Lord of All Gods

During this time, Ye Liuyun also constantly took the demonic beasts into battle, stockpiling resources for soul cultivation. He converted them all into soul essence and stored it for everyone, distributing quite a lot of it among the female soldiers and the Death Legion as well.

As for the surplus soldiers from the demon clan and the prisoners subdued later, there were still more than 1.6 million of them in total.

Black Mountain and the Tiger-Headed Beast King were ruthless indeed. After borrowing the Soul Refining Cauldron from Ye Liuyun, they dragged the souls of all 1.6 million surplus demon soldiers into it and refined them during the three months after leaving the Sacred Demon Star System. Their corpses were all used as food and cultivation resources for the other 500,000 troops.

As a result, the 500,000-strong demon army not only strengthened their soul power but also gained ample food and cultivation resources. Ye Liuyun was able to supply them with sufficient equipment as well.

As for the Sacred Demon Star System, nearly all of its experts had been killed or wounded in this battle, and its armies had suffered losses of six or seven million soldiers. It no longer had the strength to wage wars everywhere and could only develop quietly within its own star system.

"As expected of the demon clan. They're truly ruthless when it comes to dealing with their own people!"

"The demon clan understands the principle of survival of the fittest better, after all!"

Ye Liuyun, Yu Xiaofeng, and the other commanders were all deeply shocked by Black Mountain's actions.

They were also inspired by it and felt that they still weren't ruthless enough when training their troops.

After that, whenever they encountered a planet that needed to be fought over, they deployed the Death Legion and the female soldiers, letting them gain experience alongside Jiang Yuanhai's and Xiao Heng's armies. The demon army, meanwhile, entered a period of rest and recuperation as a whole.

Later, they encountered several star systems with somewhat lower cultivation levels, and each time they had the Death Legion fight on its own and temper itself through constant battles.

In the end, only 50,000 members of the Death Legion remained. However, all of them had advanced to the late stage of the seventh level of the Guiyi Realm. Only 5,000 female soldiers remained as well, but all of them had reached the peak of the ninth level of the Guiyi Realm. Jiang Yuanhai's army was reduced to just over 80,000 soldiers, all of whom had also reached the peak of the ninth level of the Guiyi Realm.

Ye Liuyun then ordered the army to stop, feeling that he needed to reorganize it before breaking through to the Taixu Realm.

Then he announced an important decision: the army would be disbanded!

First, he passed the Taixu Qi Refining Formula on to all the soldiers, including the former Black-Armored Elite Soldiers. These soldiers had followed Ye Liuyun through countless battles, so giving them the Taixu Qi Refining Formula could also be considered a reward for their service.

Afterward, Ye Liuyun announced that he would rebuild the Death Legion and lead the army into the Taixu World. Those willing to continue fighting alongside him could stay, while those who were unwilling could leave immediately. He would provide them with suitable warships and flying vessels based on the number of people leaving and the directions in which they intended to go.

Everyone who left only needed to sign a confidentiality contract promising not to reveal any information about the Death Legion. Their previous loyalty contracts would then be canceled on the spot, and they would be free from then on.

As soon as the news came out, the entire army erupted.

𝘧𝘳𝘦ℯ𝓌𝘦𝒷𝘯𝑜𝑣𝘦𝓁.𝒸𝘰𝓂

Some of them had been captured before and forced to sign loyalty contracts. Now that they could leave and had also obtained a cultivation method that could help them break through to the Taixu Realm, they were naturally delighted.

Others thought more carefully and felt that the Death Legion guaranteed them access to resources. With the Death Legion being so powerful, their future prospects certainly wouldn't be poor.

Besides, no one knew what the Taixu World was like. If they broke through on their own and went there, only to be treated as lowly commoners, they might as well continue following Ye Liuyun.

Ye Liuyun had always treated his subordinates well, so many people were unwilling to leave.

As for the female soldiers and the former members of the Death Legion, they absolutely would not leave. The members of the Death Legion had grown accustomed to following Ye Liuyun and trusted him even more.

The female soldiers, in particular, had set their hearts on Ye Liuyun. Yue Ying especially would never leave him.

Jiang Yuanhai, Xiao Heng, Li Zhaoyuan, and the other commanders each had their own thoughts.

After making his announcement, Ye Liuyun did not try to persuade a single person to stay. He did not even attempt to retain the soldiers of the Black-Armored Elite Soldiers Corps, leaving them all to make their own decisions.

In truth, he did not care how many people followed him. As long as they were willing, one willing person was worth more than a thousand unwilling ones.

The martial artists who had been captured before had already served him considerably. By compensating them with the Taixu Qi Refining Formula, they could consider matters settled between them.

Even if everyone left after the army was disbanded, Ye Liuyun would still have the demon army to rely on in future battles.

Yu Xiaofeng and the others, however, appeared more nervous than Ye Liuyun, worried that all the soldiers would leave.

"It's fine. At worst, we can recruit soldiers after we get there. The same goes for you guys. You don't have to follow me to the Taixu World. You can go out and make your own way in the world."

Ye Liuyun took it all in stride and even comforted Yu Xiaofeng and the others.

Yuan Hao, in particular, had originally been captured by Ye Liuyun after having a slave mark placed on him. Although they had always gotten along well, Ye Liuyun did not want to force anyone to stay.

Once they reached the Taixu World, their contracts would be dissolved anyway, so there would be no point in forcing anyone to remain.

He treated even the demonic beasts at his side the same way. The same was true of the Tang family disciples. Whether they wished to continue following him or venture out on their own, Ye Liuyun had no objections.

A day later, the soldiers in the military camp began to take action as well. Those who wished to leave began departing the camp and gathering outside so that Ye Liuyun could provide them with flying vessels and warships according to their numbers and destinations.

Ye Liuyun did not take back the weapons or armor of the departing soldiers. He had no shortage of such things now, so he simply gave them to the soldiers.

To Ye Liuyun's surprise, Jiang Yuanhai actually wanted to follow him. He felt that only by following someone like Ye Liuyun would he have better prospects.

Xiao Heng and Li Zhaoyuan were both worried that the star systems they came from were too weak, so they wanted to return and shoulder the responsibility of protecting them. They explained themselves to Ye Liuyun, who merely encouraged them before letting them leave. He even specially allocated a flying vessel to them.

The two of them also took some of their subordinate soldiers with them to help out. Ye Liuyun had no objections.

The commanders, including Yu Xiaofeng and Yuan Hao, all stayed. Not a single soldier from the Death Legion left. This greatly comforted Ye Liuyun and filled him with gratitude.

Not a single Devil Beast left, either. As for the Tang family disciples, Tang Hao led them out to gain experience under Tang Xinyao's arrangement because they felt that Ye Liuyun had protected them too well.

However, Tang Xinyao, Li Xinran, and Luo Yu stayed behind and joined Ye Tiandao's female soldiers.

Ye Liuyun even asked Tang Xinyao, "Aren't you going with them to keep an eye on them?"

Tang Xinyao merely smiled. "They're grown adults already. Do they still need me watching over them? Or do you think I'm a burden and want to get rid of me?"

"Of course not! I couldn't be happier to have you stay!" Ye Liuyun hurriedly explained.

"Xinyao stayed because of you, Big Brother! Why don't you accept Xinyao too?" Lei Ming said mischievously from the side.

The women had long since seen that Tang Xinyao was in love with Ye Liuyun, but no one had pointed it out. Lei Ming and the Dragon Maiden were often at Ye Liuyun's side, so they could naturally tell as well that Tang Xinyao looked at Ye Liuyun differently from everyone else.