Chapter 3373
The demonic legions had not even used their firepower chariots. Even the cannon-fodder legion, which had been prepared to sacrifice itself, suffered very few casualties and still wiped out the demons completely. They also captured more than twenty thousand demons of relatively high cultivation realms.
With Xiao Heng and Li Zhaoyuan sealing off the area, the demons could not break out either. The ordinary demons could not even withstand the powerful crossbows, so there was no need to use the firepower chariots.
Jiang Yuanhai’s army advanced through the starry sky in a sweeping formation. Whenever they encountered a flying vessel, they blasted it apart with firepower chariots, after which the soldiers formed battle arrays and killed the demons that emerged. However, too many demonic flying vessels were rushing over, so their advance was relatively slow.
Only after Ye Liuyun’s demonic legions had finished clearing the battlefield, sorting through the resources, and reorganizing the prisoners did they send the prisoners back into the spatial world of his first clone to cultivate.
He then regrouped with Xiao Heng and Li Zhaoyuan, and together they pursued Jiang Yuanhai’s army ahead of them. After the armies joined forces, Xiao Heng and Li Zhaoyuan’s forces took turns replacing Jiang Yuanhai’s army. The two armies advanced alternately, while also using the demons to hone their skills.
Jiang Yuanhai’s army, meanwhile, began recuperating and gathering strength in preparation for a battle with the demonic army.
Ye Liuyun’s clone remained aboard one of the army’s warships, helping observe the situation among the demonic flying vessels ahead. From time to time, he would also intervene to capture the souls of some of the stronger demons.
Whenever they encountered a powerful expert, he would warn Xiao Heng and Li Zhaoyuan, then have the demonic beasts deal with them.
Along the way, they actually encountered two powerful experts in soul force whom the demons had sent over. In the end, both were killed by the combined efforts of several demonic beasts.
Every one of these demonic beasts possessed at least one powerful refined soul origin, and their other soul force was not weak either. Some had even cultivated two soul origins, so dealing with several demons possessing powerful soul force was well within their capabilities.
After their soul force grew stronger, even Vermilion Bird’s red-eyed illusion technique could control demons with only a single soul origin. As for the red eyes of the Demon Lion and Chi Lian, they worked unfailingly against demons without a soul origin.
Thus, the scattered demonic flying vessels were gradually driven back. They retreated to the outskirts of the Sacred Demon Star System and gathered there, with their numbers growing larger and larger.
Ye Liuyun could see them from far away with his Golden Eyes.
Moreover, his soul force was now stronger, and his divine sense could probe as far as five or six days away. He could see everything that happened within that range clearly, even without using his Golden Eyes.
Therefore, during this period, he did not return to the spatial world to speed things up. Instead, he practiced expanding the range of his divine sense outside, paying attention to the details of his probing and improving his ability to investigate.
If he did not pay attention to the details and merely conducted a rough investigation, he could detect things as far as ten days away.
The demonic patriarch Ao Feng had also sent an elder named Yu Lei, leading nearly thirty percent of the Red Demon clan’s members, to mingle among the demons outside the Sacred Demon Star System. They were preparing to take advantage of the chaos and attack Ye Liuyun again.
At present, at least a million demons had gathered outside the Sacred Demon Star System, forming a vast, pitch-black mass. By mingling among them, the Red Demons could use demonic aura to conceal the color of their scales and avoid being discovered by Ye Liuyun.
If Ye Liuyun did not make a move, they would take the opportunity to kill some commanders, which would at least clear away some obstacles for the great battle to come.
Ye Liuyun’s Golden Eyes were not obstructed by demonic aura, so he naturally spotted the Red Demons with their red scales. However, the Red Demons who had come this time were of varying cultivation realms, so he guessed that he was not the target of all of them.
Even so, before the battle began, he brought the demonic beasts out ahead of time and advanced with the army. As long as he appeared, he would become the focus of the demons’ attention, greatly reducing the likelihood that the army’s commanders would be attacked.
𝐟𝕣𝗲𝕖𝕨𝗲𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝗲𝚕.𝗰𝚘𝐦
However, during this battle, Ye Liuyun did not let the soldiers engage the demons in close combat at all. Instead, he had Xiao Heng and Li Zhaoyuan rely on their superior equipment, maintain their formation, and sweep straight through the demons.
As a result, the weaker Red Demons could not bring their advantage in soul force into play. Whenever anyone dared to release their soul and charge over, the soldiers would join forces to destroy it.
The demons roared, wailed, and cursed Ye Liuyun and the others for not daring to fight, but they paid no attention. Their own numbers were already small; if they used the battle to hone their skills and lost all their people, they would be unable to fight when facing the demonic army.
The demons who had originally hoped to use Ye Liuyun and the others to hone their skills had now completely lost hope. With no unified command, they were even less able to break through the blockade formed by the firepower chariots and powerful crossbows, and were slaughtered in a completely one-sided massacre.
The Red Demons led by Yu Lei mingled among the demonic ranks and kept retreating. Some Red Demons took advantage of the chaos to attack, but the souls of several with powerful soul force were intercepted by Vermilion Bird. After controlling them with illusions, she captured them and stuffed them into the Soul-Sealing Pearl.
Some were inexplicably dragged into the Soul-Sealing Pearl without ever seeing anyone. In fact, two invisible Black Tortoises had mingled among the army and were using their soul origins to capture some of the weaker souls Vermilion Bird had missed.
The other demonic beasts went to deal with attacks from those with weaker soul force, capturing some souls as they worked to ensure everything proceeded steadily.
Quite a few demons still launched soul attacks. In particular, demons struck by firepower chariots or hit by powerful crossbow bolts would fight desperately in their final moments, releasing soul attacks against the soldiers.
However, the soldiers could handle those with weaker soul force on their own.
Little Blue Ice, Lei Ming, and the Dragon Maiden worked as a group of three, using Soul-Fixing Pearls to help the soldiers resist many soul attacks. They could not even be bothered to drag weaker souls into the Soul-Sealing Pearl. They simply killed them outright, or Lei Ming devoured them directly.
Qiong Qi, the Nine-Headed Demon Dragon, and the Demon Lion worked as a group. Qiong Qi sealed the souls with a formation, after which the Nine-Headed Demon Dragon and the Demon Lion devoured them.
Only White Tiger, the Megalithic Ape, and Chi Lian temporarily remained at Ye Liuyun’s side instead of venturing out. Those two groups had actually been sent out by Ye Liuyun to draw the Red Demons’ attacks.
Their soul force was powerful, and each possessed some special abilities. As expected, they became the Red Demons’ main targets. Unfortunately, none of the souls released by those Red Demons ever returned.
Seeing that scattered attacks were ineffective, the demonic Mr. Yu Lei decisively changed tactics. He repeatedly roared, ordering all the demons to halt their attacks for the time being and let him command them as they prepared to launch a soul attack.
"Big Brother, this is bad! They’re going to launch a soul attack together!" Lei Ming could understand the demons’ roars and immediately informed Ye Liuyun.
"Everyone, fall back!" Ye Liuyun immediately called all the demonic beasts back to his side. Qiong Qi, meanwhile, hurriedly began setting up defensive formations.
Ye Liuyun then released the puppets and the Black-Armored Elite Soldiers. He had the puppets continue protecting the chariots, while the Black-Armored Elite Soldiers formed groups of ten and entered defensive formation platforms, preparing to defend against the soul attacks.
Xiao Heng and Li Zhaoyuan also received the warning. They immediately ordered the soldiers to take out defensive formation platforms, with more than ten soldiers entering each one.
Fortunately, they were all equipped with defensive formation platforms and reacted quickly. The defensive formation platforms were primarily designed to withstand physical attacks. They could not block a massive surge of soul force, but they could defend against individual soul attacks, which was still better than having nothing.