Arrangements

Demon Beasts were no fools either. Seeing more than a thousand people lying in ambush to the east, they naturally did not dare charge headlong into them. Humanity had come prepared; there was no profit to be had this time. Led by several Second-Order Demonic Beasts, the beast horde retreated westward.

The Netherworld Sect had painstakingly laid this trap. More than a hundred people had served as bait, and the big fish had finally taken the hook—how could they possibly let it get away?

Of the five thousand cultivators summoned by the Netherworld Sect, only a hundred-odd had acted as bait, while a thousand lay in ambush east of Returning Goose Valley. The remaining four thousand were not there to eat for free.

Sure enough, the Demon Beasts retreating toward the western side of the gorge had barely reached its edge when countless Talismans and Magic Tools came hurtling at them, battering them until they were dizzy and disoriented.

The Demon Beasts immediately retreated and fled north along the gorge. To the south lay Cart Gorge; entering it would certainly mean a dead end, and the Demon Beasts did not dare burrow into it. The demon birds, however, were not afraid, and some of them flew south.

They had fled north for barely two or three li when several hundred cultivators suddenly emerged and blocked the mouth of the valley. The instant the Demon Beasts drew near, another barrage came crashing down upon them.

The demon birds fleeing south did not fare any better. Before they had flown very far, dozens of Flying Swords soared into the sky. In an instant, two or three hundred demon birds plummeted down, feathers scattering across the ground.

The cultivators blocking both ends of the gorge wore clothes in complete disorder and all manner of strange attire. They were likely the summoned Rogue Cultivators. Though they looked like a rabble, their combat strength was truly formidable. The moment they attacked, they stunned both the Demon Beasts and demon birds senseless.

Having witnessed the strength of Rogue Cultivators, Wang Daoyuan secretly marveled. He had assumed that, without systematic inheritances or instruction, Rogue Cultivators would face a rough and difficult road of cultivation, advance slowly, and possess little strength.

Yet he had never expected Rogue Cultivators to be so ferocious in battle, their prowess in spell combat far surpassing disciples of sects and Lineages at the same level. It seemed that whenever he traveled abroad in the future, he would have to be especially wary of Rogue Cultivators.

In truth, not all Rogue Cultivators were skilled fighters. It was simply that the Rogue Cultivators summoned by the Netherworld Sect were at least in the Late Stage of Qi Condensation.

Rogue Cultivators had neither wealth, companions, techniques, nor land, and their aptitudes were hardly outstanding. Those who could cultivate to the Late Stage of Qi Condensation had all endured countless hardships, let alone the Foundation Establishment Cultivators among them.

Such people were naturally far stronger in spell combat than sect and Lineage disciples raised in greenhouses.

The Demon Beasts and demon birds also realized these Rogue Cultivators were not easy prey, and no longer dared charge toward them.

They were now surrounded on all four sides, and none of those sides was easy to provoke. Remaining where they were meant waiting for death. Whether an opening was easy to break through or not, they had to find somewhere to force their way out.

After weighing their options, the Second-Order Demonic Beasts all agreed to break through toward the open ground east of the gorge.

The squad Wang Daoyuan was in was precisely the roadblock standing in the Demon Beasts' path.

By now, the Demon Beasts were desperate to flee for their lives and had no mind left for probing. They charged forward in a single mass.

Seeing this, Yang Zhiyuan shouted an order, "Leave ten Foundation Establishment Cultivators to deal with the Second-Order Demonic Beasts. The rest of the Foundation Establishment Cultivators, go intercept the demon birds."

The Foundation Establishment Cultivators answered in unison. Then, more than twenty of them shot into the air and rushed toward the demon birds, Wang Zhian among them.

Before Wang Zhian left, he sent a voice transmission to the Wang Clan members. "Everything here is under Daoyuan's command. Anyone who dares defy Daoyuan's orders will be dealt with according to clan rules."

Of the two elders, Wang Zhiming was interested only in pill refinement, while Wang Shouye cared only for drinking. Both were too lazy to manage affairs, so they naturally had no objections.

The other six were all seasoned hands. Since the two elders had no objections, they did not dare speak against it.

Wang Daoxing had a fiery temper, but he was a battle fanatic with no feeling at all for things like authority. As long as there was a fight to be had, it made no difference whom he listened to.

Since no one objected, they had tacitly acknowledged Wang Daoyuan's leadership.

Wang Zhian then sent Wang Daoyuan a separate voice transmission. "I trust your abilities. Do your best to bring every clan member back alive. But never let a woman's tenderness hold you back. When you cannot have both, preserve the Lineage's future. I trust you know how to weigh the choice."

Wang Daoyuan's heart jolted. What the clan head meant was that, if absolutely necessary, he could abandon the six uncles and preserve the lives of himself and the other three.

These six uncles had poor cultivation talent and no special skills. They normally managed the Lineage's various businesses outside Jade Spring Peak. Wang Daoyuan had met them only a few times, but they were family after all. Knowing he might have to abandon them made him feel guilty.

Still, he understood that when life and death truly hung in the balance, abandoning the six uncles to buy the others a chance at survival was the best choice for the Lineage.

As a member of the Lineage, its survival was the foremost concern; individual life and death could only come second. The six uncles were already advanced in years. Between Achieving Nirvana in their caves and dying in battle outside, they would rather die fighting, even if only to earn some cultivation resources for their descendants.

As long as their descendants remained and the Lineage's inheritance continued unbroken, their contributions would not be forgotten.

With that thought, Wang Daoyuan was relieved. He then assigned everyone their combat duties.

The six uncles possessed no particular specialties, and their cultivation was only at Qi Refining Layer Seven or Eight, but age had made them shrewd. They might have nothing remarkable to say for themselves in killing enemies, but when it came to preserving their lives, every one of them was an expert among experts.

After all, at their age, what sights had they not seen? They had experienced situations like this not once or twice. Anyone who had lived to this day had some survival experience up his sleeve.

Therefore, Wang Daoyuan decided to place them at the very front and let them act according to circumstances. With their abundant experience at staying alive, their chances of survival were far greater than those of Wang Daoyuan and Wang Daoxing, two complete greenhorns.

On top of that, Wang Daoyuan had ample Defense Talismans. So long as they did not lock horns with a large number of Demon Beasts to the death, the six uncles' safety would still be assured.

Twelfth Uncle Wang Zhiming excelled at pill refinement and healing injuries, but in spell combat, there was truly nothing worth mentioning about him. Sending him to fight Demon Beasts would not bring out much of his strength. It would be better for him to treat injured clan members at any time.

Wang Shouye and Wang Daoxing, meanwhile, were both relatively skilled in spell combat. They would be placed on the second line as a mobile force, choosing their own opportunities to strike.

Though Wang Daoyuan was not particularly strong in spell combat, the several hundred Talismans in his hands were no joke. If he threw out eighty or a hundred Talismans, who below Foundation Establishment could withstand them? Thus, he was the main source of damage for the entire team and naturally remained in the rear.

No one objected to Wang Daoyuan's arrangements. Only Wang Daoxing was somewhat dissatisfied and protested to Wang Daoyuan, "Seventh Brother, let me stay at the front. Killing Demon Beasts from the rear isn't satisfying."

Before Wang Daoyuan could speak, Wang Shouye rebuked him from the side. "Listen obediently. Your aptitude is excellent. Although your drinking capacity is lacking, if you can achieve Foundation Establishment, your future will be boundless. Don't casually joke around with your little life."

Hearing Wang Shouye bring up his drinking capacity, Wang Daoxing felt a little embarrassed, but he did not want to give up so easily. Secretly circulating spiritual power, he became shrouded in a faint golden glow, his skin like golden glass.

Wang Daoyuan recognized it as a body-refining cultivation art, though he did not know its particulars.

Wang Shouye, however, was greatly shocked. Not daring to make a show of it, he could only ask in a low voice, "You brat, have you cultivated the Glassy Golden Body Art to the second layer?"

Wang Daoxing nodded smugly.

Only then did Wang Daoyuan understand. Wang Daoxing had actually mastered the Glassy Golden Body Art stored in the Lineage's collection.

The Glassy Golden Body Art was a profound body-refining cultivation art that Wang Chengzhu had obtained by chance while he was alive.

This art had nine layers in total. Cultivated to its pinnacle, one's physical body would rival a third-grade high-rank Magic Tool. With the physical body alone, one could directly contend against a Late Violet Mansion Cultivator.

However, when Wang Chengzhu had obtained this art, it had already been incomplete. It could only be cultivated to the fourth layer, making one's physical body comparable to a Second-grade High-rank Magic Tool.

The Glassy Golden Body Art was exceedingly powerful, but it also imposed high requirements on its practitioner. One needed a Metal spiritual root exceeding eight cun, or a Metal Attribute spirit body, to achieve anything with it.

Wang Daoyuan had considered cultivating this art in the past, but abandoned the idea once he saw the requirements. With his two-cun Metal spiritual root, he could cultivate for an entire lifetime and still never reach the second layer.

No one in the entire Lineage had ever been said to reach the second layer, and Wang Daoyuan had never seen anyone use it. That was why he had not recognized Wang Daoxing's technique as the Glassy Golden Body Art. Only after hearing Wang Shouye's words did he recall this art.

Upon reaching the second layer of the Glassy Golden Body Art, one's physical body alone possessed the battle strength of a cultivator at Qi Refining Layer Eight or Nine.

Coupled with the physical body's formidable resistance to blows, defeating an ordinary Qi Refining Layer Nine cultivator in spell combat was perfectly normal.

With such a powerful physical body, first-order Demon Beasts would find it difficult to seriously injure him. Placing him at the very front would not be a problem after all.