In a hidden place, a slightly puzzled voice sounded.
"Hmm?"
"Why are there so few evolved ferocious beasts?"
"Is the quality of the blood feast insufficient?"
A massive eye slowly opened. It seemed to see a scene far in the distance, and then it appeared slightly surprised. These ferocious beasts were not important to him. He had only been idle and ran an experiment in this small world for fun. Yet even this casual experiment should have been unstoppable for the mortals of this world. So many ferocious beasts at the level of super spirit beasts… And they still failed to completely massacre humans?
One image after another appeared in that eye. Then a strange voice spoke.
"Wushuang Sect. Yun Jin."
Interesting. Truly interesting.
He remembered.
The person Lin Xiao asked him to eliminate before was also someone named Yun Jin. He had not cared much at the time; the mortals of this small world could be easily removed.
Now…
Still, he could casually remove them, but Yun Jin herself had piqued his interest. In the small world, she would count as a peerless genius, right?
Even the Wushuang Sect disciples were individually ridiculously strong. There had to be some secret within her. If only he could bind her and study her properly.
Yet…
He had already taken Lin Xiao's life branch, so that was no longer an option. Such a perfect experimental subject, yet he had to destroy it himself. The eye swept the scene, and a sharp, eerie voice said, "It seems this batch of ferocious beasts will not achieve the expected effect. Next time, adjustments will be needed…"
Then the voice gradually faded.
At the square, Lin Xiao no longer wanted to look at the water screen.
These Wushuang Sect disciples guarding the cave entrance had been handling everything with apparent ease from start to finish. Of course, after consuming too much spiritual energy, they could no longer recover quickly. If this continued long enough, they would still face death eventually.
Yet they all knew:
Three days.
Just hold out for three days.
Once the spatial blockade lifts, they could return!
Three days.
Even with closed eyes, they could endure it.
This group of disciples could not die.
Lin Xiao had to place his hope elsewhere.
The situation in other areas was unseen on the water screen. But surely, no other disciples could match the skill of Wushuang Sect's disciples, right?
Such a wave of ferocious beasts could not be protected against by high-level cultivators alone. Those venturing out to aid others would surely suffer heavy losses. They would start with hot-blooded courage, then, once calm, resent Yun Jin for making the wrong choice.
Their sects would also resent Yun Jin for provoking them to die. At that time, he would use the heavy losses to his advantage. He would never let Yun Jin profit. As for whether Yun Jin could rescue the previous disciples while suffering minimal losses…
Lin Xiao sneered.
That was absolutely impossible. He could understand Yun Jin's strength. He could comprehend the strength of Wushuang Sect's disciples. But if those answering Yun Jin's call suddenly became strong enough to counter super spirit beasts, Lin Xiao could not understand it.
Such a thing could not exist in this world!
The situation on the water screen was frustrating. Lin Xiao grew lazy to watch and simply closed his eyes to rest. These ferocious beasts had to be even stronger. The heavier the human losses, the more leverage he would have.
In Lin Xiao's anticipation the original safe zone had turned into a river of blood. But most of this blood belonged to the ferocious beasts. In each region, groups of cultivators gathered. At first, when the ferocious beast wave appeared, the casualties were heavy.
But once reinforcements brought news from outside, people gradually calmed down.
The formation pages given by Yun Jin allowed their strength to combine to the maximum.
The talismans Yun Jin provided could save them from death at critical moments.
Although these ferocious beasts were powerful, their intelligence had not grown.
The humans quickly discovered methods to counter them. They noticed that the beasts attacked in large groups, but typically targeted cultivators of the same rank.
This gave them strategic advantage.
The human cultivators regrouped, ensuring that most on the same formation page were of equal rank.
For example if all cultivators in the formation were Nascent Soul stage the beasts attacking them would mostly be Nascent Soul stage as well, though far more numerous.
However!
The Qiankun Unity formation allowed them to combine forces and elevate their cultivation by a full rank!
Even super spirit beasts posed far less threat once their rank increased.
At the same time each formation page often included one or two high-rank cultivators. This ferocious beast wave was unusual: the strongest beasts were only Unity stage, and even those were rare. The strongest they encountered were barely Divine Transformation stage.
These beasts could not sense high-rank cultivators. With the combined formation and a few high-rank leaders guiding same-rank disciples, the situation quickly stabilized.
Once large-scale rescue operations were underway, human casualties dropped dramatically.
On the first day, human losses were still severe.
By the second day, the situation improved greatly.
By the third day once most had gathered, everyone tacitly began hunting the beasts.
The roles of hunter and prey had reversed again!
Outside the city, surviving cultivators gained rewards hundreds or even thousands of times greater than usual—a sudden fortune overnight.
In Ji Heng's team, someone said sheepishly, "I thought leaving the city would be near-certain death. But… it seems there was little danger."
Since they began using the formation pages, danger had decreased greatly. Once fifty-person teams were formed, they could even hunt the beasts themselves. And this had nothing to do with their personal strength—it was entirely Yun Jin's gift.
As he spoke, the others fell silent. Many had criticized Yun Jin behind her back. Today, they had received such great favor from her. The contrast made them feel uneasy.
Ji Heng sighed. "Sect Master Yun probably exhausted Wushuang Sect's resources to rescue our people. This rescue is our collective responsibility. We cannot let Sect Master Yun bear the consequences alone. I intend to give all our gains to her."
This time, their biggest gain was the corpses and bones of the ferocious beasts. These were extremely valuable for refining pills and crafting instruments.
"I think the same," someone immediately agreed.
"It should be handed over to Sect Master Yun," others added.
Ji Heng looked up at the sky.
It was no longer as dark as when they first arrived.
Gradually, the blackness faded.
Now, it had thinned considerably.
The light was coming!