74: Chapter 74 Warehouse No. 3 is in danger; defenses are built overnight.

When the grayish-black fog surged out from the cracks of the doors of Warehouse No. 3, the chaos on the drill ground that had just been suppressed welled up once more.

Some people backed away.

Others subconsciously looked in the direction where Commander Zhao Lingyue had been escorted away.

Even more people looked toward Lu Changyuan.

The military tally had just been obtained, and the warehouse door was already damaged.

This was no coincidence.

Lu Changyuan did not give everyone time to let their minds wander.

"Those who can move cargo, follow Lu Hu."

"Those who can repair formations, step forward and give your names."

"The rest of you, form squads on the spot, ten to a group. Anyone who leaves their squad without authorization will be treated as a deserter."

His voice was not loud.

Yet it suppressed the entire drill ground.

Lu Hu had already led twenty Sword Ray Cavalrymen rushing toward Warehouse No. 3.

The Purple Lightning Seahorses skimmed along the stone path, their electrical sparks crackling into tiny white flashes in the rain.

Warehouse No. 3 was built inside the rocky cavern of Xuangui Island's Northern Ridge.

Half of the formation pillars outside the warehouse door had already turned black.

Two warehouse-guarding Cultivators lay collapsed at the bottom of the steps, their faces covered in fine black lines, with a sweet, rotting odor emanating from their mouths and noses.

With one slash of his blade, Lu Hu severed the black patterns that were still spreading outside the warehouse door.

The moment the black patterns were severed, a wisp of foul-smelling smoke rose from the back of his blade.

"My Lord, there are people inside!"

Urgent footsteps echoed from the inner side of the warehouse door.

Three figures clad in warehouse-guarding outer robes rushed out from the gray fog.

Beneath their sleeves, black scales had already crept from their wrists up to their necks.

They did not flee outward.

Instead, they threw themselves headlong toward the formation core beside the warehouse door.

Lu Changyuan's gaze turned cold.

"Leave one alive."

Lu Hu was the first to charge.

He did not entangle himself in a fight; lowering his long blade, he went straight for their kneecaps first.

Two of the fifty riders cut in from the flank, the electric arcs beneath the hooves of their Purple Lightning Seahorses sweeping across, paralyzing half of the second black-scaled Cultivator's body.

The third person lunged before the formation core, the bone knife in his hand already thrusting into the gaps of the Formation Plate.

Lu Changyuan raised his hand and threw out an old thunder-patterned talisman paper.

The talisman paper lit up in midair.

It was not a world-rending Sword Intent like Luo Qingcheng's.

It was merely a thin bolt of lightning stabilized by Evil-Suppressing Sand.

The thin lightning struck the bone knife.

The bone knife shattered.

The man shrieked as he was sent flying backward.

Lu Hu pinned his back down with a foot.

"Still alive."

Lu Changyuan did not interrogate him immediately.

He first looked at the warehouse door.

Inside the warehouse, the Evil-Suppressing Sand was piled on the left, and the purification powder was on the right.

The outermost three rows of crates had already been corroded through by the black Qi, their corners softening, and the purification powder had clumped into gray blocks.

Further inside, half of the seals were still intact.

Before the Formation Masters arrived, they could not open the warehouse rashly.

Lu Changyuan turned to look at the arriving guards.

"Those who cannot move the cargo, do not enter the warehouse."

"First, use the Evil-Suppressing Sand to lay down a three-foot isolation line outside the door."

"Paste the Evil-warding Talismans on the outer ring; do not paste them on the black patterns."

"Seal the contaminated crates separately; do not let them mix with the good stock."

A middle-aged Formation Master in an old gray robe stepped forward hesitantly.

"Deputy Envoy Lu, the original formation of Warehouse No. 3 was laid down by the Zhao family's Formation Masters. We have only repaired the outer pillars."

Lu Changyuan looked at him.

"Do you know how to read formation meridians?"

"Yes."

"What is your name?"

"Li Heng."

"From now on, you will lead ten Formation Masters to first inspect the three main pillars outside the warehouse door."

Li Heng was startled.

"I am not of the Zhao family."

"That is why I am using you."

Li Heng's lips quivered, and he immediately bowed his head.

"Yes, sir."

This single sentence was more effective than any words of reassurance.

Commander Zhao Lingyue had fallen, but the Zhao family's people were still on the island.

The Li family, the Loose Cultivators, and the Ship Guards were all watching to see if Lu Changyuan would bring in a new group of people to keep suppressing them.

Lu Changyuan did not carry out an immediate purge.

Nor did he allow the Zhao family to continue controlling the formations.

He gave the first temporary authority to someone who could actually get things done.

Outside Warehouse No. 3, everyone quickly became busy.

The Evil-Suppressing Sand was laid out into a crude isolation barrier.

Evil-warding Talismans were pinned down one by one along the stone steps.

Lu Changyuan had someone take a small pinch of the grayed purification powder from the contaminated crates and place it in a copper dish, separate from a pinch of intact powder.

When the black Qi drew near the intact powder, a layer of black frost immediately formed on the edge of the copper dish.

His heart sank.

This was not simple dampness.

Someone was using the warehouse door's Array Patterns to channel the corruptive Qi inward along the seals.

Had they been even half a night later, most of the purification supplies in Warehouse No. 3 would have been ruined.

"My Lord."

Lu Hu dragged the surviving captive over.

The black-scaled Cultivator's limbs were pinned down by evil-suppressing talismans, yet a raspy laughter still escaped his throat.

"He had poison hidden in his teeth, but I've already pulled it out."

Lu Changyuan crouched down, looking at the warehouse-guarding waist token on the man's sleeve.

The waist token was genuine.

The name was also on the official warehouse-guarding registry of Xuangui Island.

This meant that the intruder had not just recently sneaked in.

They had already been stationed in the warehouse at least since the time Commander Zhao Lingyue still held the military tally.

Lu Changyuan did not ask, "Who sent you?"

Such a person might not speak, and might not even know.

He only asked, "After Warehouse No. 3, where is the next target?"

The black-scaled Cultivator grinned, his teeth covered in blood.

"It's already too late."

Lu Hu gripped the hilt of his blade.

Lu Changyuan raised his hand to stop him.

"Take him to the formation prison and lock him up separately from Commander Zhao Lingyue."

"Don't let him die."

As the survivor was dragged away, a commotion arose from the direction of the drill ground.

Lu Changyuan returned to the high platform, where the temporary formation map of Xuangui Island had already been laid out.

The map showed seven old formation pillars, three ruined coastal battery sites, two Outer Port berths, and three stone paths leading to the supply warehouses.

The damage was far more thorough than he had anticipated.

Of the seven outer formation pillars, two were broken, one was ruined, three had unstable spiritual patterns, and the only usable one was on the southern shore.

The so-called Xuangui Island defensive line was no longer just riddled with holes.

It was practically down to its last layer of skin.

Lu Changyuan glanced at the sky.

There were still three shichen before dawn.

Less than three days remained of the three-day deadline Superintendent Mu Yunshang had given him.

He could not afford to repair it slowly according to the standard of a major island's defensive line.

Nor could he use the devil-cleansing thunder bamboo from Blue Moon Island as a stake.

That was a living root sprout, not a consumable resource.

What he could use was the lightning-struck wood swept up from Xingyan, the old thunder-patterned talisman papers, the Evil-Suppressing Sand, the Evil-warding Talismans, the purification powder, and the existing stone veins of Xuangui Island.

Lu Changyuan picked up a vermilion brush.

"We will not repair the entire island."

"First, we will establish three vital lines."

Everyone looked up.

Lu Changyuan drew three segments on the formation map.

"First, from Warehouse No. 3 to the Outer Port, to ensure supplies can be shipped out."

"Second, from the Northern Ridge reef line to the Central Military Drill Ground, to ensure the garrison can retreat."

"Third, from the only usable formation pillar on the southern shore to the eastern shallows, to ensure the cavalry can break out."

Li Heng stared at the formation map, his eyes gradually lighting up.

"Instead of completing the Great Xuangui Array, we only build a temporary chain of minor formations?"

"Yes."

Lu Changyuan said, "Within three days, I only need it to block corruptive Qi, expose black scales, and cut off small groups of sea beasts."

"It cannot block a Golden Core."

"But holding them off for a night is enough."

He pointed to three critical nodes.

"Use the lightning-struck wood for stakes, the Evil-Suppressing Sand to weigh down the foundation, and the old thunder-patterned talisman papers as the catalyst."

"There is no need for a new name."

"We will call it the Purple Thunder Exorcism Array."

This was not something created out of thin air.

During the small trial at Blue Moon Island's Spirit Plant Garden, the lightning-struck wood, Evil-Suppressing Sand, and old thunder-patterned talisman papers had already been activated once by the devil-cleansing thunder bamboo sprout.

Xuangui Island has no thunder bamboo.

So we downgrade it.

We will only take half the efficacy of 'thunder patterns attracting evil, Evil-Suppressing Sand stabilizing the arcs.'

It will be able to light up.

It will be able to warn.

It will be able to block them slightly.

And that is enough to save lives.

When the first batch of Cultivators was dispatched, the noise on the drill ground lessened significantly.

It was not out of submission.

It was because they finally had something to do.

People are most prone to panic when they are waiting to die.

Once they have stakes, talismans, sand, and a clear deadline in hand, their minds will be anchored by the tasks.

Lu Hu led the cavalry to guard Warehouse No. 3.

Li Heng led the Formation Masters to inspect the old pillars.

The Ship Guards went to haul the lightning-struck wood.

The Loose Cultivators moved the Evil-Suppressing Sand.

After being disarmed, the Zhao family's trusted aides were formed into a separate stone-carrying team, watched over by the Sword Ray Cavalry.

Anyone who dared to slack off would have their name recorded first.

Anyone who dared to spread false military orders would be bound on the spot.

Before dawn, the first isolation line outside Warehouse No. 3 lit up.

It was not dazzling.

It was merely a thin ring of purple-white lightning threads.

When the grayish-black fog touched the lightning threads, it made a faint crackling sound.

Seeing this scene, the Loose Cultivators guarding nearby showed signs of life on their faces for the first time.

"It works."

Someone murmured.

"It really works."

Lu Changyuan did not let them stop.

"If it works, keep going."

"Before dark, all three vital lines must be lit."

By afternoon, the one hundred and twentieth lightning-struck wooden stake was driven into the eastern shallows.

The spiritual patterns on the southern shore's old formation pillar were ground open once more.

Three ruined batteries along the Northern Ridge reef line were also cleared.

The so-called batteries were actually just formation foundation stone bases left behind from earlier years.

Lu Changyuan did not have them install large Magical Artifacts.

He only had the Formation Masters press Evil-Suppressing Sand, old thunder-patterned talisman papers, and Spirit Stone slots into them, turning them into formation bases that could blast out thunder and fire for a short duration.

The power was not great.

But they had the advantage of speed.

And the advantage of being able to scare off low-tier demonic beasts.

By evening, the three vital lines finally shone with intermittent purple light.

Xuangui Island was still dilapidated.

Yet it no longer resembled a corpse waiting to be dissected.

It now had a few temporarily stitched tendons.

Looking at those purple lights, the panic that originally hung on the faces of the garrison was suppressed slightly.

Just as Lu Changyuan was preparing to return to the Central Army tent to re-examine the garrison registry, a suppressed weeping sound came from the Loose Cultivator camp on the north side.

The weeping was not loud.

Yet it was exceptionally grating in the newly quiet night.

"Tomorrow, it's our turn again to fill the northern reefs."

"The masters of the Zhao family hide behind us, not even giving us a single packet of purification powder."

"My grandson inhaled three breaths of black Qi today. If he isn't saved, he won't survive tonight."

"No matter who runs this island, aren't they still just sending us to our deaths?"

Lu Changyuan stopped in his tracks.

The formation lines that had just lit up could only block the darkness from outside.

The darkness inside Xuangui Island had yet to be cleared.