In the back mountain of the Luoxian Sect, within a dense forest not far from the Monster Beast Cliff, Su Lingxi was waiting quietly.
"Junior Martial Sister, I've arranged everything. With the communication jade talisman tainted by the beast-attracting powder, she wouldn't dare not carry it with her."
Ji Yunzhao's face flushed with excitement as he ran out of the woods, rushing up to Su Lingxi to claim credit.
A faint smile graced Su Lingxi's pure, innocent face. She reached out with a handkerchief and gently wiped the sweat from his brow. "You've worked hard, Fifth Senior Martial Brother."
Ji Yunzhao reached out and grabbed her soft, delicate hand that was so close to him, unable to resist bringing it to his lips to take a sniff.
"With those words from you, Junior Martial Sister, I wouldn't hesitate even if I had to walk through fire and water!"
A shy blush appeared on Su Lingxi's fair cheeks. She gave Ji Yunzhao a coquettish glare. "Fifth Senior Martial Brother, stop messing around."
Ji Yunzhao's eyes immediately lit up. That single glance sent his heart soaring with joy, and his eyes crinkled into slits from his wide smile.
"With the beast-attracting powder in place, all we need to do later is open the restriction array of the Monster Beast Cave, and the beasts will rush out."
"When that happens, this back mountain is going to be very lively!"
Su Lingxi lowered her gaze, hiding a trace of smugness in the depths of her eyes, and let out a soft sigh.
"Sigh, we just want to teach Seventh Senior Martial Sister a tiny little lesson. Nothing bad will happen."
"After all, there are still elders guarding this back mountain."
"You're just too beautiful and kind-hearted, Junior Martial Sister!"
Ji Yunzhao couldn't help but sigh in admiration. Then, changing the subject, he added, "Yuan Shu has gone too far. If something really does happen to her, she deserves it! Hmph..."
"Fifth Senior Martial Brother, we shouldn't delay. Go to the Monster Beast Cave right now."
"Alright!"
Without any suspicion, Ji Yunzhao agreed and headed toward the Monster Beast Cave, sword in hand.
Su Lingxi stood in place, waiting for Ji Yunzhao to leave. She raised an eyebrow slightly, then turned and headed in a different direction toward the forbidden area of the Monster Beast Cliff.
The beasts in the Monster Beast Cave were too weak. If they ran into some patrolling disciples, they might just be subdued.
If they didn't even manage to touch a corner of Yuan Shu's clothes, wouldn't such a perfect opportunity be wasted?
Su Lingxi had noticed that Yuan Shu's attitude toward their senior brothers had changed a lot recently, as had her attitude toward her.
In the past, Yuan Shu used to hover around Shu Linyuan every day, easily manipulated in the palm of her hand.
But now, she couldn't even catch a glimpse of her all day, and it seemed she had grown smarter.
Xiaobai had even seen Shu Linyuan and Yuan Shu laughing and talking together last time.
It seemed that even Eldest Senior Martial Brother showed a bit more patience when mentioning Yuan Shu!
An unspeakable sense of crisis set off alarm bells in her mind, which was why she decided to do something big today!
The Monster Beast Cave was just child's play.
What she truly wanted was for Yuan Shu to die in the back mountain!
From now on, Qingyun Peak would only have her as the junior martial sister. No one would ever steal her senior brothers' affection again!
With this thought in mind, Su Lingxi quickly picked up her pace.
Beneath the Monster Beast Cliff lay a forbidden area where ordinary disciples were not allowed to enter.
However, Su Lingxi had heard rumors about this forbidden place from elsewhere and learned that an ancient fierce beast was imprisoned inside!
And her purpose for this trip was to release it and make Yuan Shu suffer the ultimate consequences!
...
"Senior Martial Sister Yuan, you're back? Did everything go smoothly? Come have something to eat?"
At the guard post, Qi An'an saw Yuan Shu returning and immediately went to greet her.
This was a small mountain watchtower located halfway up the mountain. Looking down, one could see a mountain path connecting from the Monster Beast Cave below.
Looking up was the towering peak of the Monster Beast Cliff.
There was a pavilion for temporary rest at the watchtower. After organizing the things she brought, Qi An'an placed them in the corner of the pavilion.
At this moment, she was holding a paper bag of pastries, eating them happily.
Since Yuan Shu was older than her, she consciously called her "Senior Martial Sister." She was quite a lovable little girl.
Yuan Shu waved her hand. "Thank you, but I'll pass. Everything went smoothly. Have you noticed anything unusual around here?"
Qi An'an shook her head.
After exchanging a few words, Qi An'an continued eating, while Yuan Shu sat cross-legged under a large tree nearby and began to circulate her energy.
Although the Hehuan cultivation method could improve one's strength and alter one's aptitude through dual cultivation, true progress still relied on diligence and hard work.
Whenever she had time, Yuan Shu was definitely cultivating.
After eating her fill, Qi An'an draped a cloak over herself and leaned against a nearby pillar to rest.
"Roar..."
A sudden beastly roar startled the entire back mountain of the Luoxian Sect.
Immediately following was the rumbling sound of footsteps coming from the direction of the Monster Beast Cave, awakening all the disciples stationed at the Monster Beast Cliff!
When Qi An'an was jolted awake, she looked up and saw Yuan Shu's figure, staring expressionlessly toward the top of the mountain.
Before she could say anything, a massive low-tier monster beast, a Black-Horned Demonic Bull, lunged out of the woods.
Terrified, Qi An'an's little face turned pale as she backed away step by step.
At the critical moment, a longsword blocked the path in front of her. With a beautiful flourish of the blade, it directly carved a hole into the head of the Black-Horned Demonic Bull.
"Moo..."
With a mournful bellow, the Black-Horned Demonic Bull's blood-red eyes suddenly gained a hint of clarity as it struggled to retreat up the mountain.
But it had barely taken two steps back when it was pounced upon by a Crimson Tiger beast charging from behind, which bit right through its throat!
Following that, dozens of monster beasts charged out of the forest, trampling a thicket among the rocks.
However, upon rushing out of the woods, these beasts did not choose the spacious main road nearby to escape. Instead, they swarmed toward the direction of their guard post.
Yuan Shu raised an eyebrow and decisively took out a signal flare from her bag and set it off.
At the same time, other guard posts in the mountain forest also issued warnings.
"Bang! Bang! Bang!"
Spiritual energy fireworks exploded in the sky, indicating that crises had emerged in all these locations.
"Junior Martial Sister Qi, hold onto your snack bag, find a place to hide, and don't come out until the matter is resolved."
With that, Yuan Shu turned around, grabbed the bag in the pavilion that someone had sprinkled with beast-attracting powder, and sprinted quickly into the woods.
Sure enough, as soon as Yuan Shu left with the bag, the beasts all changed direction and charged after her.
In the original book, Yuan Shu had fled in panic, leading these beasts down the mountain forest and straight into the spiritual fields and gardens nestled in the back mountain.
Not only was she bitten and injured by the beasts, but she also caused extensive damage to large swaths of the Luoxian Sect's spiritual fields.
She received a heavy punishment, and the Yuan Manor had to pay a substantial amount of spirit stones in compensation to finally settle the matter.
Yuan Shu did not lead these spiritual beasts down the mountain. Instead, clutching the bag, she charged straight up the mountain toward the incoming herd.
She was using herself as a moving scent bag to attract the beast horde.
However, by doing this, the danger she faced was not merely doubled.
A beast tide was incredibly dangerous, especially one that had lost all reason under the effects of the beast-attracting powder.
One careless move, and she could easily become food in the mouths of these monsters!
...
When Yin Ruobai heard the message relayed by a junior disciple that the beast tide was retreating, he was stunned for a moment.
Coming to his senses, he asked in disbelief, "Are you saying the beast tide has retreated back up the mountain?"
"It's absolutely true! We saw it with our own eyes. Those beasts had barely run down the mountain for less than a mile or two before they all completely turned around and rushed back up Monster Beast Mountain!"
"It looks like they are chasing after something!"
