311: Chapter 308 Have these beasts gone mad?

"As long as one isn't dead, it's not a big deal?"

Chu Weiwei pursed her lips, her pure little face filled with awe for this "Grandmaster" she had never met. She lowered her head, her gaze falling on the strangely colored medicine bottles in her hand, her fingertips turning slightly red from the force of her grip.

"It seems... Grandmaster is also a free-spirited person."

She muttered softly, her mind racing with calculations. If Grandmaster was a ruthless character who didn't stick to conventions, then perhaps her own somewhat "unconventional" style of doing things might actually appeal to him?

At this thought, a sickly red light flickered in the depths of Chu Weiwei's eyes, but then her shoulders slumped in a bit of dejection.

"But before that, Weiwei has to refine this Immortal Marrow Incense first."

She turned around and tossed the collected tree bark, which emitted a dark golden metallic luster, along with the pungent, chilly blue mycelium, into a white jade mortar.

"Revered Master, help me hold this."

Chu Weiwei pointed at the mortar, which was ridiculously heavy. Although she had reconstructed her immortal Foundation, her strength was still worlds apart from a monster like Su Hongling. In this high-gravity environment, even grinding medicine felt like a chore.

Su Lin stepped forward and pressed one hand steadily onto the edge of the mortar. The Half-Immortal Essence within his body circulated through his palm like an invisible cushion, neutralizing the heavy pressure coming from the mortar.

"Be quick. Yan Rusi should be back soon."

Su Lin watched Chu Weiwei laboriously swinging the pestle, and couldn't help but start complaining in his mind.

Who would have thought that the dignified Medicine Immortal would have to grind medicine like a Mortal apprentice after arriving in the Upper Realm, relying on sheer physical strength? If the poison Cultivators in the Lower Realm who worshipped her as a deity saw this, their Dao Hearts would probably shatter on the spot.

This so-called Upper Realm really teaches people how to behave at every turn. No, it teaches immortals how to be immortals.

"I know, Revered Master, don't rush me."

Chu Weiwei panted heavily, wiping the beads of sweat from her forehead onto Su Lin's sleeve.

Every time she swung the pestle, a dull clanging sound echoed from the mortar as the metallic medicinal ingredients collided and ground against each other.

As the grinding continued, an extremely peculiar smell began to spread throughout the courtyard.

At first, it was like the smell of rust mixed with rotting grass, but then, the scent underwent a sudden qualitative change.

A strange fragrance, similar to the roasted marrow of some high-order creature, erupted with a seductive power that made one's Divine Soul tremble.

"Mm..."

Chu Weiwei's gaze instantly became dazed for a moment, and her normally shaped pupils turned into heart shapes again.

"It smells so good... Revered Master, this scent... Weiwei really wants to eat it."

Su Lin immediately held his breath and flicked his finger. A cool wisp of Star Power covered the top of the mortar, firmly sealing in the fragrance that was almost becoming tangible.

"Focus your mind."

This Immortal Marrow Incense can attract giant beasts, which means it has a fatal attraction for the Souls of high-dimensional creatures.

With your current willpower, if you inhale too much, I'll have to find a way to pull you back from that appetite."

Su Lin's voice carried a hint of coldness, making Chu Weiwei shiver involuntarily.

She snapped out of it and patted her chest with some lingering fear.

"These Upper Realm recipes are indeed powerful; Weiwei almost fell for it."

However, her movements became even more efficient.

A few breaths later, she scooped a thick, strangely golden-purple paste out of the mortar.

This was the enhanced version of the "Immortal Marrow Incense."

Su Lin stared at the paste, sensing the Law fragments within it jumping frantically.

Just then, the poisonous miasma barrier at the courtyard entrance rippled slightly.

A red figure ducked in looking somewhat disheveled; it was Yan Rusi, back from gathering intelligence.

She had changed into the grey coarse cloth common in Liuyun Town, her long hair tied back casually with a strip of cloth. The Saintess Aura that could bring ruin to nations was well hidden; she looked like a destitute female Loose Cultivator.

"Senior."

Yan Rusi walked to the stone table. Without pausing to wipe the sweat from her brow, she first bowed to Su Lin with a solemn expression.

"I've found out the details."

"Sit and speak," Su Lin gestured to her.

Chu Weiwei reluctantly put away the paste and plopped down beside Su Lin, hugging his arm as if claiming ownership while glaring coldly at Yan Rusi.

Yan Rusi had already grown accustomed to the Medicine Immortal's unfriendliness. She pulled a messy, hand-drawn map from her robes, spread it on the stone table, and pointed to the center of the town.

"The rules of Liuyun Town are darker than we imagined."

Yan Rusi's voice was low. "The spots for the 'Heaven-Climbing Ladder' are ostensibly a chance for half-immortals with exceptional Aptitude to advance. But in reality, it's a sacrifice."

"A sacrifice?" Su Lin frowned.

"Yes." A trace of lingering fear flashed in Yan Rusi's eyes. "That old fox Xuan Tian has set up an extremely hidden Essence-Draining Formation within the teleportation array at the center of town."

Every half-immortal who steps onto the Heaven-Climbing Ladder will have at least fifty percent of their Origin essence drained during the so-called baptism of immortal light."

"This essence is collected and sent directly to Xuan Tian's secluded cultivation chamber."

He has been stuck at the Earth Immortal Middle Stage for nearly three thousand years. To Breakthrough to Heavenly Immortal, he has gone completely mad."

To him, the thirty thousand half-immortals in Liuyun Town are nothing but walking Immortal Stones."

"Tsk tsk, this local tyrant is certainly living quite the life."

Su Lin snorted inwardly. This method of harvesting people like crops was indeed universal.

"The next Heaven-Climbing Ladder event is tomorrow at noon."

Yan Rusi continued, "For this Breakthrough, Xuan Tian has specifically added a priority spot."

Any ascenders who show potential will be invited first."

It's called special training, but in truth, he wants to use these 'great medicines' for one final sprint."

"Weiwei, did you hear that?" Su Lin turned to look at the disciple beside him.

Chu Weiwei gave a sinister smile: "Great medicine? He actually treats us as medicinal ingredients? This truly is a case of one professional meeting another; the rivalry is fierce."

"Revered Master, are we making our move tomorrow?"

Su Lin's fingertips tapped lightly on the table, his gaze falling on the clump of "Immortal Marrow Incense."

"No, we start tonight. Xuan Tian is in seclusion, which is when his defenses are both strongest and weakest. We're going to make the night in Liuyun Town thoroughly lively."

Su Lin turned to Yan Rusi and asked, "How much of your cultivation have you recovered?"

Yan Rusi sensed the pitiful amount of immortal essence in her body and said bitterly, "Thanks to Senior's Immortal Stones, but under the Laws of the Upper Realm, the strength I can exert is probably only equivalent to a slightly powerful Qi Refinement Stage Mortal from the Lower Realm."

"That's enough." Su Lin casually tossed out two Medium Grade Immortal Stones. "Take these two to stabilize your Foundation. Tonight, you're responsible for guiding those exiled half-immortals."

"Guide them?"

"Since Xuan Tian treats them like pigs and sheep, then tonight, I'll give them a chance to be human again."

Su Lin stood up, his green robes fluttering slightly in the night wind. Although he looked like an ordinary young man now, that Grandmaster Aura of looking down upon the ages made both women behind him hold their breath simultaneously.

"Weiwei, are you ready?"

"Don't worry, Revered Master. Weiwei loves setting off fireworks late at night."

Chu Weiwei jumped up excitedly, her fingertips already pinching the paste that was enough to drive giant beasts into a frenzy.

...

Midnight.

The long streets of Liuyun Town had fallen into a dead silence, with only the occasional flash of pale lightning across the sky illuminating the corners piled high with immortal spirit ash.

The Xuantian High Tower stood tall in the center of town, brightly lit and surrounded by heavy defensive Restrictions.

Two figures moved like ghosts through the dark, damp, narrow alleys.

Su Lin was in front, with Chu Weiwei following close behind. In the high-gravity environment, their movements were no longer as ethereal as in the Lower Realm; every step on the ground felt solid and heavy.

"Revered Master, it's here."

Chu Weiwei stopped in front of an inconspicuous vent. This vent connected to Liuyun Town's underground Spiritual Qi filtration System, which could deliver Immortal Qi to the residences of every high-ranking official and noble in town.

"Begin."

Chu Weiwei nodded, her little face tense and exceptionally solemn.

She first took out an auxiliary medicine called "Wind-Inducing Pill" and tossed it into the vent. Then, she divided the golden-purple "Immortal Marrow Incense" into dozens of tiny particles.

Onto each particle of paste, she attached an extremely hidden, timed-detonation small Talismanic Incantation.

"Go, my little darlings."

Chu Weiwei flicked her fingers, and the particles of paste turned into dark shadows, following the airflow of the ventilation System toward various core nodes of Liuyun Town.

Having done all this, Chu Weiwei turned her head, her eyes bright as she looked at Su Lin.

"Revered Master, in about half an hour, Liuyun Town will become the most fragrant place in the entire Immortal Realm. Should we find a good spot to watch the show?"

"Before that, we still need to see an old friend."

Su Lin's gaze turned toward a dark corner beneath the high tower.

There, the guard commander who had received a whip strike from him during the day was sitting beside a sleeping six-legged vicious beast, holding a jug of immortal brew and humming a tune with bleary, drunken eyes.

He didn't know that the corpse-wolf scale he cherished and kept in his bosom was currently releasing a subtle vibration that even Divine Sense could hardly detect.

It wasn't poison, but a spatial beacon.

...

At this moment, in the absolute core of Liuyun Town, the top floor of the Xuantian High Tower.

An elderly man in a dark green Daoist robe with a lean face sat cross-legged.

He was surrounded by countless golden threads of Spiritual Qi, which were the Origin essences he had squeezed from the tens of thousands of half-immortals below.

His Aura was extremely unstable. With every breath, dense cracks appeared in the space around his body.

This was Earth Immortal Xuan Tian.

He was at the final critical moment of pushing for the Heavenly Immortal Realm. His Divine Sense had merged with the defensive Formation of the entire Liuyun Town; any slight movement could not be hidden from him.

However, Chu Weiwei's methods, refined by Su Lin, were simply too bizarre.

The scent emitted by the "Immortal Marrow Incense" blended perfectly with the turbid Immortal Qi of Liuyun Town itself.

In Xuan Tian's perception, it was just a normal fragrance of energy produced by the Formation running at full capacity.

"Almost there... just three thousand more portions of great medicine essence... and this seat can shed this decaying body and ascend to the Inner Realm!"

Xuan Tian suddenly opened his eyes, his pupils filled with frantic greed.

He didn't care at all whether the half-immortals in the town lived or died. In his view, being able to serve as stepping stones on his path to heaven was the greatest fortune of those ants' lives.

Just then.

His Divine Sense, which spread out like a spider web, suddenly sensed a very strange commotion coming from the outskirts of Liuyun Town—the direction of the metal forest he considered a forbidden zone.

"Hmm? What madness has possessed those beasts?"

Xuan Tian frowned.

In his usual understanding, these Vicious Beasts of the void extremely disliked the Yin-shale Qi of Liuyun Town and would never proactively approach the range of the Formation.

But now, in his perception, at least a dozen life sources so powerful they even made him feel alarmed were charging toward the center of town at a suicidal speed!

"Awooo!!!"

A shrill and excited wolf howl instantly shattered the silence of Liuyun Town.

Immediately after, the ground began to vibrate violently.

It was thousands of giant creatures running simultaneously. That Aura was as if an ancient army was launching a charge.

"Alarm! Enemy attack!! Full town alert!!"

The alarm bells atop the tower rang frantically.

The half-immortals who were still dreaming were startled awake, looking around in terror.

And within those hidden vents, a fragrance so rich it could make one's Soul swoon finally erupted completely.

This fragrance only smelled pleasant to human Cultivators.

But to those void beasts that had been starving on the plains for tens of thousands of years, this was simply the call of a god!

Under the stimulation of this fragrance, those giant beasts that originally had some fear of the Formation's power instantly lost all reason.

Their eyes turned blood-red, and the scales on their bodies rubbed together frantically due to extreme excitement.

"Boom!!!"

The first loud crash came.

That one-horned giant beast, dozens of rods tall, which had passed by the tree hole during the day, actually used its mountain-like head to slam fiercely into Liuyun Town's weak defensive light screen!

"What's going on?! Have these beasts gone mad?!"

The guard commander was thrown off the back of his beast by the shock, his wine jug smashing to pieces.

He looked in horror at the light screen in the sky, which was shaking violently and even showing fine cracks; he was completely stunned.

He instinctively reached into his bosom, wanting to pull out a defensive token.

However, the moment his fingers touched that dark silver scale, it burst into flames without any warning.

"Pshhh!"

A cluster of golden flames instantly swallowed him.

Su Lin stood in the shadows in the distance, calmly watching the scene.

"The fish... has taken the bait."

Chu Weiwei was squatting beside him, excitedly wringing her fingers, her eyes full of broken little hearts.

"Revered Master, look! The windmill is starting to spin!"