Family Cultivation: Rise of the Wilderness

Chapter 502 Retreat

When we emerged from the Nine Luminaries Dragon-Trapping Formation, dawn had already broken.

Li Xiangming immediately found Li Chengfeng and asked in a deep voice, "Master Li! This Centipede Poison Granny is far beyond our expectations. Do you have any good ideas on how to deal with it?"

Upon hearing this, Li Chengfeng remained silent in thought.

Xie Yuantao bluntly stated: "The Nine Luminaries Dragon-Trapping Formation is not a killing formation. It is already difficult enough to trap this beast. Whether you can eliminate it depends on your own strength."

"This"

Li Xiangming frowned.

The demon cultivator at the late stage of Bone Fusion was beyond the capabilities of both him and Li Xiangyu.
To be honest, he already regretted it.

If he had known that the beast tide to the north contained a creature like the Centipede Poison Granny, he would never have led the Demon Suppression Camp northward!
"Commander Li need not worry too much."

Li Chengfeng slowly said, "Eliminating the Centipede Poison Granny is difficult, but it doesn't prevent us from stopping the beast tide! As long as the scale of the beast tide is reduced to a certain extent, these Bone-Melting Demon Cultivators will most likely not invade human territory."

"Why?"

Li Xiangming was somewhat curious.

Li Chengfeng and Xie Yuantao exchanged a glance, and finally Li Chengfeng answered, "As for why, it's hard for me to explain in a short time. But it's an experience that our human ancestors gained with blood and tears. Once more than half of the demon beast servants are lost, no matter what the great demon's condition is, they will choose to retreat."

Xie Yuantao snorted coldly and added, "To put it bluntly, it's because the great demons are afraid of death! The low-level demons in the beast tide are both their subordinates and their shields. If their servants are all dead, the great demons are like carrion in the eyes of vultures, and may attract the thunderous strike of a Golden Core cultivator at any time. This has been proven too many times in the past tens of millions of years. The so-called 'great demons always have servants when they go out' is less an experience we have summarized and more a survival strategy that demons have to adopt in their fight against the cultivation world of Heng Kingdom."

Li Xiangming listened for a while, seemingly lost in thought.

Legend has it that ten thousand years ago, the territory of the Heng Kingdom was far smaller than it is now.

The entire Li Nan Dao, including Li Bei Dao, is the homeland of the Nanbin Demon Clan.

Besides the Nanbin demon clan, Heng Kingdom also faces threats from the Dongji demon clan and the Xihuang demon clan, making it a country that is barely surviving in the cracks.

However, the cultivation world of Heng Kingdom seemed to be blessed with good fortune. In just ten thousand years, it consolidated its security and expanded its territory, especially in its campaign against the demon race of Nanbin, which was very effective.

To this day, the demon race of Nanbin has retreated again and again, and has retreated from the south bank of the Heng River to the edge of the Caiyun Sea, losing more than 70% of its homeland!
Those less intelligent demons might not have any concept of this; but how could a highly intelligent Bone-Melting Demon Cultivator like the Centipede Poison Granny dare to be so calm and collected in front of the Heng Kingdom's cultivation realm?
"So, as long as we use the Nine Luminaries Dragon-Trapping Formation to wipe out those low-level demonic beasts, the Centipede Poison Granny and the Crimson Demon Ape will retreat?"

Li Xiangming couldn't help but ask.

Li Chengfeng stroked his long beard and replied, "We've already been targeted. Getting them to retreat isn't that simple. But Calabash Valley is still some distance from Monkey Valley. They probably won't attack Monkey Valley again. Even if they do target Monkey Valley, they should wait until they regroup the beast tide."

Upon hearing this, Li Xiangming fell into deep thought.

Li Chengfeng's words were very clear: the Demon Suppression Camp was already on its way to completing the core mission of blocking the beast tide from the north and protecting Monkey Valley. The next thing to consider was how to safely evacuate.

After all, the Nine Luminaries Dragon Trapping Formation can only last for three days!
Three days later, the Demon Suppression Camp must once again face the formidable demonic beasts such as the Centipede Poison Granny, the Crimson Ape Demon, and the Mysterious Armored Rhinoceros Demon.

"The key lies in the formation."

Li Xiangming raised his head and looked intently at Li Chengfeng.

The Demon Suppression Camp's strength is undeniable; the only ones capable of fighting are him and Li Xiangyu, both early Foundation Establishment cultivators.

No one could stay behind to cover the retreat.

Only by relying on the power of formations can they have a chance to survive. For example, setting up a few illusion formations or trapping formations along the retreat route, even if it can only buy them a little time, would be of great significance to the Demon Suppression Camp.

As it happened, there was a powerful array master right in front of him.

Looking into Li Xiangming's eyes, Li Chengfeng shook his head slightly: "I'm afraid I can't be in two places at once."

He needed to keep a constant watch on the Nine Luminaries Dragon-Trapping Formation, otherwise a highly intelligent demon beast like the Centipede Poisonous Granny might escape. Clearly, it would be inappropriate for him to leave now to set up the formation.

Li Xiangming quickly said, "I have some talent in physiognomy. I wonder if Master Li could give me some pointers?"

Xie Yuantao, standing to the side, immediately revealed a look of disdain: "Our sect's array techniques are never easily passed on to outsiders. You'd better stop daydreaming."

Li Xiangming's expression was serious, and his tone was sincere as he said, "Master Xie, please do not misunderstand! Among all the members of the Demon Suppression Camp, only Xianghua is a formation master. Even if Master Li is unwilling to guide him, he will still have to shoulder this heavy responsibility. However, our Li family's knowledge of formations is shallow, and although Xianghua has the desire to learn, he has no wonderful methods to comprehend! If the formation he sets up cannot deceive the Centipede Poison Granny, then we Foundation Establishment cultivators can escape, but all the demon-hunting cultivators will not be able to escape their doom."

At this point, Li Xiangming bowed deeply to the two people in front of him: "I humbly beg the two Daoist priests to have mercy on their painstaking efforts to fight against the beast tide."

"You boy!"

Upon hearing this tactic of using righteousness to seek personal gain, Xie Yuantao's pupils immediately flashed with anger, and he was about to lash out. Li Chengfeng stretched out his palm to stop him, then stared at Li Xiangming for a while before saying, "Then let him come over."

"Thank you both, Taoist priests!"

Li Xiangming was overjoyed, bowed again, and then withdrew.

Seeing this, Xie Yuantao said with dissatisfaction, "Senior brother, this kid is clearly eyeing the array formation inheritance of our Three Talents Sect. Why are you giving him so much face? If you ask me, he shouldn't have come to this so-called Demon Suppression Camp..." "Junior brother!"

Li Chengfeng waved his hand, his tone very calm: "Let nature take its course! The art of formations isn't something I can just teach them and expect them to learn. If they truly have such talent, I'd be happy for them. In the entire Pudong region, only the Demon Suppression Camp is actively fighting the beast tide. Since we've encountered them, we should help if we can..."

"I think you're just being soft-hearted!"
-
Upon returning to the main tent of the Demon Suppression Camp, Li Xiangming was slightly excited and immediately summoned key members such as Li Qianshi and Master Liaoshen to discuss countermeasures.

"Withdrawal?"

Li Qianshi was taken aback when he heard Li Xiangming's inner thoughts.

Li Xiangming frankly stated, "The beast tide from the north is far stronger than we imagined. If it weren't for the Nine Luminaries Dragon-Trapping Formation, we would probably have been defeated in a single battle. Such an insurmountable situation cannot be pursued any further."

Since the Demon Suppression Camp marched north, he had been under a lot of pressure.

The appearance of the Mang Cult and the Centipede Poison Granny, in particular, caught him off guard and made the originally confident Demon Suppression Camp appear "weak" in the face of the overwhelming force.

The attempt to stop the beast tide at Calabash Valley was merely a last resort.

Now that the Demon Suppression Camp has revealed its trump card, the Nine Luminaries Dragon Trapping Formation, it still cannot guarantee the resolution of major threats such as the Centipede Poison Granny and the Crimson Ape Demon. He must consider his options.

Previously, he might have been hesitant.

Because once the Demon Suppression Camp withdraws, it will not be a triumphant return, but a fruitless retreat, or even a defeat.

Both the Demon Suppression Camp itself and Monkey Valley were bound to be filled with fear and unease. It would be almost impossible to expect a group of demon-hunting cultivators to be determined to guard Monkey Valley.

Li Xiangming couldn't help but worry that the beast tide might take advantage of the situation to attack Monkey Valley.

But what Li Chengfeng said reassured him.

If he can reduce the size of the northern beast tide to a certain extent within three days, he will have already saved Monkey Valley. Moreover, Li Chengfeng is willing to guide Li Xianghua in setting up formations to delay the beast tide's pursuit.

This immediately filled Li Xiangming with an eager hope of "dismounting the tiger from its saddle".

As for those few Bone-Merging Demon Cultivators, let whoever wants to fight them fight.

"This"

Li Qianshi and Master Liaoshen looked at each other in bewilderment.

With three Foundation Establishment cultivators—Li Xiangming, Li Xiangyu, and Qingyang Daoist—the Demon Suppression Camp, relying on the unpredictable Nine Luminaries Dragon-Trapping Formation, is not without hope of defeating the Bone-Melting Demon Cultivators one by one.

At least the Golden-feathered Iron-clawed Eagle was the first to fall.

While the Crimson Ape Demon and the Mysterious Armored Rhinoceros Demon are indeed more powerful, they may not be able to escape the combined strength of the three.

However, upon hearing Li Xiangming's description of the Centipede Poison Granny's earth escape technique, the two couldn't help but hesitate.

Centipede Poison Granny had obviously heard the commotion from the battle between the Golden-feathered Iron Claw Eagles and rushed over, but she was a little slow in arriving.

Eliminating the Crimson Ape Demon or the Mystic Armored Rhinoceros Demon will not be a matter of a short time. If the Centipede Poison Granny suddenly emerges from within, the consequences would be unimaginable.

After hesitating for a moment, the two nodded silently.

Li Qianshi said directly, "You are the commander, so the decision to fight or retreat is up to you."

"Then let's retreat."

Li Xiangming immediately stood up and glanced at the two of them: "The Demon Suppression Camp still needs to enter the formation to hunt down the demon beasts. The news of the withdrawal should be kept only between the three of us for the time being."

"Yes!"

The two of them stood up and nodded cautiously.

Just then, a burly young man rushed in looking flustered.

"Jihu, what happened?"

Li Xiangming frowned. Due to the strength of the beast tide, he was worried that something might happen to Li Jihu, so he directly put him into the Mingqiao Division, the core of the Demon Suppression Camp, to guard the central army and await orders.

What could have made him so flustered?
Master Liaoshen seemed to realize something, and his expression suddenly changed: "Could it be that something has happened to the Tongyou Mirror?"

Li Jihu swallowed hard, then took out a palm-sized compass from his pocket. It was covered with countless jumping red dots, a truly alarming sight.

"The beast tide is here again!"

(End of this chapter)