After that, Ye Liuyun didn’t make another move. He had only wanted to test the extent of his power—there was no need to slaughter these ordinary soldiers.

Liu Yunyao was, of course, astonished by Ye Liuyun’s strength, but what shocked her even more was the demonic lion perched on her shoulder. Its large, round eyes blinked in admiration, so much so that it even forgot to collect the spoils of battle for a moment.

Liang Xue and the others fought for a while before retreating to the side, allowing those who needed combat practice to take over. The beasts, however, showed no such restraint—they slaughtered as many soldiers as they could, stockpiling food for later.

The only ones still actively engaged were a few women like A Xing, who were practicing large-scale attack techniques, and Liu Yunyao herself. Suddenly, she felt the vast gap between herself and these people. She needed to push herself harder, to train and fight more fiercely.

The demonic lion cheered her on, though its motivation was purely selfish—it wanted more spoils to hoard for its future cultivation resources.

In the end, both Liu Yunheng’s hundred thousand troops and the barbarian army of the same number were utterly annihilated.

Once the battle concluded, the demonic beasts swiftly began cleaning up the battlefield. Their efficiency suggested this was far from their first time handling such a scene.

Liu Yunyao stared at the aftermath—a hundred thousand soldiers wiped out—and couldn’t help but shudder. The destructive power of Ye Liuyun and his companions was terrifying. Forget a hundred thousand—even a million troops wouldn’t stand a chance against them.

"So? Did you gain much?" Ye Liuyun asked her with genuine interest.

"I’ve exhausted all the true essence in my storage stones, but my soul force has expanded significantly," Liu Yunyao replied honestly.

"Go to the clone’s spatial world to consolidate your soul force and recover your true essence. Once I’ve taken this Devil Beast world, I’ll bring you back to the palace," Ye Liuyun said.

"Aren’t you afraid Liu Yunheng will find out it was you who took all those planets?" Liu Yunyao cautioned.

"With his army gone, who would still believe him? If anyone asks you, just blame the barbarians—say they were responsible for everything. And that you’ve been cultivating in the palace the whole time, never leaving," Ye Liuyun instructed.

Soon after, everyone returned to the spatial world to train, and the clone swiftly absorbed the entire Devil Beast world. Then, using the Black Tower of Teleportation, Ye Liuyun returned to the palace with Liu Yunyao.

However, this time, after escorting her back, Ye Liuyun left again—heading south to claim uninhabited planets. He had no intention of wasting time idling in the palace with Liu Yunyao.

The last piece of news Liu Yunheng received was that the princess had recruited some formidable female allies, and his massive army was on the brink of total annihilation.

Then, all communication with his commanders and deployed formation masters was lost. The same happened with the barbarian forces—they reported being ambushed by trolls and demonic beasts, possibly linked to the nearby Monster Realm.

At first, Liu Yunheng refused to believe it. But when his entire army of a hundred thousand vanished without a trace, he was forced to accept their complete destruction. Furious, he immediately lodged a complaint with King Liulin.

However, when the king summoned Liu Yunyao for questioning, she was found deep in cultivation within the palace walls. She adamantly denied any involvement, insisting she hadn’t left the palace recently and accusing Liu Yunheng of false allegations.

At the same time, King Liulin received reports from frontline commanders claiming that a woman resembling the princess had slain several of their leaders and plundered military supplies.

This only deepened the king’s distrust of Liu Yunheng.

"Clearly, someone is impersonating Yunyao. You’ve made a mistake!" Liu Qianzhong concluded, dismissing Liu Yunheng outright. He then ordered the remaining forces to hunt down the martial artist masquerading as the princess.

In truth, it had been Ye Liuyun disguised as Liu Yunyao. After successfully diverting suspicion from her, he vanished without a trace, leaving no clues behind.

Liu Yunheng refused to believe Liu Yunyao was innocent—especially since that black-and-white demonic cat still perched on her shoulder. Even if his soldiers had lied about the battle, they couldn’t have imagined such a detail.

Outside the palace hall, he confronted her with a venomous glare. "Yunyao, you’ve played your hand well. Silently wiping out my hundred thousand troops—did you really think I’d let this go?"

"Fourth Brother, if you refuse to believe me, what can I do? But tell me—have you seen me step outside the palace gates all this time?" she countered.

This was the one detail that puzzled him. Still, he sneered, "One way or another, the truth will come out. A fox can’t hide its tail forever!"

"Ah, so now I’m the villain even when I’ve been secluded in cultivation? Couldn’t someone else be framing me?" she suggested pointedly.

"Hmph!" Liu Yunheng scoffed, pretending to ignore her insinuation. Yet the possibility of a setup did cross his mind—and the only one capable of such a scheme was likely the Sixth Prince, Liu Yunfei. 𝐟𝗿𝐞𝚎𝚠𝐞𝚋𝕟𝐨𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝕔𝕠𝚖

No matter what, both Liu Yunfei and Liu Yunyao were obstacles he needed to eliminate.

Now that his mighty army had been annihilated, he had to act swiftly—or risk losing his position entirely. Determined to eliminate Liu Yunfei and Liu Yunyao at all costs, he resolved to deploy every resource at his disposal.

Even if Liu Yunyao remained secluded within the palace, he would find a way to strike.

Thus, the royal capital was soon engulfed in a storm of bloodshed. First, several minor factions aligned with Liu Yunyao and Liu Yunfei were slaughtered to the last man. Then, the Sixth Prince’s assassination squads were ambushed repeatedly, suffering devastating losses.

Yet, no matter what chaos unfolded outside, Liu Yunyao remained as immovable as a mountain, quietly cultivating within the palace walls. Only the Sixth Prince retaliated against the Fourth Prince, striking back with lethal precision and eliminating some of his key followers.

Both sides scrambled to secure stronger alliances. Recently, the Fourth Prince had been frequenting the Lin residence, alternating between threats and bribes—even going so far as to promise marriage to Lin Xiaoxiao. His true aim, however, was to get close to her and seize control of her Level Two Dominator Brown Lion.

But Lin Xiaoxiao’s heart belonged solely to Ye Liuyun, leaving the Fourth Prince utterly ignored. Lin Fengzhi, too, held little faith in the Fourth Prince, viewing him as too tyrannical to ever rule wisely. Aware of the prince’s ulterior motives, Lin Fengzhi played along with hollow smiles and empty promises, unwilling to part with the prized beast.

Meanwhile, Liu Yunyao had long since orchestrated the bribery of Lin Moyu. Once jealous of Ye Liuyun, Lin Moyu now seethed as the Fourth Prince pursued Lin Xiaoxiao. Gradually, he realized Lin Fengzhi had never intended to betroth her to him—he had never been considered worthy.

Seizing an opportunity when the Fourth Prince visited the Lin estate again, Lin Moyu secretly fed the Brown Lion poisoned food. Accustomed to seeing him around its mistress, the beast suspected nothing and ate without hesitation.

By the time it realized it had been poisoned, it was too late. Before any beastmaster could intervene, the lion perished. The incident immediately reached Lin Fengzhi and the Fourth Prince, who were already in the midst of a tense discussion.

Suspecting the Fourth Prince’s hand in the poisoning, Lin Fengzhi’s distrust deepened. The prince, in turn, believed Lin Fengzhi had rather kill the lion than let it serve him—proof of outright hostility. Their meeting ended in bitter discord, leaving their alliance in ruins.