25: Chapter 25 Monster Uprising in Dafeng Mountain!

Shi Jian was very satisfied with everything as it was.

The Alchemy Room was overseen by Sun Changping and his grandson Sun Mao, the Talisman Courtyard was managed by Sun Wanqing, the herb garden was entrusted to Sun Caiya, and the Spirit Beast lineage was personally led by Sun Boan.

The Spirit Stone income from the market was also becoming more stable month by month.

Everyone performed their duties, and everything was in perfect order.

As the Old Ancestor, his biggest task every day now was to find a large rock to lie on, basking in the sun while engaging in selfless cultivation.

Life was comfortable.

Shi Jian shook his whiskers and fur, showing a rare sense of contentment.

At this rate, in another eight to ten years, the Spirit Stones in the storehouse would accumulate to a considerable amount.

At that time, he could spend a large sum to buy a few rare spiritual items from outside and try to break through the shackles of his Bloodline. This matter couldn't be rushed, but the path was correct.

One step at a time.

Unfortunately, the heavens didn't intend to let him stay comfortable for long.

Three days later, a crimson sword-light streaked across the sky at an absurd speed, trailing a dazzling wake behind it.

Before the Sun Clan's mountain-protecting Formation could even react, the sword-light broke through and hovered above the Meeting Hall!

The sword-light dissipated, and a command medallion fell.

The medallion was three inches square, entirely bronze in color, with a cloud pattern carved on the front and the character "Summon" on the back. Spiritual power fluctuations continuously radiated from it, making the roof tiles of the Meeting Hall tremble slightly...

Sun Boan had just rushed back; the moment he held the medallion in both hands, his face turned pale!

He recognized this object.

The Conscription Order of White Cloud Temple.

The last time he had seen such a thing was back in his grandfather's generation.

Sun Boan didn't hesitate for a moment, clutching the medallion as he ran toward the back mountain. He even tripped halfway, but scrambled up and kept running, losing a shoe in the process, with no shred of a Cultivator's dignity left.

"Old Ancestor! Something terrible has happened!"

Shi Jian was dozing on the back mountain when his ears pricked up at the shout.

"Tsk."

He sat up from the rock, shaking off the withered leaves clinging to him, his vertical pupils full of impatience. "What are you panicking for, you old geezer? Has the sky fallen?"

With his post-nap irritability pent up in his chest, he really felt like slapping Sun Boan to death.

Out of breath and with dirt still on his knees from the fall, Sun Boan held the medallion over his head, his voice tight:

"Ping... Pingyang County... is gone!"

Shi Jian's ear twitched.

"The Yao Beasts in the Dafeng Mountains have rioted, and a beast tide is pushing south. Pingyang County bore the brunt of it; the county's grand Formation held for less than half a day before being breached."

Sun Boan swallowed hard, sweat droplets hitting the ground one after another. "The Foundation Establishment Cultivator of the Li and Wang families stationed in Pingyang County were killed on the spot. Countless Mortals and Loose Cultivators in the city have been killed or injured."

"The entire city... was slaughtered."

Shi Jian's vertical pupils narrowed into slits. He didn't speak, but his tail unconsciously tightened.

Dafeng Mountains.

That was where he had transformed into a Yao. Mingqiu Mountain was on the outskirts of the Dafeng Mountains, just a small hill without even a proper name.

He was all too familiar with that mountain range!

The Yao Beasts inside were quite powerful and fiercely territorial, often fighting bloody battles over a single Spiritual Plant or Spiritual Vein.

But because of that, the various Yao Beast groups were interlocked and wouldn't submit to one another, making it impossible for them to act in unison...

A beast tide?

They couldn't even stop fighting among themselves; where would a beast tide come from?

Unless... something forced them out, or something gathered them together!

Shi Jian suppressed a trace of unease in his heart and asked in a low voice:

"How large is the scale of the beast tide?"

"I don't know."

Sun Boan shook his head. "The medallion only contains the Conscription Order, no detailed battle reports. But Pingyang County had two Foundation Establishment families stationed there, plus the county's grand Formation, and it was broken in half a day..."

He didn't finish, but the meaning was clear.

This scale couldn't be small.

There might even be a Rank 5 or higher Golden Core Great Yao causing trouble!

"White Cloud Temple has issued a Conscription Order."

"Ordering all Foundation Establishment families and small Qi Refining clans in the nine counties under its jurisdiction to immediately mobilize their elites and gather at the Cangshi Valley defense line."

Sun Boan paused and added, "Any who disobey will have their clan exterminated."

Shi Jian sneered.

White Cloud Temple's tail had been stepped on; they seemed to be panicking...

The slaughter of Pingyang County wasn't just about the deaths. If the situation wasn't controlled and the beast tide spread across the entire Baiyun Prefecture, it would lead to insufficient spiritual tax collection.

The Nascent Soul great sects above wouldn't listen to explanations. When that time came, White Cloud Temple would lose a layer of skin and be left half-dead...

So this Conscription Order was less of a summons and more of a threat.

Go, and you might die.

Don't go, and you will definitely die!

"Mobilize the manpower and prepare; we have no way to avoid this."

"From our clan, only you, Sun Kezheng, and Sun Xing will go. Then pick forty from the Immortal Slaves. As for the market, have the eight small clans under our jurisdiction provide ten people each."

Sun Boan was stunned. "Old Ancestor, you're going too?"

"Isn't that obvious?"

Shi Jian jumped off the bluestone, landing silently. His four paws stepped on the mud, leaving four shallow prints. "With you bunch of minor Qi Refinement Stage Cultivators, you wouldn't even be enough to fill the gaps between teeth at the Cangshi Valley defense line."

"If I don't go, the little Foundation the Sun Clan has managed to accumulate will all be lost."

"Besides, do I dare not go?"

These words were spoken calmly, but Sun Boan heard a hint of bitterness in them.

In the eyes of White Cloud Temple, a Foundation Establishment Family was worth less than a dog. Once the Conscription Order was issued, you had to run over wagging your tail.

No questions asked, regardless of life or death.

The cultivation world was like this; every Realm was a different world...

This was always the helplessness of the weak.

Sun Boan asked no more and turned to make arrangements.

That night, the entire Sun Clan was brightly lit. People moved in and out of the storehouse, carrying out crates of Talismans, Medicinal Pills, and Spirit Stones.

Sun Wanqing worked through the night to produce various Talismans, her eyes bloodshot, while Sun Changping worked overtime in the Alchemy Room to refine pills.

Along with Sun Tieshan and Sun Caiya, these four who possessed skills were the Foundation of the Family, so Shi Jian was unwilling to send them to the front lines to throw their lives away.

That night.

Sun Mao ran to the back mountain to find Shi Jian, holding a wooden box in his arms. He said it contained six newly refined Medicinal Pills for the Old Ancestor to have ready on the journey.

Shi Jian looked down at the wooden box, then at Sun Mao.

"Scram and go to sleep."

Sun Mao placed the wooden box on the ground and turned to run.

After running a dozen steps, he turned back and shouted, "Old Ancestor, you must come back!"

Shi Jian ignored him, but his paw quietly nudged the wooden box closer. Although they weren't any high-quality pills, it was still a token of the boy's filial piety.

Early the next morning, the group gathered outside Hongtian City.

The sky wasn't fully bright yet, and morning mist still drifted along the ground. At the front of the group was a beast carriage pulled by two Rank 1 Low Grade Azure Wind Oxen.

The carriage was spacious, with simple Sound-isolating Formation Runes carved on the four corners.

Shi Jian lay inside the carriage, eyes closed in a light sleep, still thinking about the Dafeng Mountains.

Sun Boan rode a Scaled Horse beside the carriage. In the middle of the group, they also brought thirteen large Spirit Seeking Rats.

They were divided into three groups, spreading out along the flanks and the front for sentry and scouting duties. This was a beast-taming technique being used in actual combat for the first time...

Forty Immortal Slaves were lined up on both sides, with no Magical Artifacts on them. Their only means of fighting were some low-to-mid-tier minor Spells.

People from the eight small clans followed at the rear, making the line very long.

No one spoke.

The closer they got to the front line, the more desolate the surroundings became, with even some ruins appearing and countless refugees...

A few days later, Cangshi Valley.

Looking from afar, the cliff walls on both sides stood facing each other, the grayish-white rock faces barren of vegetation, like two walls carved out by a blade.

The valley mouth faced east and was about thirty zhang wide. It was one of the few main passages from the Dafeng Mountains to the heartland of the Human Race!

At this moment, on the flat ground outside the valley mouth, tents stretched continuously, flags of various colors were densely planted, and the glows of Formations overlapped amidst the shouts of men and neighing of horses.

Shi Jian lifted the carriage curtain and took a look.

There were quite a few people.

Family Cultivators from the nine counties of Baiyun Prefecture had almost all arrived, along with many Loose Cultivators who had been forcibly conscripted, forming a vast, dark mass.

At a rough estimate, there must be over three thousand!

But Shi Jian's perception was more useful than his eyes.

Among the three thousand people, there were no more than thirty Foundation Establishment Stage auras. The rest were all Qi Refining Stage Cultivators, mostly at the mid-levels of Qi Refining.

Using these people to block a beast tide?

Shi Jian lowered the curtain, his expression unreadable.

As the group approached the camp gates, two gate-guarding Cultivators stepped forward to block them.

"Halt! Who goes there?"

The leader was at the seventh level of Qi Refining, with an iron ruler tucked into his waist and a very loud voice. He looked like someone running errands and guarding gates for someone else.

"Sun Clan of Hongtian City, here to assemble as per the Conscription Order."

"How dare you block the Old Ancestor's carriage? Step back at once!"