Chapter 3538: Pressuring the City Lord

Ye Liuyun discovered that although the golden egg absorbed energy very quickly, its growth speed was slow. Moreover, it seemed that the larger it became, the slower its energy absorption speed became.

After feeding the golden egg a Primordial Power, its energy absorption speed slowed considerably. Nevertheless, even slowed, it was still much faster than before.

"It seems the more energy it lacks, the faster it absorbs. So I might as well absorb more to test if that's the case!"

Ye Liuyun thought of this and resumed his cultivation.

This time, he refined all the energy into his Divine Core, also increasing its mass somewhat.

As his Divine Core's mass increased, his realm immediately broke through. Moreover, the energy needed to expand and repair his meridians could be directly supplied by the golden egg, so this breakthrough carried no sense of danger.

His realm smoothly advanced to the early stage of the Taixu Fourth Layer. Furthermore, the energy needed to consolidate his realm after the breakthrough was also entirely supplied by the golden egg.

After he finished consolidating his realm, the golden egg had shrunk to about half its original size. Moreover, because he gave it no resources during his cultivation, it had almost drained the entire Lone Peak Mountain dry, with all the trees on the mountain withering.

Ye Liuyun did not immediately produce resources for it to absorb, but wanted to see if it could still draw energy from there. Soon, his Golden Pupil detected that the golden egg was drawing energy from the planet's Primordial Power.

"Damn! This guy really dares to do that!"

Ye Liuyun immediately produced several Primordial Powers for it to absorb, fearing it would drain the planet's Primordial Power dry.

However, he finally understood the golden egg's trait: after shrinking, it absorbs energy even more voraciously. Moreover, it will keep absorbing anything without stopping until it returns to its original size.

Ye Liuyun guessed this was also why the Flower Python never drained it in one go, fearing that draining this place would attract others' attention.

Thinking this, he also felt he should leave, lest the changes to Lone Peak Mountain draw others' attention.

However, he dared not keep the golden egg in his own Space World, so he summoned Chen Qinan to store the golden egg in the Space World, to retrieve it when needed.

Of course, he also didn't let the golden egg drain his Space World; instead, he gave him plenty of resources for the egg to absorb first, to discuss later when resources ran low.

Afterwards, Ye Liuyun then stored Chen Qinan in the Space World and returned to Gu Feng Cheng with a host of Monster Beasts.

The fierce beasts he had subdued—Black Panther, Golden Lion, White Wolf, and Ox Lion—were all stored in his Space World, with no need to display them.

He kept only a Qingshe at his side, letting it shrink and coil around his arm to conceal his realm. An Eighth Realm Qingshe also carried deadly poison, sufficient to handle ordinary dangers in Gu Feng Cheng.

Ye Liuyun's final realm breakthrough and cultivation took over ten days; adding prior battles and training, he had been away from Gu Feng Cheng for nearly a month.

The Martial Cultivators in the city thought he wouldn't return. But recently someone noticed Gu Feng Shan had changed color—from deep green when viewed afar to now a yellowish earth tone.

Many speculated it might be related to Ye Liuyun and his group, but before they could investigate, Ye Liuyun and company returned.

When Ye Liuyun and his group returned, they used a Sixth Tier Flying Boat, fearing that changes to Gu Feng Shan would alert City Lord Gan Lin and cause them to flee prematurely.

With this hastened return, even if Gan Lin couldn't confirm that Gu Feng Shan's changes were linked to Ye Liuyun, even if he could, there would be no time to escape.

After Ye Liuyun and his group returned, they headed straight for the Chengzhu Fu, drawing many city Martial Cultivators to gather and watch.

Outside the Chengzhu Fu, Ye Liuyun directly produced a Seventh Realm Flower Python to show the Martial Cultivators, making it impossible for City Lord Gan Lin to deny responsibility. The Flower Python's massive body and unique floral markings clearly marked it as from Gu Feng Shan.

The Martial Cultivators immediately guessed that the changes to Gu Feng Shan might have been caused by Ye Liuyun and his group.

City Lord Gan Lin's expression also shifted, and he promptly changed his attitude, greeting them with a smile and inviting them into the manor to talk.

Ye Liuyun, however, directly refused and demanded the reward on the spot.

"City Lord Gan, we don't need to go inside and sit; let's settle here, so everyone can bear witness. We're merely mercenaries working for pay; the City Lord need not be courteous to us small fry. Now that the mission is complete, the City Lord surely won't be unable to produce the reward?"

"How could that be? I can definitely produce the reward, but your mission was completed too suddenly—thirty Primordial Powers is no small amount; I need a little time to gather them. Why don't you wait in the hall a moment while I fetch the resources?"

Gan Lin was desperately trying to get Ye Liuyun to enter the manor, so as to delay and shirk responsibility.

But Ye Liuyun would have none of it, loudly declaring: "City Lord, the rule for mercenary missions is to turn in the task and receive the reward. You posted the task yet claim you're unprepared—isn't that against the rules?"

"However, out of respect for your position as City Lord, I'll give you a half‑day extension. If after that you still can't come up with the money, don't blame us for being impolite!"

After saying that, Ye Liuyun had the mercenaries sit and rest right in front of the Chengzhu Fu, not entering at all. He also tossed the Seventh Realm Flower Python before the manor's gate, leaving it there so everyone could see he had completed the mission while the Chengzhu Fu failed to produce payment.

For a moment, the entire city's Martial Cultivators were stirred, and the crowd gathering here grew ever larger.

"If the City Lord can't come up with the money, do you think Ye Liuyun might just strike him down and take over as City Lord himself?"

"Who knows? The Wolf Hunt Mercenary Corps has wiped out several mercenary bands, killed Ding Yuantang, and fought Ouyang He to a draw—what wouldn't they dare do?"

"He certainly would—otherwise how could he cause such a commotion! We're just waiting to watch the excitement and see the City Lord change."

"Quite right—this City Lord intended to entrap people with a mission, but ended up trapping himself! He deserves it; let's see how he gets out of this."

City Lord Gan Lin was now helpless. He hadn't expected Ye Liuyun to return, let alone with so many others.

"Um, Captain Ye, could we discuss extending the time a bit more?" He could only put on a thick‑skinned face and negotiate with Ye Liuyun.

Ye Liuyun gave him no reply, instead releasing Cheng Huofeng and shouting: "Cheng Huofeng, how many people died in our expedition, and what were their realms?"

"Boss, we lost eight men this time—four at the Sixth Layer, four at the Fifth Layer, including Jiang Hu and Chang Hai, among others!" Cheng Huofeng also shouted loudly, evidently addressing the crowd.

Recently, garbled encoding has been severe, motivating us to update faster; please tap to exit reading mode. Thanks.