34: Deployment

He looked around; this island was more than ten times larger than Black Reef Island, with exceptionally lush vegetation, mostly strange trees with dark green, metallic-sheened leaves.

The air was filled with a faint scent of sulfur and… pure lightning Spiritual Qi?

He suppressed his injuries and the solemnity in his heart, concealed his Qi, then took out several Formation Flags to temporarily set up a Formation around him.

Sitting cross-legged, he didn't know how much time had passed, but he finally recovered.

Concealing his Qi, he resembled a ghost merging into the environment, cautiously observing his surroundings.

The anomaly in this sea area gradually became apparent.

The lightning power lingering in the air became increasingly noticeable, and he could often hear dull thunder rumbling from afar, not from the sky, but more like… from deep within the island?

Moreover, the island itself exuded a certain aura that made powerful sea Yao Beasts wary.

"What exactly is this?"

Lin Feng stood up.

"When things are abnormal, there must be a Yao Beast," Lin Feng's vigilance intensified.

"The sea outside is full of thunderstorms; for now, I can only explore this small island."

This was a blessing in disguise.

Then, he cautiously proceeded deeper into the island.

His Divine Sense was like the most precise radar, meticulously scanning everything around him.

After an hour of travel, passing through a valley filled with rugged strange rocks and flowing turbid hot springs, Lin Feng climbed a towering broken cliff.

The sight before him made his pupils contract abruptly, and his breathing hitched!

Below the broken cliff was a relatively flat, vast basin surrounded by huge black rocks.

In the center of the basin, a massive Yao Beast group was actually entrenched!

They resembled giant lizards but were even more robust and ferocious.

They generally exceeded two zhang in length, covered entirely in thick, deep purple scales with mysterious silver lightning patterns, shimmering with a metallic, cold, hard luster under the dim sky.

Their thick limbs were muscular, and their claws and teeth were sharp as curved hooks.

Most striking was the short, sharp, single horn on top of their heads, flickering with faint electrical sparks!

There were more than thirty of them!

Most of them exuded the powerful aura of the Late Stage of Qi Condensation (seventh or eighth layers), either lazily sprawled or playfully tearing at each other in the basin; each collision of claws and teeth sparked tiny electrical flashes.

And in the very center of the basin, on two huge black lightning-struck rocks that rose like small mountains, two even larger beasts were entrenched, their auras as profound as the sea!

Their bodies were nearly four zhang long, their purple scales were darker, almost inky purple, and the silver lightning patterns on them were more intricate and brighter, like flowing lightning runes.

The single horn on their heads was no longer a short cone but two spiraling, upward-pointing, terrifying giant horns, three feet long, as if cast from white silver!

At the tips of the giant horns, dense blue electrical arcs constantly leaped and converged, emitting a heart-palpitating destructive fluctuation!

Foundation Establishment Stage!

And there were two of them!

"Hiss… Two Foundation Establishment Stage Yao Beasts!" Lin Feng gasped, quickly lowering his body and fully activating the Turtle Breath Qi Concealment Art, merging himself into the environment.

The immense pressure of the Yao power, even from such a distance, still made Lin Feng feel a suffocating sensation, and the circulation of Spiritual Qi within his body became somewhat sluggish.

It was the unique aura emitted by this group of Yao Beasts, mixed with the rich lightning Spiritual Qi of this place, that formed the unique atmosphere of this area.

"Benlei Beast!" This name instantly flashed through Lin Feng's mind, and his heart pounded wildly!

He had seen scattered records in the Lin family's ancient texts: this beast was a lightning-attribute variant, possessing immense strength, scales harder than refined iron, and its single horn could even draw upon the power of heavenly lightning.

Its hide was a top-grade main material for refining special lightning-attribute Talismans—especially the life-saving Divine Talisman "Lightning Escape Talisman"!

A complete Foundation Establishment Stage Benlei Beast hide was valuable enough to make Foundation Establishment Cultivators envious, and could even be exchanged for half a Foundation Establishment Pill!

What caught his attention even more were the few strange plants clinging to the rock wall behind the beast group.

On a short tree, completely charred like lightning-struck wood, a few dragon-eye-sized fruits, fiery red and subtly streaked with lightning patterns, hung sparsely—Vermilion Fruits!

Lin Feng had seen descriptions in the appendix of the Hundred Fruit Spirit Brewing Recipe: a second-tier top-grade Spiritual Fruit, capable of cleansing the Physical Body, dispelling Medicinal Pill toxins, and a Saint Grade for healing.

Even more precious was that a Cultivator could consume the first three in their lifetime, with each adding ten years to their lifespan!

This was a longevity treasure that even Golden Core Immortal Masters would covet!

Nearby were also several Spiritual Peach trees laden with unripe fruits, brimming with Spiritual Qi, clearly not ordinary items.

The edge of the valley also grew many Spiritual Plants of considerable age, among which several small purple grasses with lightning-shaped leaves were particularly rich in Spiritual Qi, seemingly main ingredients for refining lightning-attribute Medicinal Pills or Talismans.

"Vermilion Fruits! And there are five of them!" Lin Feng's heart pounded uncontrollably.

Ten years of extended life!

This was an irresistible temptation for any Cultivator.

But the beast group before him, especially those two Foundation Establishment Stage Beast Kings, were like two insurmountable mountains.

A direct assault? It would be suicide.

Give up? Absolutely impossible!

Lin Feng's gaze swept over the valley's terrain, then he touched the Five Elements Sword Rain Formation Flags, Azure Astral Sword Talisman, and the thick stack of Earth Prison Talismans and Ice Spike Talismans in his Storage Pouch.

A bold and dangerous plan gradually formed in his mind.

"Formation… Lure and kill… Divide…" A cold glint flickered in his eyes, like a hunter lurking in the shadows, as he silently retreated, preparing his hunting ground.

Lin Feng spent an entire day meticulously selecting a complex terrain area on the outskirts of the Benlei Beast Valley—three sides surrounded by steep rock walls, with only a narrow entrance leading towards the beast group within the valley.

This location provided sufficient buffer from the core of the beast group and was convenient for setting up Formations.

He took out the Five Elements Sword Rain Formation Flags and Formation Plate.

This time, he no longer sought concealment but fully activated its remaining killing power!

The five small sword Formation Flags were deeply inserted into the ground at their designated positions, leaving only the hilt exposed, with subtle runic light flowing.

The Formation Plate was placed behind a giant rock, cleverly concealed withgravel.

He took a deep breath and frantically poured his recovered Divine Power into the Formation Plate!

Buzz—!

Five-colored light suddenly flared, several times stronger than when he had set up the concealment Formation previously!

Five sharp Sword Qi phantoms shot up from the Formation Flag positions, intertwining in mid-air to form a slightly illusory Sword Qi network covering several tens of zhang in circumference.

The Sword Net flowed, emitting an unparalleled sharp killing aura; although far less majestic than the "Sword Rain" at its peak, the chilling coldness was enough to make Qi Condensation Cultivators tremble.

"It's done!

Outside is a first-tier mist illusion Formation, and inside is a first-tier top-grade killing Formation, barely enough!"

Lin Feng felt the power of the Sword Formation, and his heart settled slightly.

He quickly buried dozens of Earth Prison Talismans at key nodes within the Sword Formation's coverage as a second layer of control, and also set up several trigger-activated Ice Spike Talisman traps at the entrance.

With preparations complete, the next step was the most dangerous one—luring the beasts!