46: Chapter 46: Spying Outside the Valley and the Prelude to Preparations

The red light in the dim Immortal Cave, like a drop of blood suddenly dripped into clear water, instantly seized all of Lin Chen's attention.

He leapt up from the meditation cushion almost instinctively, his eyes locked onto that palm-sized jade wall.

The red light flickered at an extremely fast frequency; there was no sound at all, yet it conveyed a heart-palpitating sense of urgency.

This warning Restriction was Liu Yuan's handiwork, meticulously designed. It would only be triggered when a living creature—specifically a living creature carrying Spiritual Qi—lingered at the edge of the Restriction for a long time with probing intent.

Mountain beasts or Loose Cultivators passing by unintentionally would never trigger it.

Someone is here.

And they do not come with good intentions.

Lin Chen did not hesitate in the slightest. With a flip of his right hand, a palm-sized communication Talisman was already in his palm.

He did not activate it immediately, but held his breath, spreading his Divine Sense out of the Immortal Cave silently, like quicksilver pouring over the ground.

The Divine Sense of the Foundation Establishment Stage was far stronger than that of the Qi Refinement Stage, with a wider coverage range and much sharper perception.

His Divine Sense swept over the quiet valley, passing through layers of tree shadows, and he "saw" A-Tu lurking in a bush on the outskirts of the valley entrance.

A-Tu was lying flat on the ground, blending in with the withered branches and fallen leaves, his breathing slowed to the extreme, like a lifeless rock.

He was clutching a communication Talisman in his hand that was almost about to shatter; clearly, he had just sent out the warning signal.

And at the end of A-Tu's line of sight, about three hundred zhang away at the edge of the mountain forest, two blurry black shadows were moving like ghosts, clinging to the shadows of the tree trunks.

Their movements were exceptionally swift and silent, with every step accurately landing on the ground with the fewest withered leaves, where it was least likely to make a sound.

If A-Tu hadn't been on duty tonight and happened to use the "Spirit Eye Talisman" given by Liu Yuan—which could enhance night vision for a short time—it would have been impossible to discover them.

Lin Chen's Divine Sense carefully bypassed the two black shadows, not daring to make direct contact.

At their level, there was already considerable alertness toward Divine Sense prying.

He only sensed from afar the aura emanating from them—cold, condensed, and carrying a faint trace of bloodthirst.

This was not an aura that a normal Loose Cultivator should have.

They were coming for him.

Blood Crow Tower? Or helpers hired by the Li Family?

Thoughts flashed through Lin Chen's mind, and the fingertips of his right hand inside his sleeve subconsciously began to rub the rough stone ring on his thumb.

The cold touch instantly suppressed all the killing intent that had risen in his heart, replacing it with absolute calmness.

He could not alert the enemy.

The other party was only probing, which meant they were not yet sure of the reality here.

Attacking now would only expose his trump cards and completely lose any room for maneuver.

He immediately sent a command via Divine Sense to A-Tu, who was preparing to crush a second communication Talisman: "Stay in place, hide, and do not act rashly."

Immediately after, with a thought, he activated the communication Talisman held in his hand.

The Talisman paper ignited without fire, turning into a glimmer of light that vanished into the Void Realm.

This was the signal for Liu Yuan.

In just over a dozen breaths of time, an aged but steady figure appeared silently at the entrance of his Immortal Cave.

"Boss." Liu Yuan bowed in salute, his expression solemn.

Clearly, he had also sensed the unusual movement outside the valley.

"Senior Liu, proceed according to Plan Number Two." Lin Chen's voice was extremely low. "Adjust the Maze Formation at the valley entrance. At the 'Xun' position in the southeast corner, deliberately leave a flaw that lasts for three breaths. Use Illusion Sound Talismans to simulate the whispering of two or three people and the clatter of pots and pans, so they can vaguely see the lamplight of Senior Sister Su's Immortal Cave."

A flash of light shone in Liu Yuan's eyes; he instantly understood Lin Chen's intention.

This was "fishing."

Deliberately exposing a seemingly real, poorly guarded stronghold to lure the other party into deep reconnaissance, thereby figuring out their intentions and strength.

"Understood." Liu Yuan did not ask more, turned, and merged into the darkness.

Lin Chen then walked quickly towards Su Qingyao's Alchemy Room.

Su Qingyao was not resting at this moment; she was sitting cross-legged in front of the Pill Furnace, regulating her breath to recover the mental energy consumed by Alchemy.

Seeing Lin Chen enter with a solemn expression, she immediately stood up, a trace of concern in her beautiful eyes: "Did something happen?"

"A little trouble." Lin Chen explained the situation concisely, then pointed to a pile of grey-black pill dregs stacked in the corner. "Give me those waste pill residues."

These were failed products produced when Su Qingyao was refining Medicinal Pills recently due to mistakes in heat control or ingredient ratios.

Not only did they have no medicinal effect, but the Spiritual Qi inside was also impure and chaotic, even carrying a trace of irritable fire poison.

For an alchemist, this was the most useless trash.

But in Lin Chen's eyes, they had now become the best bait.

He took the small bag of waste pill residues handed over by Su Qingyao, his figure flickered, and like a night owl, he swept out of the Immortal Cave, arriving near the "Xun" position Formation eye mentioned by Liu Yuan in a few leaps.

He scattered the waste pill residues casually into a pile of rocks near the valley entrance. After finishing all this, he quietly retreated behind a giant rock deep in the valley, his Divine Sense fully opened, like an invisible large net, covering the entire valley entrance.

Everything was ready.

In the mountain forest outside the valley, one of the two men in black suddenly stopped, listened intently for a moment, and made a gesture to his companion.

"Inside... there seems to be movement."

The other person also focused his senses, and after a moment, a trace of surprise appeared on his face.

The location where they were should have been covered by a layer of natural miasma and thin Spiritual mist, which would greatly affect both sight and hearing.

But just now, the mist in front seemed to thin out for an instant without warning, allowing them to vaguely hear extremely faint human voices coming from deep within the valley.

The two looked at each other, both seeing vigilance and doubt in the other's eyes.

They carefully groped forward for several dozen more zhang and stopped behind a rock on higher ground.

This time, they saw more clearly.

Deep in the valley, there was indeed a dim yellow lamplight, like a firefly in the dark night, appearing and disappearing.

And in the air, a trace of extremely faint food aroma drifted over, mixed with almost inaudible whispering.

It looked like a small, poorly guarded settlement.

One of the men in black, who was slightly thin, took out a pitch-black Magical Artifact shaped like a compass from his bosom.

He cut his fingertip and dripped a drop of essence blood into the center of the compass.

The needle on the compass began to spin wildly, eventually trembling and pointing toward the entrance of the valley, and emitting a faint red light.

"The target is inside; the blood Qi sensing cannot be wrong." The thin man in black said in a hoarse voice, "The information that waste Li Mao gave is finally half right."

"But this place is a bit strange." The other, more robust man in black, scanned the valley entrance back and forth with his eyes, finally resting on a pile of rocks. "Look over there."

The two quietly approached and, in the gaps of the rock pile, discovered a few scattered, grey-black residues.

The thin man in black picked up a piece and sniffed it lightly at the tip of his nose.

A burst of impure and irritable Spiritual Qi instantly rushed into his nasal cavity, making him unable to help but frown.

"It's waste pills." He quickly made a judgment. "The Spiritual Qi is chaotic, and the quality is inferior. It seems the alchemist here is not very skilled."

The robust man in black squatted down and carefully inspected the ground around the valley entrance.

He pointed to a few inconspicuous corners: "Here, there are traces of low-level Restrictions being set up. The technique is very rough, like something a novice Formation apprentice would do. But they do exist."

A stronghold inhabited by an inferior alchemist, with rough Formations set up, and lax defenses.

All clues pointed to one conclusion: This was indeed one of the old nests of the newly emerged "Lin Family," but its strength seemed... vulnerable.

The thin man in black crushed the waste pill residues in his hand and sneered, "It seems we overestimated them. Go back and report to the Tower Master; we can make our move."

The two did not linger any longer. Their figures flickered like two ghost shadows, and they retreated rapidly, soon disappearing into the vast night.

Not until their auras completely disappeared outside the range of his Divine Sense did Lin Chen walk out from behind the giant rock, his face so gloomy it could drip water.

The other party's caution and reconnaissance methods far exceeded his expectations.

That strange compass could actually sense blood Qi?

This reminded him of the fetus in Liu Ruxu's womb.

The Lin Family Bloodline is the System and his Foundation, as well as his greatest secret.

This had already touched his reverse scale.

It seemed a fierce battle was unavoidable.

The following afternoon, the sun was blazing.

A message Talisman, carefully disguised as a pebble, was dropped by a messenger crow into the designated tree hole outside Luoxia Valley.

After A-Tu retrieved it, he immediately handed it to Lin Chen.

Lin Chen crushed the pebble, and Qin Ruowei's cold and urgent voice rang directly in his mind.

"Li Mao is acting suspiciously! There is talk in the market that he has been in frequent contact with two unidentified foreign Cultivators recently. Those two have chilling auras and do not seem like good people. For the past two nights, carriages have been entering and leaving the backyard of Huichun Hall. My people risked their lives to get close and heard the sounds of weapons and Talismans being moved."

"Most importantly, I spent a lot of money to buy a piece of news from a Loose Cultivator who is familiar with the servants of the Li Family: Li Mao got drunk last night and bragged to his confidants during the feast, 'I will soon be able to pull out that eyesore of a nail on Cuiping Mountain!'"

"Cuiping Mountain is the mountain range where our Luoxia Valley is located! They have already figured out the location of at least one of our strongholds! Lin Chen, the commercial suppression has ended; they are going to use force, prepare quickly!"

The message ended abruptly there.

Lin Chen gripped the pebble that had turned into powder, his eyes cold.

The worst-case scenario had happened after all.

Without the slightest hesitation, he immediately summoned all core members currently in Luoxia Valley.

Inside the Immortal Cave, the atmosphere was heavy to the extreme.

Su Qingyao, Liu Yuan, A-Tu, and Old Man Shi, who had just returned from patrolling outside the valley, all looked at Lin Chen quietly, waiting for his decision.

"I believe everyone is already clear on the situation." Lin Chen's gaze swept over everyone. "The enemy will soon be knocking on our door. We must immediately initiate the emergency plan."

He looked at Su Qingyao and Old Man Shi: "Qingyao, you are responsible for immediately counting and packing up all non-combat personnel in the valley, especially Lady Liu, as well as all our Medicinal Pills, spiritual grain, important classics, and other supplies. Old Man Shi, you assist Qingyao and complete it as quickly as possible."

He paused, his tone becoming extremely serious: "Later, Senior Liu will activate the small short-range teleportation Formation in the back mountain to transfer you and all supplies to the main cave of Shiyuan Valley at once. Remember, that teleportation Formation consumes a huge amount of energy and can only be used once; there is no second chance."

Then, his gaze turned to A-Tu: "A-Tu, you lead the people to escort them, ensuring the transfer process is foolproof."

Finally, he looked at Liu Yuan: "Senior Liu, this place is left to you and me."

He took out another Jade Slip, branded his instructions into it, and handed it to Su Qingyao: "This is for Qin Ruowei. Tell her to abandon the shop immediately, move all personnel underground, activate the No. 3 safe house, and wait for my next instruction. From today on, the Lin Family Pill and Talisman Pavilion no longer exists."

One instruction after another was issued clearly, without the slightest hesitation.

Faced with the pressure of life and death, the entire team began to operate at high speed like a precision machine.

When Su Qingyao, carrying the pregnant Liu Ruxu and the last batch of supplies, stepped into the shimmering teleportation Formation, she turned back and took a deep look at Lin Chen standing outside the Formation.

Her lips moved as if she wanted to say something, but in the end, she just nodded forcefully, her eyes filled with determination and trust.

With a flash of light, the people and supplies inside the Formation disappeared instantly.

After a huge energy fluctuation, the teleportation Formation, built from countless precious Materials, let out an overwhelmed groan, dimmed completely, and turned into a pile of waste stones.

Luoxia Valley instantly became empty and desolate.

Liu Yuan walked to Lin Chen's side and handed him two animal skin maps, one of Luoxia Valley and one of Shiyuan Valley.

"Boss, the personnel and supplies have been safely transferred. Now, it is time for us to set up the battlefield."

He pointed to the map and said in a deep voice: "Shiyuan Valley has a remnant ancient Formation and is supported by a Spiritual Vein; it is easy to defend and hard to attack, making it our last fortress. However, it only has one main exit. Once besieged by a strong enemy, we will be like turtles in a jar. Therefore, we cannot defend it stubbornly."

His finger moved to the map of Luoxia Valley: "Although the Formation in Luoxia Valley is basic, its range is large, the terrain is complex, and there are multiple small paths for maneuvering. My suggestion is to set this place as an outpost and bait."

"We can concentrate all the attack Talismans and disposable Formation Plates on hand to set up a chain trap here. For example, we can set up a trigger-based Illusion Formation at the valley entrance, lead the enemy into our preset killing Formation area, and then use Fire Crow Talismans and Geng Metal Sword Qi Talismans for saturation attacks. This can not only maximize damage to the enemy but also buy valuable reaction time for Shiyuan Valley, and we can also figure out the enemy's true combat strength through the battle situation."

Lin Chen nodded constantly while listening to Liu Yuan's analysis.

Although this former Foundation Establishment Formation Master's cultivation had fallen, his strategic vision and attainments in Formations were the most precious wealth of the entire Family.

"Let's do as you say." Lin Chen decided, "Whatever Materials you need, take them directly from the combat supplies. I want you to turn Luoxia Valley into a trap that can devour lives before dark!"

Liu Yuan accepted the order and left, his figure quickly disappearing into the mountain forest.

In the empty Immortal Cave, only Lin Chen was left.

The immense pressure of the impending great battle weighed on his heart like a mountain.

But it was precisely under this extreme pressure that he felt the cultivation Bottleneck in his body, which had long since reached the Peak of the first level of Foundation Establishment, actually show a trace of extremely weak loosening.

This was an opportunity!

For every bit more strength, the hope of survival increases by a bit!

He no longer hesitated and immediately set off to return to Shiyuan Valley, which had the strongest defense.

In a secret room deep within the main cave, the Spiritual Qi was so dense it had almost turned into substance, and a small Spiritual Spring was emitting a refreshing coolness.

Lin Chen sat cross-legged by the Spiritual Spring, preparing to use the abundant Spiritual Qi here and the few remaining high-quality guyuan pills in his hand to charge towards the second level of Foundation Establishment.

Before entering seclusion, he habitually sank his consciousness to check the interface of the "More Children, More Luck System".

He wanted to see if he could exchange for some items that could temporarily enhance combat strength from the System mall, even if the price was high.

However, the moment his consciousness touched the System interface, a sudden change occurred!

The System interface, which had always been as stable and cold as a ten-thousand-year iceberg, suddenly rippled with a faint yet dazzling golden light above the [Family Members] list column—where the names of Su Qingyao, Liu Ruxu, Qin Ruowei (Contract), A-Tu, Old Man Shi, and others were clearly listed—without any warning!

The ripples spread out like a pebble thrown into a calm lake.

Immediately after, a blurry symbol that Lin Chen had never seen before flickered in the center of the golden ripples.

[Luck Value: ???]

In just an instant, the golden ripples and the blurry symbol quickly faded away, as if they had never appeared.

The System interface returned to its usual deathly silence.

Yet, at this moment, Lin Chen's heart jolted violently, stirring up a stormy sea.

Luck Value?

What is this? The System had never had such a prompt before.

Why did it appear precisely at this critical moment when the Family is facing a life-and-death crisis?

He vaguely felt that this crisis was probably not as simple as an external threat brought by the Li Family and Blood Crow Tower.

Behind this, it seemed to involve some deeper level of rules that were closely related to the fate of the Family and the System itself.

He forcibly suppressed the shock and confusion in his heart.

Now is not the time to delve into this.

The most urgent priority is to improve his strength!

He took out a Medicinal Pill from his Storage Pouch, swallowed it without hesitation, then closed his eyes and guided the massive medicinal power to begin fully charging at the solid Bottleneck.

Outside the secret room, the night grew darker.

Above Shiyuan Valley, dark clouds began to gather, and muffled thunder rumbled deep within the clouds; a mountain rain was about to pour down.