive to the dynasty." Jiang Yunmu said confidently.

Ye Liuyun hadn't expected, but this time his guess was quite accurate.

However, he also wanted to hear what Jiang Yunmu wished to discuss, so he also directly asked: "Well then, speak—what do you want to talk about when you came to find me?"

Seeing Ye Liuyun not refute, Jiang Yunmu wore an expression of "as expected"; since Ye Liuyun didn't dare kill him, he had nothing to fear, so his attitude toward Ye Liuyun became arrogant.

"I ask you: did you attack me at the behest of the Great Prince?" he questioned Ye Liuyun from a superior position.

Ye Liuyun looked at him and suddenly laughed.

"What are you laughing at?" Jiang Yunmu asked, puzzled, while also wondering in his heart whether he had guessed wrong, feeling an ominous premonition.

Ye Liuyun didn't respond to him; instead he directly froze time, then drew his blade and slaughtered the entire guard escort accompanying Jiang Yunmu, and also released the Magic Vine.

After time returned to normal, Jiang Yunmu discovered that the guards behind him had all been cleaved in two and collapsed in heaps; suddenly a black‑faced youth appeared before him, staring at him with greedy eyes.

Immediately, the black‑faced youth's hands turned into thorn‑covered vines that wound toward Jiang Yunmu, and extended vines to devour the corpses on the ground.