Family Cultivation: Rise of the Wilderness

Chapter 455 The Beast Tide is Coming
In the northeast direction of Monkey Valley, two figures walked side by side along a rugged mountain path. The cliffs on both sides were as if cleaved by a knife and axe, and the cliff faces were full of honeycomb-like caves. When the wind blew, it made a ghostly wailing sound, which sent chills down one's spine.

"Uncle Qianshi, what do you think of this place?"

After walking for a while, Li Xiangming asked first.

Li Qianshi stopped and exclaimed, "Everyone at home says you are good at business and strategy, but who would have thought you are also knowledgeable in military affairs? If the monsters really attack this dangerous place, they will surely suffer heavy losses and find it difficult to move forward."

"It was just that I found a good place; it's not that I have any military skills."

Li Xiangming chuckled to himself.

He was indeed somewhat intelligent, but far from being omnipotent, and knew very little about military campaigns and strategic planning.

However, Jinlinpo is indeed a strategically important and dangerous place due to its rugged terrain.

Surrounded by towering peaks and steep ridges, the only road leading up the mountain at the bottom of the slope is divided into three sections by a natural stone archway. Each section is narrow at the top and wide at the bottom, just like three gates blocking the throat.

However, there is a narrow path that can bypass these three gates and merges into the main road in a V-shape.

But this path stretches along the cliff, with a bottomless abyss on the outside and countless shark-tooth-shaped brown shale protruding from the inner rock wall, which can easily cut flesh if you are not careful.

Perhaps the monsters are thick-skinned and don't need to worry about this.

The cultivators stationed here wouldn't just watch them come over. They would simply throw a fire talisman, causing the mountain rocks to tremble and countless demonic beasts to fall into the abyss like ants in an instant.

Attacking from the main road is not easy either.

The higher you go up the slope, the narrower the road becomes, with the narrowest point only wide enough for three people to walk side by side.

The monsters were generally stronger than humans, so they had to line up one by one.

At the top of the slope is a mountain spring. Even without the rainy season, cultivators can cast spells to make the waterfall cascade down, causing even a thousand troops to flee in terror.

Afterwards, the slope was covered with moss and slippery, making it even more difficult for the monster to continue its attack.

However, if the beast tide is large enough, there will be quite a few powerful demon cultivators inside.

Especially the demon cultivators in the Bone Fusion stage have already mastered a certain degree of great power, and with a little effort, they can change the terrain and landform.

The monks guarding the slope who thought they could rest easy with the unique terrain of Golden Scale Slope were dreaming.

To this end, Li Xiangming mobilized a full 150 cultivators to modify Golden Scale Slope. The first priority was to make the slope steeper and smoother, while digging caves in the walls and placing traps; building sturdy fortresses in key locations and stationing manpower there; seizing high ground and deploying rune-inscribed crossbows, and so on.

He even planned to place twenty explosive talismans underground at intervals along the slope to form "minefields," waiting for the monsters to advance unstoppably before detonating these talismans to deal them a heavy blow.

"Xiangming, Jinlin Slope is good, but we need to lure monsters to attack it."

After observing for a while, Li Qianshi roughly understood the source of Li Xiangming's confidence in guarding Monkey Valley, but he quickly raised a very sharp practical question.

What if the beast tide heads straight for Monkey Valley, abandoning Golden Scale Slope?
Or perhaps the monsters will disregard even Monkey Valley and venture deep into the heart of Pudong, threatening Danggui Mountain?

If that's the case, all their efforts these past few days have been in vain.

Li Xiangming frowned slightly; Li Qianshi's concerns were not unfounded.

Most monsters have low intelligence and are easily provoked into acting impulsively and retaliating.

His original plan was to send a small team to lure the main force of the beast tide toward Jinlinpo, even if that team was likely to suffer heavy losses or even be wiped out.

But as long as the battle doesn't break out in Monkey Valley, a few casualties are worthwhile.

However, he could not guarantee the success rate of this move.

This is because some demon cultivators at the Bone Fusion stage have already reached the level of intelligence of ordinary people.

Especially when they receive a death order from the powerful demon behind the scenes, they may be able to suppress the violent emotions of their subordinate demon beasts and act according to the plan.

The once obscure Jinlinpo was clearly not part of their plans.

"Do your best and obey destiny."

Li Xiangming rubbed his temples and replied.

If he cannot attract the beast tide at Golden Scale Slope, he will likely force the Li family and the demon-hunting cultivators to withdraw from Monkey Valley.

The reason is simple: fighting in Monkey Valley would require ten times more personnel and resources than at Golden Scale Slope to have any chance of fighting the monsters, and the Li family had not provided him with enough support.

The supply of Explosion Talismans alone is far from sufficient.

Saving people means losing land, saving land means losing people.

He would rather give up the Monkey Valley he had painstakingly built than let the Li family cultivators and their six demon-hunting squads die.

Of course, he wouldn't announce the news until the very last moment.

Otherwise, if the matter of guarding the valley ends in a half-hearted effort, his prestige will plummet.

"Uncle Qianshi, have you found out where those people came from?"

After a moment of silence, Li Xiangming changed the subject.

"No."

Li Qianshi shook his head: "That person bit his tongue and committed suicide."

"He committed suicide?"

Li Xiangming's tone was somewhat dissatisfied.

Yesterday, the Li family's reinforcements arrived at Monkey Valley, but were attacked by two nameless minor cultivators. Although neither of them succeeded, one of them was killed on the spot, and the other was captured by Li Xianghua.

But he was still furious.

Because he knew that ordinary demon-hunting cultivators, even if they were curious, would not risk their lives to break this taboo, especially in Monkey Valley where the use of magic power was strictly prohibited.

What concerned him even more was that the other party cooperated seamlessly, and their target was a spirit pet that the Li family had never revealed to the outside world.

Indeed, after ten years of development, the Beast Breeding Center has achieved some success, having successively trained more than sixty spirit pets with the cultivation level of the Spirit Awakening stage.

Almost none of these spirit pets were sold. This was partly because their quality couldn't compare to the spirit pets from Yuyuan, which were also sold at Lingguang Pavilion, and partly because Li Qianxiong hoped to retain them internally.

Spirit pets are not only tools for making money, but also powerful tools for enhancing a cultivator's combat power.

If the Li family, which was already skilled in combat, could transform into a beast-taming family, it would be like adding wings to a tiger.

This is also the original intention behind the Li family's huge investment in the animal breeding facility.

To this day, most of the spirit pets bred in the animal breeding center have been contracted.

But their existence remains a secret.

Not only outsiders, but even within the Li family, there was a deep-seated taboo surrounding it.

There is no doubt that the Li family wants to keep them as a trump card.

However, the higher-ups also had the idea of ​​testing their combat effectiveness. After much deliberation, Li Qianxiong decided that the latter was more important, so he sent twenty beast-taming cultivators to the team supporting Monkey Valley.

Although these people and their spirit pets are destined to be exposed to the outside world once they step out of Dangui Mountain.

But Li Xiangming was surprised that they were being targeted so quickly, and he felt it was a provocation!
Therefore, after capturing the suspect alive, he immediately ordered Li Qianshi to interrogate him.

Li Qianshi sighed: "The other party seemed unable to withstand our severe torture and was about to speak, so our men relaxed their guard. Who would have thought that the other party was determined to die?"

Upon hearing this, Li Xiangming didn't know what to say.

The other side was clearly prepared; anyone who dared to commit suicide was no different from a death squad member.

Even if they're kept alive, they probably won't get any information out of them.

After a moment's thought, he slowly said, "It seems that I still need to personally oversee Monkey Valley. Uncle Qianshi, I'm leaving Golden Scale Slope to you. Xiangyu will assist you from the side."

"Don't worry, as long as the monsters dare to charge over, I will make sure they never return."

Li Qianshi patted his chest, feeling quite confident after having seen the terrain of Jinlinpo.

Just then, a panicked figure flew towards Jinlinpo.

Li Xiangming narrowed his eyes, flew into the air, and stopped the other party: "Song Ye!?"

Song Ye bent down to look, and was immediately overjoyed: "Hall Master Li!"

After the initial surprise, his expression suddenly changed, and he exclaimed urgently, "The beast tide is coming!"

"Tide of beasts?"

Li Xiangming was shocked, his eyes revealing a hint of disbelief.

He set up two outer forts outside Puyin Mountain and sent two demon-hunting teams, the Vicious Dogs and the Mad Lions, to guard them, specifically to investigate any unusual movements of demons inside and outside Puyin Mountain.

Until now, not a single word has come from either fortress. Yet Song Ye tells him that the beast tide has arrived?
"They came from Daishan!"

Song Ye took a breath and added, "Today it was our Crimson Flame Demon Hunting Team's turn to patrol the section from Dai Mountain to Monkey Valley. Unexpectedly, we encountered a large group of demonic beasts. Fortunately, they were still far away, so we retreated immediately. The team leader instructed me to use a wind-traveling talisman to be the first to return and report the situation."

"How large is the beast tide? Are there any Bone-Merging Demon Cultivators among them?"

Li Qianshi quickly interrupted.

Just as Song Ye was about to answer, Li Xiangming's cold question came: "Your regimental commander went there in person?"

Song Ye paused for a moment, looked at the two of them, and finally answered Li Xiangming, "That's right, the regimental commander."

"absurd!"

Li Xiangming suppressed his anger, too lazy to say another word, and disappeared into the horizon.

Li Qianshi and Song Ye looked at each other, and Li Qianshi spoke first: "You should go to Monkey Valley right now and have Xiang Hua gather the cultivators in the valley to reinforce this place. I will mobilize the people from Golden Scale Slope to rescue your leader first."

"Thank you very much."

Song Ye did not know Li Qianshi. Although he knew that the other party was a high-ranking member of the Li family, the rescue of Li Jihu was urgent at the moment. He did not have time to say more, and only hurriedly thanked him before flying quickly towards Monkey Valley.
-
The vast wilderness is desolate, with drifting clouds.

The mountain range stretches across the land like an iron ridge, and the weathered gullies have carved the mountain ridges into an uneven surface.

The dense forest swayed in the wind.

Suddenly, the earth trembled slightly, the dense forest churned, and branches collided with each other, making a sound like ocean waves. Countless birds cried out in alarm, and a dark mass of them rushed into the sky.

More than a dozen figures darted out from the dense forest, leaving behind streaks of white flame-like escape light.

"Commander, those two women are running faster than us!"

A robust young man with a round head and face was panting heavily.

Li Jihu raised his head slightly. The two streaks of light in front of him were indeed much faster than them. He turned around and saw the beast tide surging in like a black torrent behind him. Trees were uprooted, and the wind whipped up dust that blotted out the sky.

The once lush forest was razed to the ground, leaving behind a scene of devastation.

A look of apprehension flashed in Li Jihu's eyes. If the beast tide caught up with him now, he would probably die without a burial place.

Of course, it will take these beasts some time to catch up with them.

The real trouble is those "bald devils" following behind.

"Commander, are we just going to take them to Golden Scale Slope like this?"

On the other side, Zhang Guangqing asked anxiously.

Upon hearing this, Li Jihu hesitated.

Although Jinlinpo is a strategically important location, it has only recently been developed and many of its projects are still under construction. Bringing the monster there now would likely disrupt Uncle Nineteen's plans.

They can lure the monsters away; without outside help, these people will be caught up sooner or later.

I wonder if Song Ye delivered the intelligence to Jinlinpo?
Just then, the two streaks of light in front of them suddenly changed direction.

"Commander, those two women are trying to abandon us!"

The round-faced youth immediately reminded him.

"Let them be."

Li Jihu replied in a muffled voice.

Those two were people they had only met by chance.

No, they had never even met; they were just two pitiful people being chased by a horde of beasts.

Now, the other party clearly feels that they have been implicated by so many people in the Crimson Flame Demon Hunting Group, and is planning to change their approach.

He was neither surprised nor annoyed by this.

"Commander, look!"

The round-faced young man started shouting again.

Li Jihu glanced at him irritably: "Tie Tou, can you save your magic power? Stop sending me telepathic messages. We're escaping for our lives, not performing a play."

"No! Commander, those two women are back again!"

The young man named Tie Tou responded hastily.

Li Jihu then realized that the Thunder Crimson Ghost Eagles that had been chasing them had actually split up to chase the two female cultivators, and unusually, they had increased their speed, closing the distance to less than a hundred feet.

"That's quite unusual."

Li Jihu was secretly surprised; it was strange that the Thunderclap Red Ghost Eagle, with its astonishing patience, could be so impatient.

"Oh no, these birds are trying to attack us too!"

Zhang Guangqing was the first to unleash his magic sword and wave it forward.

The two bald-headed demons that swooped down were immediately caught in the gale and unable to move.

However, when Zhang Guangqing made his move, the escape light shattered, and a much larger gray roc pounced on his back.

"Go away!"

Li Jihu roared and spat out flames from his hands, which slammed into the gray roc.

Unexpectedly, the gray roc was extremely fast, and in a short while it soared into the sky, circling above everyone's heads.

Li Jihu stared at it, his gaze turning cold, and continued to shout, "Uncle Zhang, run! I'll cover your retreat!"

“Ji Hu, you are the commander, so I should be the one to cover the rear.”

Zhang Guangqing shook his head and did not follow the main group.

Seeing this, Li Jihu became somewhat anxious: "Among those present, I have the highest cultivation level, and it is only right that I shoulder this heavy responsibility."

"Your mission is to bring the demon-hunting team back!"

Zhang Guangqing was also very anxious. Because the Thunder Crimson Ghost Eagle suddenly made a move, the entire fleeing group slowed down, and the flying monsters that had been chasing them also caught up at this moment.

These birds generally don't have high cultivation levels, but they're not the main force of the beast tide either.

The real threat lies in the black torrent beneath.

It's important to understand that the vast majority of beast-type demon cultivators are unwilling to fly for two reasons. Firstly, their running speed on the ground is already quite fast. Secondly, their enormous size means that traversing the air would consume far more demonic energy.

But regardless, they are capable of flight.

If the Crimson Flame Demon Hunting Team gets bogged down by the surrounding flying monsters for too long, the consequences will be unimaginable.

After repelling two sparrow demons the size of human heads, Zhang Guangqing glanced at the situation. The female cultivators at the forefront, as well as Tie Tou and the others, were forced to stop and fight the Thunder Crimson Ghost Eagle.

"These beasts!"

Zhang Guangqing cursed angrily.

The Thunder Crimson Ghost Eagles were much faster than them, but they deliberately kept them in suspense, giving them hope of escape. Just when everyone thought the beast tide was nothing special, this group of "bald ghosts" suddenly caught up with them.

If this continues, they will be completely wiped out.

Zhang Guangqing's expression changed several times. He gritted his teeth and said, "Jihu, I'll hold them off here. You go and rescue Tietou and the others first."

"Uncle Zhang, I can't leave you alone."

Before Li Jihu could finish speaking, Zhang Guangqing roared, "I still want to live! If you don't clear the way ahead, how are we going to escape?"

Li Jihu hesitated for a moment. He brought exactly twelve people with him, all of whom were at least at the mid-stage of Qi Refining. Among them, he and Zhang Guangqing were both late-stage Qi Refining cultivators.

The Thunder Crimson Ghost Eagles ahead numbered only eight and were at the mid-stage of the Spirit Awakening realm. Blocking the way, they were at a disadvantage.

However, everyone was too tense while being chased by the beast horde, and they couldn't unleash their full strength or coordinate well, which is why they looked somewhat disheveled.

If he were to clear the way, the situation would be much better.

Thinking of this, Li Jihu gritted his teeth and said in a deep voice, "Uncle Zhang, hold on for a moment, I'll take care of those beasts and then come back to save you."

As he finished speaking, bursts of flame erupted from his body, and waves of intense heat instantly spread out, causing the surrounding birds and beasts to flee in terror.

"Fuck you."

Li Jihu roared and charged towards the eight Thunder Crimson Ghost Eagles like a burning fireball.

(End of this chapter)