After discovering that the alien races of the Sacred Sword Galaxy had been annihilated by Ye Liuyun, Mo Tianheng wandered aimlessly, seizing small islands to cultivate his power. That was until he stumbled upon the Twin Dynasties Galaxy.

By now, his cultivation had advanced to the third level of Dominance, requiring the essence of entire worlds to sustain his progress. Moreover, refining his divine soul and bloodline demanded vast resources, prompting him to target inhabited planets.

Once, while harvesting the essence of uninhabited worlds, Ye Liuyun and Mo Tianheng had crossed paths—though neither noticed the other, both too engrossed in absorbing energy to bolster their strength.

In the Twin Dynasties Galaxy, Ye Liuyun had already claimed all the essence he could. He was merely biding his time, waiting for Liu Yunyao to ascend the throne before moving on.

These days, he rarely emerged, spending most of his time cultivating within the spatial realm of his avatar. On the rare occasions he fought, he deliberately avoided using his advance energy, relying instead on spatial power, temporal force, and blade intent to hone those skills.

As for advance energy, he conserved it as much as possible. The essence he had gathered in the Twin Dynasties Galaxy, combined with his previous reserves, would likely be depleted by the time Liu Yunyao claimed the throne.

Yet, the spoils of war against the barbarians provided ample food and cultivation resources for his demonic army. For their sake, he had no choice but to stay—at least for now.

Currently, Ye Liuyun and Mo Tianheng were nearly matched in strength.

Mo Tianheng’s rapid ascent, fueled by ruthless slaughter, had brought his power of bloodline, divine soul, cultivation realm, demonic energy, and even spatial abilities on par with Ye Liuyun’s. The only advantage Ye Liuyun still held was his mastery of temporal power—something Mo Tianheng remained unaware of.

Moreover, Ye Liuyun’s blade intent could now rival Mo Tianheng’s cosmic force, in addition to the radiant power of his Buddha-Demon fusion.

He also had two key allies—the Demon-Sealing Stele and the Demon Vine—both perfectly suited to counter Mo Tianheng. Beyond that, his companions had grown formidable: Lei Ming, Dragon Girl, and Liang Xue had all broken through to the third level of Dominance. Feng Hongxiu, the Nine-Headed Demon Dragon, and several other beasts were on the verge of breakthroughs, while giants like Hatu had already reached Dominance Tier Three. Against such odds, Mo Tianheng stood no chance.

Yet, Mo Tianheng knew none of this. When the barbarians reached out to him, he saw little difference between attacking them or the Willow Forest Dynasty. If he struck the latter, he could even extort extra resources from the barbarians—why not take the deal?

So he agreed, but not before demanding fifty units of world essence from the barbarians as payment, securing a hefty profit.

When he arrived at the barbarian tribes, they were just mobilizing an army of three hundred thousand to test Liu Yunyao’s defenses. Mo Tianheng joined their march to the battlefield.

Though Ye Liuyun rarely engaged in combat himself, he remained close to Liu Yunyao as her protector. Meanwhile, Lei Ming, Dragon Girl, and the other beasts fought relentlessly on the front lines.

These demonic beasts were all at the second or third level of the Dominator Realm, capable of slaughtering hordes of barbarian soldiers with their sheer physical strength alone, without even needing to tap into their true essence.

The moment Mo Tianheng appeared on the battlefield, Lei Ming spotted him and immediately alerted Ye Liuyun.

When Mo Tianheng saw the demonic beasts, he instantly recognized Ye Liuyun as his opponent. Yet instead of retreating, he ordered the barbarian army to fall back, clearing the battlefield for their duel.

As Ye Liuyun stepped forward, his golden pupils scrutinized Mo Tianheng, detecting the ancient demonic soul entwined within Mo Tianheng’s consciousness.

"Mr. Mo, it’s been a while!" Ye Liuyun greeted him cordially, though his mind was already racing with plans to help Mo Tianheng purge that demonic soul.

The combined spiritual power of the ancient demon and Mo Tianheng was now on par with Ye Liuyun and his doppelgänger’s combined strength—direct confrontation would offer no advantage.

"Ye Liuyun, I’ve finally found you!" Mo Tianheng, however, was far less courteous, his voice dripping with provocation. "I’ve been itching for a fight with you!"

Unfazed, Ye Liuyun glanced at the battlefield and said, "This place is too cramped. How about we take this to the void and go all out?"

Given their current power, a full-scale battle here would shatter the entire planet.

"Exactly what I was thinking!" Mo Tianheng agreed.

He suspected that if he fought Ye Liuyun here, those high-level demonic beasts wouldn’t stand idly by and let him kill their master.

With a nod, Ye Liuyun soared into the starry void, Mo Tianheng following close behind.

Lei Ming and the other beasts trailed at a distance, watching intently.

"What’s going on? Is that man really that strong?" Liu Yunyao asked, still unaware of the situation.

"That man’s cultivation level is on par with Young Master’s!" Lei Ming informed Liu Yunyao. "Stay here with the troops while we go check it out. Don’t worry—even if his realm is comparable, he’s no match for Young Master!"

After reassuring her, Lei Ming left her behind. Liu Yunyao couldn’t leave either, as the opposing force of three hundred thousand barbarian soldiers was still watching them like a pack of hungry wolves.

"Can you handle them?" Liu Yunyao asked Yu Xiaofeng and Qin Peng.

"No problem. Though without those elite fighters assisting us, our casualties might be higher," Yu Xiaofeng and Qin Peng confirmed.

"That’s fine. We can always replenish our ranks. Let them fight their battle, and we’ll fight ours—no need to interfere with each other, right?" Liu Yunyao sought Yu Xiaofeng’s opinion.

She felt that relying too much on Ye Liuyun didn’t showcase her true capabilities and wanted to test her own skills this time.

"Sounds good!" Yu Xiaofeng and Qin Peng agreed, immediately reorganizing their forces to charge at the barbarian army.

The barbarians didn’t back down either, engaging them head-on in brutal combat.

However, Yu Xiaofeng and Qin Peng were both master tacticians, and the Death Legion’s battle formations were highly refined. The difference in strength became obvious the moment the battle began—the barbarians stood no chance.

Barbarian soldiers typically wore no armor, making their defenses weaker, and they prioritized brute strength over disciplined formations. As a result, they were quickly overwhelmed by Liu Yunyao’s forces.

This time, Liu Yunyao didn’t fight alone. She led ferocious beasts like the Dragon-Elephant into battle, charging ahead of her troops under the protection of three Xuanwu demon beasts.

Meanwhile, Ye Liuyun and Mo Tianheng had already reached the void of space. Without wasting words, they immediately began probing each other’s strength.

At first, Ye Liuyun didn’t use his temporal powers or the Demon-Sealing Stele. He wanted to gauge Mo Tianheng’s current abilities, and Mo Tianheng shared the same intent—both held back in their initial exchanges.

Yet even a single clash of their energy sent shockwaves rippling down to the planet below, knocking ordinary soldiers off their feet.

"Impressive. Your energy is remarkably dense," Mo Tianheng remarked with an approving nod.

But Ye Liuyun remained silent. That brief exchange had already revealed to him that the quality of Mo Tianheng’s energy was far inferior.