Chapter 3263: Capturing the Leader

The warship was instantly blasted and stopped right away.

Another Imperial Guard warship also detected the anomaly here, stopped on the spot, and ordered its soldiers to disembark and form a line.

Ye Liuyun temporarily ignored them, merely having the black‑armor elite troops surround the blasted warship and keep bombarding it, killing as many escaping soldiers as possible.

When another squad of golden‑armor Imperial Guard arrived, Ye Liuyun released Xiao Heng's massive army to intercept them, and also sent a stealthy Black Tortoise ferocious beast to kill the Leader of their army.

Before the two sides even began fighting, the Leader of that Imperial Guard was slain by the Black Tortoise ferocious beast, followed by the Deputy Leader and several ten‑thousand‑man unit Leaders falling in succession, and even the escort squad could not locate the beast.

The entire golden‑armor Imperial Guard instantly fell into chaos. Moreover, they were never a match for Xiao Heng's army, and soon their formation was shattered and they were surrounded by Xiao Heng.

At this moment, the army that had been on guard against a sneak attack also received a distress signal from the Imperial Guard; though they knew time was certainly insufficient, they still rushed here.

They were actually only a day's travel away, but now both Imperial Guard forces were already surrounded, and a single day was enough for Ye Liuyun to wipe them out.

Under the fierce assault, the two Imperial Guard contingents soon could not hold out, and the remaining soldiers began to surrender.

By the time that army arrived, Ye Liuyun had already subjugated the surrendered troops and cleared the battlefield. Xiao Heng's hundred‑thousand army and the black‑armor elite troops were already waiting for them.

The Leader, seeing Ye Liuyun at the front of the massive army, became eager to test himself.

He is the Fortune King Jiang Yuanhai of the Fire Seal Dynasty; after years of leading troops in campaigns, he is also a warmonger, with very rich combat and command experience.

His army, likewise battle‑hardened, is far stronger than the Imperial Guard's fighting power.

"Very well, since we've met, let's have a duel!"

Jiang Yuanhai had also heard of Ye Liuyun's abilities; upon seeing his army's formation, he knew the opponent was no pushover. So he wanted to spar with Ye Liuyun to see who was stronger.

However, Ye Liuyun had never intended to risk his life here. The strongest power he possessed was limited; once it's spent now, he won't be able to fight future battles.

So he immediately employed Time Power, froze time, and rushed forward, to

plant Slave Seals on Jiang Yuanhai and several strong individuals.

Beside Jiang Yuanhai were a few soldiers with strong Divine Soul Power, who managed a slight reaction under Ye Liuyun's Time Power. Yet Ye Liuyun still rushed to plant Slave Seals on them first, subjugating them.

These soldiers with powerful Divine Soul Power dislike wearing defense Spiritual Soul Attack artifacts, precisely to lure others into attacking their Sea of Consciousness. Thus Ye Liuyun's initial control over them was relatively easy.

Then he began targeting several Leaders. When his Time Power was nearly exhausted, he ran back to his own army's formation and ordered the attack.

Suddenly, all Leaders of Jiang Yuanhai's army vanished. Without command, even the strongest army could not withstand the assault of Ye Liuyun's black‑armor elite troops.

At this point, Ye Liuyun also released Jiang Yuanhai and the other Leaders, urging the soldiers to surrender and stop throwing themselves into death.

Thus, after only a short fight, Jiang Yuanhai's army began to surrender; some strong Martial Cultivators, unwilling to follow Jiang Yuanhai into a suicide mission for Ye Liuyun, fled on their own before the encirclement was complete.

Ye Liuyun did not chase them, merely taking away the surrendered soldiers and immediately returning to his own army.

Fire Seal King Jiang Yuantang was also extremely frustrated at this moment. All three hundred‑thousand armies had their Leaders killed or captured first, reminding him that he must strengthen protection of army Leaders in the future, lest Ye Liuyun exploit the gaps again.

But Ye Liuyun's method of killing or capturing those Leaders was unclear to him; he even thought the two stealthy Black Tortoise ferocious beasts were responsible.

Therefore, he sent to the army gathering point many strong Martial Cultivators with high Divine Soul Power, Spatial Power, and Heavenly Earth, tasking them with protecting the Leaders of each army; he even dispatched some ferocious beasts, hoping they would detect the scent of approaching beasts and warn in advance.

After Ye Liuyun returned to his base, he found a Xingqiu for Jiang Yuanhai, returned his former soldiers to him for reorganization and defense, and allowed him to freely travel to other Xingqiu to recruit troops and replenish manpower.

Jiang Yuanhai's command ability and his soldiers' combat prowess are not weaker than those of other Leaders, so Ye Liuyun's side gained an additional strong fighting force.

However, his troops now number only a little over seventy thousand, with many high‑realm soldiers having fled, so his corps' combat power is far below his

previous level.

The surrendered over one hundred thousand golden‑armor Imperial Guard were also given a Xingqiu by Ye Liuyun to guard.

Although each of these Imperial Guard's individual combat abilities were not weak, they had not fought for a long time, making them of limited use in the field; they could only serve for defense or provide manpower to other armies.

When Ye Liuyun's Leaders or Jiang Yuanhai needed troops, they could go to the golden‑armor Imperial Guard and directly recruit soldiers. After all, the Imperial Guard are Ninth Realm Martial Cultivators; after a bit of training, they are certainly more effective than lower‑realm soldiers.

Jiang Yuanhai was also unabashed, directly recruiting the highest‑realm thirty thousand soldiers; Ye Liuyun didn't object. Now he is a Leader under his own command, and the stronger the army, the more advantageous it is for him, so he doesn't mind the source of troops.

He also replaced all of Jiang Yuanhai's army's armor with true‑tier ninth‑grade armor, boosting their defense.

Ye Liuyun and his clone incorporated the scouts and sword‑cultivating Martial Cultivators they captured into the black‑armor elite troop corps to replenish personnel losses.

While the Fire Seal Dynasty still needed time to gather its armies, they were all hurrying to prepare for battle and recuperate.

Yu Xiaofeng, after talking with Jiang Yuanhai and learning much about the Fire Seal Dynasty's army, returned and discussed with Ye Liuyun: "The Fire Seal Dynasty's army is far stronger than we anticipated…" (full content).

Ye Liuyun, before Yu Xiaofeng could finish, proactively suggested: "How about I capture more army Leaders? We also have several surrendered troops on some Xingqiu here who need Leaders to command them."

Yu Xiaofeng laughed: "Only you know exactly what I'm thinking. However, the Fire Seal Dynasty may have already set traps waiting for you; you must be fully prepared, and retreat immediately if it doesn't work—under no circumstances take the risk."

"I understand, don't worry; I won't be careless at a time like this!" Ye Liuyun solemnly nodded, also bringing a clone to cooperate with him, lest a single person's Time Power be insufficient.

He piloted a void‑tier Flying Boat, rushing toward the Fire Seal Dynasty's army gathering point.

The Fire Seal Dynasty's army gathering point is on a Xingqiu near the Ferry Bridge Xing Xi; the area is riddled with formations, and the entire Xingqiu has activated a Defense Array, making entry far from simple.