The Beast Tide Arrives

You'll find out later.

Lan Chang'an offered no explanation and led him to Small Pill Peak.

Ye Fei gazed at the serene and composed figure in white, suppressing his curiosity.

He had a hunch that this legendary, elderly Foundation Establishment cultivator must have had some deeper reason for choosing him.

Small Pill Peak is the highest main peak of Wuqi Mountain. It is majestic and beautiful, with clouds and mist swirling around its summit, creating a magnificent spectacle.

Ye Fei changed his lazy expression and carefully examined every plant and tree on the mountain.

His brows relaxed, he took a deep breath of the cool mountain air, and a slight smile appeared on his lips.

"The environment is nice."

The previous owner of Small Pill Peak was Second-Order High-Grade Alchemist, and the preserved garden architecture and layout met his needs.

Ye Fei immediately paid a deposit of Spirit Stone and signed Spirit Contract.

The formal co-tenancy Spirit Contract will have to wait until Shi Manrong returns and is signed in the presence of the cultivators from Golden Cloud Valley.

At the mountaintop, the two chatted for a while.

Lan Chang'an gained a better understanding of Ye Fei's situation.

Ye Fei is several decades younger than Lan Chang'an. He has had outstanding talent in pharmacology since childhood. Both of his parents are Rogue Cultivator in the Qi Refining Late-Stage, so his background is not bad.

After avenging his parents, Ye Fei wandered through various Marketplace and Immortal City for decades, mainly working in pharmacies and accepting employment from merchants.

In recent years, he has accumulated some savings and wants to find a stable and independent cultivation Dao Field. Wuqi Mountain is a good choice; the location is good, the rent for sharing is acceptable, and he can also earn Spirit Stone.

Ye Fei, as a pharmacist, can also refine pills, but his skill level is not as specialized as that of Alchemist of the same rank.

However, he is also skilled in treating illnesses, healing wounds, and detoxifying.

His abilities are quite comprehensive.

"Daoist Ye, are you familiar with the weapon refiner ' Kong Mao,' who competed with you before?"

Lan Chang'an thought of the black-bearded old man who had previously concealed his cultivation level.

"Fellow Daoist Kong Mao? I only have a casual acquaintance with him and know very little about him."

"Fellow Daoist Kong originally came from a Marketplace in the northern part of the Liang Kingdom, within the sphere of influence of the Floating Cloud Sect. More than ten years ago, the Marketplace where Fellow Daoist Kong lived was attacked by bandits and fell apart. He lost his place to stay and came to Yellow Dragon Immortal City. Over the years, he has been a diligent and unassuming cultivator."

"Oh."

Lan Chang'an nodded, not pressing the matter further.

Previously, he had learned that Kong Mao came from the area around Yellow Dragon Immortal City, and that he had actually come from the Marketplace on the north side of the Black Mist Mountain Range even earlier.

"Daoist Lu, I need to go back and pack my things, and purchase some resources."

Ye Fei stayed for half an hour before getting up to take his leave.

Lan Chang'an returned to Small Turtle Peak and fell into deep thought.

"Kong Mao's background is traceable, with no obvious flaws. However, although he appears to Foundation Establishment Early Stage, his true cultivation level is in the Foundation Establishment Late Stage."

The ultra-thin mask worn by Kong Mao was a treasure for disguise and impersonation, and his identity was likely being replaced.

Lan Chang'an had previously merged his mind with the Second Life of the Nine Imprint Tablet, amplifying his Divine Sense senses to the level of Core Formation True Person, which is why he noticed the clues.

At that time, he did not attempt to break through the mask artifact, otherwise the other party would have noticed.

Regardless of the circumstances, Kong Mao's attempt to compete for the Peak Master at Wuqi Mountain was definitely not well-intentioned.

Although he didn't become the Peak Master, he still managed to come in and find out the truth.

As far as Lan Chang'an was concerned, as long as the other party failed to sneak in, they posed no real threat.

Small Turtle Peak has a double Mountain Protection Array.

Lan Chang'an is Foundation Establishment Middle Stage cultivator, a second-tier senior Talisman Master, and possesses a mid-tier second-tier Spirit Pet.

Even just considering the obvious methods, they are no less capable than those in the Foundation Establishment Late Stage, and may even have a chance of winning.

Precautions are definitely necessary.

Lan Chang'an will increase the activation strength of the formations in Small Turtle Peak and the cave in the future, and the consumption of Spirit Stone will increase accordingly.

He also instructed Guan Qiaozhi not to leave Wuqi Mountain unless absolutely necessary. If there was anything to be done, she could instruct the Rogue Cultivator affiliated with the main peak to handle it.

Moon Empress.

Shi Manrong returned to Wuqi Mountain to help Ye Fei, who had officially settled there, set up Mountain Protection Array.

As the formation was being set up, Lan Chang'an observed from afar and noticed the significant progress Shi Manrong had made in her formation skills over the past few years, as well as her steady advancement in cultivation.

This may be related to joining Yellow Dragon Mountain.

After the formation was set up, Lan Chang'an sought out Shi Manrong to discuss matters.

"Fairy Shi, if the Beast Tide is large, some will inevitably slip through and break through the front lines, causing an impact on the surrounding areas. At that time, there may be petty villains taking advantage of the chaos."

Lu suggested strengthening the deployment of security formations in Wuqi Mountain.

The cost of a warning formation is not high; the main challenge lies in the skill of the formation master.

After a moment's thought, Shi Manrong agreed to Lan Chang'an's proposal.

Although Fairy Shi does not currently reside permanently on Wuqi Mountain, she still has spiritual assets cultivated over decades on Small Plate Peak, which are still managed by maids and servants.

Furthermore, her cooperation with Yellow Dragon Mountain is only temporary, and the future is uncertain, so she needs to have a backup plan.

In the following days, the Fairy Shi set up some hidden warning formations on Wuqi Mountain.

The expenses for setting up the formation were borne by the Three Peak Masters. Since it concerned their own safety, the newly arrived Ye Fei did not object.

Several more months passed.

The Foundation Establishment Deacon from Golden Cloud Valley arrived at Wuqi Mountain, Three Peak Masters renewed their co-tenancy Spirit Contract.

After completing these tasks, Shi Manrong immediately returned to Yellow Dragon Immortal City.

Lan Chang'an had a feeling that Yellow Dragon Mountain's high-stakes recruitment of Shi Manrong was not simply to deal with the Beast Tide.

A year later, Lan Chang'an turned 106 years old.

On this day, he completed his daily cultivation and nurturing of the Treasure Talisman.

They left the cave.

As always, he gazed Northern Region.

I could faintly sense an invisible, malevolent Sha Qi emanating from the ancient mountains to the north.

"They're here," Lan Chang'an murmured.

For the past six months, he has been observing the Northern Region, using his rudimentary Qi Observation Method from his Previous Life to determine the approximate stage of the Beast Tide.

Unlike Yellow Dragon Immortal City, Wuqi Mountain is located on the front line of the Beast Tide.

Its geographical location is some distance from the Black Mist Mountain Range, making it relatively safe.

Even so, Lan Chang'an remained vigilant and attentive.

Ten days later, news from the front lines reached Wuqi Mountain.

"Brother Lu, Beast Tide has broken out in the Black Mist Mountain Range. Yellow Dragon Immortal City and neighboring cultivation forces are under attack by the Demon Beast horde."

Guan Qiaozhi came over to report, her expression grave and urgent.

"Hmm, it won't affect us for now."

Lan Chang'an remained calm and composed.

The essence of the Beast Tide is that there are too many kinds of Demon Beast and their reproductive capacity is too strong for the Black Mist Mountain Range to support. The superior Demon Beast drive out some of the lower-level Demon Beast groups from the inside out.

The driven-out horde of Demon Beast, driven by an instinctive need for cultivation, will prioritize attacking Spirit Vein in human territory.

During the Beast Tide, high-level Demon Beast will secretly take control and attempt to expand their territory.

Tens of thousands of years ago, when the Demon Race race was at its most powerful, much of the Liang Kingdom's territory fell to the Demon Beast and became their domain.

Cultivators are also targets of attacks by hordes of Demon Beast.

The flesh and blood of ordinary mortals are not very attractive to Demon Beast, and their taste is generally unappealing.

However, the flesh and blood of cultivators, nourished by Spiritual Qi, are a rare tonic for Demon Beast, like a torch in the darkness.

The first month of the Beast Tide outbreak.

The major cultivation forces adjacent to the Black Mist Mountain Range were attacked by tidal waves of Demon Beast.

The first to be affected are forces like Yellow Dragon Immortal City and the Beast Taming Zhou Family. Their prosperity was due to the treasure land of the Black Mist Mountain Range, so they have experience in dealing with this.

These frontline forces are not fighting alone. Cultivation sects have issued missions, calling on their disciples to go to the front lines to hunt down Demon Beast.

There were also demon -Demon Cultivator who wanted to make a fortune from Demon Beast materials, and they eagerly arrived at the front line.

Besides guarding the city and hunting demons, cultivators of various arts and crafts can provide logistical supplies in exchange for higher rewards than usual.

The area around Wuqi Mountain remains calm and peaceful.

Lan Chang'an clearly noticed that more cultivators were coming to his door to buy Talisman.

Even first-tier Puppet have become best-selling items.

Ye Fei's Small Pill Peak storefront is newly built, and business is already quite good.

"Qiaozhi, starting tomorrow, the price of all Talisman and Puppet will increase by 20% to 30%."

Lan Chang'an handed a Jade Cylinder to Guan Qiaozhi.

During this special period, a larger supply volume will not attract attention.

The signs of Beast Tide appeared several years ago.

It's common for far-sighted artisans to stock up on "war supplies" in advance.

Lan Chang'an's price increase is relatively reasonable.

Although he didn't fight on the front lines, he provided supplies from the rear, which can be considered as contributing to human civilization.

Two more months passed.

News from the front lines indicates that the Beast Tide is of extraordinary scale; a Marketplace and two Foundation Establishment Realm cultivation Lineage have already been breached by the Beast Tide.

The prices of Talisman, elixirs, and Law Artifact artifacts on the market continue to rise.

Lan Chang'an's stockpile of mid-to-low-grade first-tier Talisman was being depleted.

Fortunately, he had enough stock on hand.

The materials for the Talisman were purchased in considerable quantities in Yellow Dragon Immortal City.

However, at this rate, the Talisman materials won't last long.

Lan Chang'an was not worried about this.

He believed that it wouldn't be long before a large amount of materials would be circulated from the front lines.

Moreover, Wuqi Mountain's geographical location makes it convenient to purchase supplies from frontline outposts such as Yellow Dragon Immortal City.

This day.

Guan Qiaozhi, who was outside the cave, cried out in alarm, her expression filled with fear.

A demonic wind swept across the sky above Wuqi Mountain.

The shadows of several demonic birds lingered among the clouds, staring at the Spirit Vein below.

The leading black demonic bird, with a wingspan of five or six zhang, was a second-tier early-stage demonic bird, while the other three were First-Order Late-Stage demonic birds.

"No need to panic. These are just a few that slipped through the net. It's easier for the demonic birds to bypass the front lines and enter the Liang Kingdom."

Lan Chang'an concealed his Law Power aura, telling the Earth Rock Rat not to show itself yet.

The Beast Tide will arrive in two or three months.

They had only just begun to spot the shadows of Demon Beast in these Spirit Vein of the rear.

The demonic bird attacked, and Small Pill Peak and Small Plate Peak, several miles away, activated their defensive formations.

Lan Chang'an was looking to collect some Talisman materials, but he hadn't fully activated the formation. The killing formation and defensive formation of Small Turtle Peak were only partially hidden.

Suddenly, a strong wind arose, and a sharp screech came from afar.

The leading second-tier black demonic bird fixed its sharp gaze on the Mystic Water Turtle by the Lotus Pond.

Four birds charged towards Small Turtle Peak.

The Mystic Water Turtle trembled, its eyes fixed on Lan Chang'an at the cave entrance, who ordered it to stay put.

Thump!

The Mystic Water Turtle sank into the water, leaving only its enormous shell exposed.

The leading second-tier black bird reached the mountaintop, its eyes showing vigilance, and suddenly stopped.

Wow!

Large waves of water surged around the mountaintop, while a phantom blue moon hovered in the sky above.

Centered on the illusory blue moon, a dark blue Water Curtain envelops the summit and caves of Small Turtle Peak, isolating them from the outside world.

This is Second-Order Middle-Grade killing formation set up by Shi Manrong at Small Turtle Peak, named "Illusion Moon Water Killing Formation".

Smack

Within the formation, a blue ripple emanating black light, resembling a twisted net, swept past several demonic birds.

The three First-Order Late-Stage demonic birds froze in mid-air, their bloodied corpses falling to the ground.

(End of this chapter)