76: Chapter 76 Plan

This fragrance was hidden amidst the pure air of the vegetation, undetectable by ordinary people or low-level Cultivators. However, under the focused perception of Li Changqing and Li Xuance, both Foundation Establishment Cultivators, it was crystal clear—beneath the sweetness lay a faint, bloody, rotting stench and a restless, violent, and demonic Spiritual Qi, both eerie and dangerous.

"There is subtle spiritual power flowing within a two-mile radius ahead. It is the trace of a concealment Formation; someone is deliberately hiding here!"

Li Xuance spread his Divine Sense, instantly capturing the faint, elusive fluctuations of the Formation within the mountain forest, and whispered a warning.

Yet, they did not know that the moment their Divine Sense reached out, a cold and sinister Divine Sense deep in the darkness of the forest had already firmly locked onto their tracks!

Beneath the gloomy shadows of the trees, Master Guijiu, draped in hunting black robes, had eyes glowing with a faint, dark ink light, his lips curling into a sinister and vicious sneer.

As a Peak Foundation Establishment demonic Cultivator who had cultivated for many years, his arts were bizarre and he was a mysterious person; his Divine Sense perception far exceeded that of ordinary Cultivators at the same level.

Even though Li Changqing and his companion had hidden themselves to the extreme and restrained all their auras, they still could not escape his detection.

"We have been discovered! No need to hide any longer; ignite the Demon-Attracting Incense immediately!"

Master Guijiu spoke with rapid urgency, his voice filled with the malice of one who had succeeded.

Beside him, Master Chilian remained silent, moving as swiftly as lightning.

A wisp of eerie, dark blue demonic fire suddenly shot from his fingertips. As the ghost fire flickered, it landed precisely on the dark red Demon-Attracting Incense hidden among the roots of an ancient tree.

"Oh no!"

Li Xuance's expression changed drastically, and he shouted sternly!

In an instant, the world underwent a sudden, drastic change!

The originally thin and ethereal sweet fragrance suddenly surged a hundredfold!

A wisp of scarlet, smoke-like incense rose from the ground, shooting straight into the sky, piercing through the heavy night curtain. It exploded suddenly in the pitch-black night sky like ink dropped into still water, rapidly spreading and diffusing in all directions, across mountains and wilderness!

The incense burned silently without a sound, yet it released an invisible, terrifyingly strange fluctuation.

This fluctuation, carrying primitive bloodthirsty desires and violent instincts for slaughter, swept across the mountain forests, dark caves, murmuring streams, and deep valleys at the edge of the entire Ten Thousand Beast Mountain Range like a tidal wave!

Countless dormant Yao Beasts were all stimulated by this fluctuation!

Little Gold, the Spirit-Seeking Mouse on Li Changqing's shoulder, trembled violently and suddenly stood upright. Its two round, gem-like eyes stared fixedly in the direction where the incense had exploded, while a rapid, suppressed hissing growl emitted from its throat; its body was tensed to the limit, full of restlessness.

Meanwhile, Master Guijiu, Master Chilian, and the third black-robed demonic Cultivator who had ignited the incense and set the trap, seeing that their goal had been achieved, did not linger to fight at all.

The three of them flickered, turning into three black afterimages, and without hesitation, turned and fled into the darkness of the deep mountains, rapidly retreating from the area.

They were lone wolves lurking in the shadows; it was best not to confront them directly and expose their tracks. Using the Demon-Attracting Incense to incite a beast tide and using the brute force of thousands of Yao Beasts to impact the defenses of Wangshan Town, consuming the Family's heritage and causing losses to the garrison Cultivators while they sat back to reap the benefits—that was their sinister calculation!

Li Changqing and Li Xuance watched the three black shadows of the demonic Cultivators disappear into the distance, but they did not rashly pursue them.

At this moment, the eerie fragrance across the entire mountain forest had completely dispersed, and layers of violent Yao Beast auras surged from the depths of the mountain range. A new wave of the beast tide had already formed, and stimulated by the hundredfold amplification of the Demon-Attracting Incense, its scale and ferocity would certainly far exceed the first beast tide!

"The Demon-Attracting Incense will burn for a full twelve hours." Li Xuance looked at the scarlet smoke diffusing across the sky, his expression grave as he said in a deep voice:

"Within twelve hours, the fragrance will not dissipate, and the ferocity of the Yao Beasts will not fade; they will only attack the city crazily, wave after wave. Once the power of the incense is exhausted and the strange odor dissipates, the Yao Beasts will regain their senses, and seeing no profit to be gained, most will naturally scatter and retreat. We must hold the line for a full ten hours!"

The two did not stop, flying rapidly back toward Wangshan Town while quickly finalizing their defense strategy, their minds completely occupied by the looming, overwhelming crisis.

A moment later, the atmosphere above the gates of Wangshan Town was suffocatingly oppressive.

All the Li Family Cultivators who had reached the Qi Refining 7th Layer or above gathered on the city walls, everyone's expression solemn and grave, an invisible tension and sense of crisis enveloping the entire town.

The Demon-Attracting Incense had no effect on human Cultivators, did not harm the Divine Soul, nor did it affect the Heart-Nature, but to Yao Beasts, it was an irresistible and fatal temptation!

Everyone knew that in an hour or two, the massive number of Yao Beasts gathered and incited to ferocity by the fragrance would arrive at the city gates, and a new round of tragic, bloody defensive warfare was already imminent!

The emergency meeting quickly finalized three defensive strategies:

First, immediately send a message to the Family's ancestral land, detailing the crisis of the Demon-Attracting Incense beast tide, reminding the ancestral land to be vigilant and guard against other forces taking advantage of the chaos to launch sneak attacks.

Second, mobilize the entire town, conscripting all Cultivators, Martial Artists, and guards, with everyone joining the city defense lines, stationed in zones, and performing their respective duties.

Third, dispatch elite Cultivators to explore the Myriad Beast Valley, the intersection area on the outskirts of the Ten Thousand Beast Mountain Range, to determine the specific number of Yao Beasts, the distribution of their ranks, and their speed of advance.

Myriad Beast Valley was the largest pass connecting the Ten Thousand Beast Mountain Range to Anping County. The valley was vast and boundless, with uneven terrain and crisscrossing gullies. It was adjacent to the entrance of the mountain range and uninhabited, yet it was the only path for the Yao Beasts to rush toward Wangshan Town.

There was no need for much discussion regarding the selection of the scout. Li Changqing took the initiative to step out and accept the heavy responsibility of exploration.

Among the Cultivators present, the Qi Refinement Stage Cultivators had low cultivation and would almost certainly die if they went deep into dangerous territory.

Clan Leader Li Huaming needed to sit at the Formation hub throughout the process to regulate the city defense Formation and was irreplaceable. Li Xuance needed to guard the hub, stabilize the morale of the army, and coordinate the overall situation; he could not easily leave.

Only he, with solid cultivation, swift movement techniques, keen Divine Sense, and the Spirit-Seeking Mouse by his side, was the only suitable candidate.

The meeting dispersed, and everyone rushed to their posts to organize and prepare for battle.

Li Changqing stood in the corridor of the hall, looking at the heavy darkness outside the city and the faintly restless mountain forest. A bold and crazy idea slowly took shape in his mind, becoming increasingly clear!

Rather than stubbornly defending the high walls and passively enduring the repeated impacts of thousands of Yao Beasts, being consumed by the massive beast tide and holding on through sheer endurance, it was better to take the initiative!

He would go to the front line of Myriad Beast Valley alone; the Yao Beasts would definitely gather there!

In his Storage Pouch, he still had modern weapons from Tianlan Star sealed away—rockets, as well as two small nuclear armor-piercing shells whose power rivaled 3rd-grade top-tier Talismans and whose explosion range exceeded that of Low Grade Heaven-Shaking Thunder!

These killing Sharp Weapons, enough to subvert the understanding of ordinary Cultivators, were his ultimate trump cards for large-scale slaughter of clustered Yao Beasts!

He wanted to take the initiative and use thunderous means to slaughter the gathered ranked Yao Beasts on a large scale when they had completely gathered and formed a monstrous beast tide torrent!

As long as he could heavily damage the 1st-grade Yao Beasts that served as the backbone of the beast tide in large numbers ahead of time, and kill the few 2nd-grade Yao Beasts, he could greatly reduce the combat power of the beast tide, significantly alleviate the pressure on Wangshan Town's defense, and fight for a precious sliver of a buffer and breathing room for the Family and all the Cultivators in the town!

However, he could never reveal a single word of this earth-shattering plan to anyone, much less use it in front of others.