Before, Yu An had already formed some guesses about the Town Protection Divine Ability. It was probably something along the lines of "first comes fate, second comes luck, third comes feng shui."
But all this time, he had thought the Town Protection Divine Ability mainly affected the house or sheltered its descendants, and was of no use to him. He had never truly taken it seriously.
But was that really the case?
As a Divine Ability that came with him the moment he awakened, it clearly couldn't be that simple.
Infer the cause from the result.
In the early days of the Black Annihilation Wind Disaster, he had managed to grasp a sliver of its hidden secrets and refine the mysterious aura—Qi of Creation—strengthening his life essence.
Had fortune played a part in that process?
The three Yu brothers had traveled a great distance to reach the Blessed Land. Yu An didn't know what they'd encountered or experienced on the way, so he wouldn't speculate.
But what about Old Man Yu?
Had he been affected?
Did the juice Zhao Kun had brought over from the Corpse Stench Devil Plant count?
Especially now that Yu An had absorbed the juice, which had spread throughout his body and begun to take effect.
That was proof enough that he had benefited, too.
Even if all these things were partly coincidence, or due to other factors.
How, then, could he explain the wild beast that had fled into Old Man Yu's house?
Beasts like this usually had sharper instincts.
It didn't know the Town Protection Divine Ability existed, let alone what it did. But driven by its instinct to survive, it might have felt that running this way and hiding here would be safer, and help it escape the crisis.
So instead of approaching Yu An, who was giving off the stench of the Corpse Stench Devil Plant, it had hidden in Old Man Yu's room.
Because it believed that would be safer.
That was also why it hadn't damaged Old Man Yu's house.
After all, to protect a home meant to keep it safe and secure.
Yu An had now grown to Juvenile Stage Two, and after refining the Qi of Creation, his life essence had nearly doubled. This had also greatly strengthened his Divine Abilities.
The Fate-Bonding Divine Ability's interval had shrunk from ten years to five.
The Town Protection Divine Ability had improved from a slight boost to a modest one.
Whether the boost was slight or modest, it was hard to measure with any exact numbers.
But the Fate-Bonding Divine Ability offered a useful comparison: its effectiveness had doubled.
That meant his Town Protection Divine Ability was now powerful enough to have a much stronger effect.
Especially since he didn't need to deliberately activate it. It worked naturally. As long as he was rooted in Old Man Yu's home, it remained active at all times.
In ways unseen, it continually improved the fortune of the home and sheltered its descendants.
Was this Divine Ability really so simple?
In some ways, it was even more important than the Fate-Bonding Divine Ability. And when bound to a Lineage and attuned to a Blessed Land, its effects would only become more terrifying.
It was no wonder it had been among the first Divine Abilities he awakened.
As for the future, Yu An found himself looking forward to it more and more.
But first, he had to survive the crisis at hand.
After entering the house, the beast had gone completely silent. No matter how carefully Yu An listened or sensed for it, he found nothing, as if there were nothing inside.
Yu An was also curious about the beast, which seemed to possess considerable intelligence. It even knew how to divert danger toward someone else.
Perhaps its sudden provocation of the Insect Race, followed by that fierce battle, had been meant to lure the insects away. Then it had circled around and quietly returned.
Was this really a wild beast, and not a Demonic Beast?
After all, wild beasts were called wild beasts because their minds were dull and ruled by savage instinct. They acted almost entirely on instinct. Only after evolving into Demonic Beasts could they truly awaken their intelligence.
Yet here was a beast in a supposedly dull state, displaying intelligence no less impressive than a human's. There was something strange about that alone.
Or had this beast encountered some unknown opportunity that had awakened its intelligence ahead of time?
Was that also why it had been injured and unable to keep up with the herd as they went to seek refuge in the Blessed Land?
Since it had come to Ox Ridge Settlement, if there really was some kind of opportunity, it might not be far from here.
Unfortunately, Yu An was only a tree. Even if there really was some opportunity nearby, he had no way to seize it.
Especially now, with the Black Annihilation Wind Disaster upon them and the Insect Race running rampant. The insects might devour that opportunity completely.
How could it possibly wait until the three Yu brothers returned next year?
Just as Yu An felt a pang of regret, deep in the root space, Old Man Yu was tense from head to toe, clutching his spear in a death grip.
He might not have been able to hear the commotion in the settlement, but that beast had just been outside his wall. Its roar, and the sound of its paws striking the ground, had carried clearly to his ears.
For a moment, he had been so startled that he'd nearly grabbed his spear and rushed out of the cellar. After all, the hope of his whole family still lived in the courtyard.
Fortunately, the sounds that followed told him the beast hadn't entered his home. It had left instead.
He had let out a long sigh of relief.
He also remembered the injured beast Tiezhu had mentioned earlier.
Thankfully, that beast hadn't damaged the courtyard wall and exposed the little tree. Otherwise, he might have regretted not risking an injury to kill it first.
After all, compared with the beast charging into his courtyard or even harming the little tree, he could afford to suffer an injury himself. It would merely cost him a few years of his life—nothing worth worrying about.
At that moment, Old Man Yu had no idea that the cunning beast had left his house untouched because it had chosen the place as its refuge. It had even quietly crept into the bedroom where he usually slept.
The beast had moved so softly, and he was hiding in the root space, so he hadn't heard it.
If he had, he wouldn't have been feeling so relieved.
Back in the settlement.
The Wolf Bear's destruction had exposed one ordinary person after another, all of them hiding in cellars. The Insect Race had sensed them. So when the Wolf Bear taunted it again and fled, it didn't immediately give chase.
The Servant Insect's intelligence was low, but it still followed its own set of rules, etched into its instincts. At the top of that list was always the need to devour every trace of life.
Compared with the Wolf Bear, which had injured it, those ordinary people who had exposed their presence were far more tempting.
And so, the insect began its hunt in the settlement.
With its long, narrow body, even the cramped cellar entrances were no obstacle. It could slip inside with ease.
Some people had cleverly designed their cellar entrances so that, as soon as an insect crawled in, they could pierce its body from within using a spear.
But the Wolf Bear had ambushed the insect earlier and slammed a paw into it with all its strength, yet had only managed to inflict a minor injury. That showed it was powerful even among Servant Insects—perhaps as strong as a human at Perfection of Fetal Movement.
After all, the fact that it had gone out hunting on its own already suggested it was a scout of sorts.
Servant Insects were the foot soldiers of the Insect Race and its most basic unit. Yet even the weakest Servant Insect was equivalent to a human in the Fetal Movement Realm.
That was the most terrifying thing about the Insect Race.
The moment they reached adulthood, their strength was already on par with humans in the Fetal Movement Realm.
The Insect Race that appeared alongside the Black Annihilation Wind Disaster had no larvae among them. They were all adult Servant Insects or members of even higher ranks.
So, with the advantage of favorable terrain, someone might be able to pierce the insect's body with a sharp spear and kill it.
But they would need to be at least at Fetal Movement Major Accomplishment to do so.
In reality, there were only two people at Fetal Movement Major Accomplishment in the entire settlement.
So no matter how well the ordinary people had prepared, or how cleverly they'd designed their cellar entrances, they were still helpless against the Insect Race's overwhelming strength.
And the fate awaiting them was easy to imagine.
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