The Second Elder and Third Elder both looked at the Great Elder. The Great Elder was a Late-stage Nascent Soul Great Cultivator; perhaps he had seen something just now.
The Great Elder also shook his head slightly. He had not used his full strength to scan with his Divine Sense just now, as that would surely have alerted Yan San. Therefore, he too had not been able to detect how Li Yan had cast his spell.
He had only sensed some faint, formless qi in the basin, and then he saw Li Yan fly back.
"Could the Malevolent Spirit Sect's methods of using poison have reached such a god-like, unpredictable level?"
The Third Elder's disbelieving voice appeared in the minds of the Great Elder and the Second Elder. She was also a great expert in using poison and knew she could not do it so lightly.
"I hope he's not just putting on a show, or thinks that the poison he released can really deal with the Wind Beasts, and only focused on making it formless and colorless, but without any real effect!"
The Second Elder also said disbelievingly via voice transmission...
An hour later, the great battle between the two sides erupted again!
"Enemy attack!"
"Defense! Defense!"
Shouts and cries instantly rang out in a chaotic chorus, filling every corner of the front-line battlefield like a tidal wave.
A few dozen breaths later, the two sides crashed into each other with a deafening roar. In an instant, a large expanse of flesh and blood splattered, and shrill roars and miserable screams filled the world...
And on a section of the defensive line directly north of the Wind Beast's attack, several hundred mortal warriors were nervously looking down the hillside.
Not long after the Tianli Clan cultivators above issued a warning, they would be facing a tide of attacks from a large number of "Wind Iron Beasts."
A Ling was only nineteen years old. She had a slender figure, and her exposed bronze-colored skin glowed with a smooth texture. The tight-fitting short armor made from "Wind Elephant Beast" skin, which only reached her thighs, made her legs seem to take up most of her body.
She held a shield in one hand and a hook-sickle spear in the other. Her body was bent forward in a half-crouch, and her head of black hair had already been cut into short, ink-black spikes like a man's.
A Ling knew that after the cultivators in the sky issued a warning, in at most twenty-five breaths, the tide of "Wind Iron Beasts" would round the bend below and charge straight up the mountain.
This was also one of the reasons they had chosen this place to defend. It was to prevent the "Wind Iron Beasts" from charging straight up the slope in a straight line after rushing out of the basin.
There were interlocking formations set up by the clan's cultivators on the road over there, the purpose of which was to prevent the "Wind Iron Beasts" from being able to charge straight up in a straight line.
So, for the "Wind Iron Beasts" to rush out of the basin and get here, they had to go around a bend in the mountain, which would instantly break their charging momentum. To charge up the slope, they would need to build up their momentum again, and their force would also be somewhat reduced.
Under the years of constant warfare, and with the need to continuously strengthen the rear defenses on the southeast, east, north, and northwest sides, it was not possible to set up a large number of formations here.
"Eight, nine, ten..."
Beads of crystal-clear sweat dripped from A Ling's smooth forehead. Her eyes were fixed on the area below, while she silently counted the time in her heart.
She had been fighting the Wind Beasts for three years. To survive here for three years was to be a veteran, because on the battlefield, lives were as cheap as grass, and death came too quickly.
Generally, clansmen were required to go to the battlefield after the age of fifteen. Because A Ling was a girl, it had been delayed by a few months, but in the end, she had still entered this purgatory of a meat grinder.
A Ling had cultivated the simplified version of the "Qiongqi Purgatory Art" very hard and had gained immense strength. This made her combat strength rank among the top among ordinary mortal warriors.
In three years, apart from a brief rest every three days, A Ling had experienced countless battles, large and small. She no longer remembered how many times she had been on the verge of death.
But by fighting desperately alongside her comrades, she had survived.
After cultivating the "Qiongqi Purgatory Art," even the simplified version used by mortals was a thing of the immortals. So, the scars left on the bodies of the Tianli Clan members who cultivated this technique would slowly disappear.
A Ling, on full alert, her skin the color of golden wheat, had fine, well-defined muscles that were faintly visible with each breath due to her tense body, like a female leopard waiting for its prey.
"Eighteen, nineteen..."
At this moment, a look of confusion appeared in A Ling's eyes. In the past, after the cultivators in the sky gave a warning, they would hear the earth-shattering tremor in about ten breaths, and it would grow more and more intense.
In about fifteen breaths, the Wind Beasts would round the corner at the foot of the mountain and appear in their line of sight...
But today, there was no movement at all. Other places around them were already shaking, and the sounds of killing filled the air, but the expected "Wind Iron Beast" figures still had not appeared here.
At first, when ten breaths had passed, because of the interference from the other battles around them, the earth was already shaking nonstop, so A Ling and the others did not feel that much was wrong.
Until twenty breaths, there was still not a single "Wind Iron Beast" in sight below...
At thirty breaths, many of the several hundred mortal warriors began to stand up straight, craning their necks to look down, as if that would broaden their field of vision.
A Ling and the other squad leaders didn't know what was happening and began to exchange glances. Just then, a somewhat strange voice suddenly came from the sky.
"The Wind Beasts attacking your position seem to be trapped in the basin and can't get out. Do not abandon your posts. Wait for orders! Six squad leaders, step forward and ascend the beacon tower!"
A cultivator was hovering in the air, also looking into the distance with a strange expression. He was the cultivator responsible for guarding this direction and giving early warnings for battle.
After hearing the order from the cultivator above, the several hundred mortal warriors of the Tianli Clan below all showed expressions of surprise. What did he mean by trapped in the basin? They were very clear about that basin; it wasn't a swamp or a river...
But at this moment, the sounds of killing around them were earth-shattering, and they could not speak freely, in case the squad leaders had some urgent order to pass on that they might accidentally miss.
They could only hold their sharp blades and shields, looking at each other in bewilderment.
The several hundred warriors were divided into squads of about ten people each. This allowed them to quickly form small teams, making their cooperation faster and sharper.
Soon, six squad leaders stepped out from below. The six who stepped out were also the result of a tacit understanding among the squad leaders below.
They knew who the veteran captains were here. After basically just one glance, they had decided who would step out.
A Ling was, to her surprise, also among them. The six of them, after instructing their own squad's vice-captains, began to leap rapidly among the mountains like monkeys and gazelles, like a series of projectiles falling and bouncing in a mountain stream.
Soon, A Ling and the others arrived at a beacon tower high on the mountain peak. There, a cultivator was standing with his hands behind his back, still gazing in a certain direction.
A Ling had been to the beacon tower more than once. This was generally the place where the cultivators and they discussed military matters.
Although the cultivators were powerful, in a large-scale battle like this, they were not the peerless experts of this world. So, they still needed to rely on the mortal warriors to resist together.
Many combat deployments and troop arrangements still needed to be discussed with the experts among the mortals to form a complete coordination of forces and timing between them.
This was also an important reason why the Tianli Clan had been able to stand firm. For others, immortals and mortals walked different paths, but in the Tianli Clan, immortal cultivators were just the strongest warriors of the clan. Ordinary mortals were just not as strong as them in combat.
"Look there!"
After seeing A Ling and the other six come up, the cultivator pointed in a direction below.
A Ling and the others looked in the direction he was pointing and saw that it was a basin.
Although A Ling and the others did not have Divine Sense, this basin was only about ten li away from them.
With their eagle-like vision, and on such a clear day with an unobstructed view, the few of them could also roughly see the scene there.
A Ling saw that the basin was filled with dust, and a dense black mass of "Wind Iron Beasts" were continuously entering from the gap in the valley on the other side, running forward frantically. But often, after running for only a short distance, their limbs would go weak, and they would fall down.
They would either be carried forward by their great inertia, causing their fallen bodies to continue tumbling, or they would be trampled under the hooves of the later, more numerous "Wind Iron Beasts." The basin was already a scene of flying flesh and flowing blood.
These "Wind Iron Beasts" were basically without spiritual intelligence. Once they smelled blood, their ferocity would erupt, and they would smash the corpses blocking their way into scattered pieces. And in the next moment, they themselves would also fall to the ground with a crash...
For a time, the entire basin was filled with dust and continuous howls, but not a single "Wind Iron Beast" could cross even half of the basin before falling to the ground.
Even from such a great distance, A Ling and the others could hear the continuous roars...
"Look!"
Just as A Ling and the others were dumbfounded, not knowing what was happening, one of the squad leaders suddenly pointed to the sky above the basin.
The few of them quickly looked up and saw more than a dozen massive "Wind Goose Beasts" flying rapidly towards that direction. It was clear that the Wind Beasts in other attack directions had also discovered the abnormality there.
The "Wind Iron Beasts" that had entered the basin were unable to send back any news before they died inside. And those "Wind Iron Beasts" without spiritual intelligence had blocked the valley entrance in a chaotic mess.
So, a few "Wind Goose Beasts" flew towards the sky above the basin. And just as A Ling and the others saw those few "Wind Goose Beasts" fly over the basin.
Suddenly, without any warning, the massive "Wind Goose Beasts," like paper kites with their strings cut, plunged headfirst towards the ground, and then there was no more sound...
"Hiss! Have you received any orders saying that there's an ambush in the basin?"
The cultivator on the beacon tower retracted his shocked gaze. He had rarely seen such a scene of large batches of Wind Beasts dying in an instant. It was like stepping on a nest of ants.
The scene of a whole group of Wind Beasts dying within a few breaths was too shocking. For a moment, this cultivator wondered if he had been on leave yesterday. Could it be that some news had not been delivered to him in time?
Although A Ling and the others could not see as clearly as the cultivator, they could still clearly see the result over there. They were all so surprised that their mouths were wide open, and a wave of dizziness came over their heads.
"When did killing Wind Beasts become so simple..."
A squad leader muttered.
"Are they not planning for the future? To trap and kill so many Wind Beasts at once, have all of the clan's witch-poisons been used here?"
A Ling, in her shock, heard another older captain say this.
That captain was more experienced, had participated in battles for a longer time, and knew more things.
This person had once seen a scene of the clan's cultivators using witch-poison to attack the Wind Beasts, and afterward, he was so excited that he almost died.
But what followed was him loudly questioning the cultivators in the sky, why they had such a powerful method, to kill several hundred Wind Beasts with almost no casualties on their side, and why they hadn't used it before.
And letting them mortals resist with their flesh and blood, were mortals not human? The answer he got was a bitter smile from the cultivator.
"Do you know that this one time used up all the witch-poison the clan has refined in three hundred years? The witch-poison used to deal with the Wind Beasts must be the most virulent."
"And it must be deployed in several defensive directions in the rear. Although the clan still has some, it can only be used at critical moments..."
And today, this squad leader saw a scene even crazier than the last time.
In the past, those Wind Beasts still had combat strength for a short time after being poisoned, which was why he had said "almost no deaths on our side..." when questioning the cultivator.
But the Wind Beasts before them had died in just a few short breaths. In this wave of attacks, at least for now, they had suffered no casualties!
...
On a mountain peak in the rear, although the Great Elder and the others did not show surprise, their eyes were also shining with a strange light. The Third Elder's snow-white jade hands clapped together, and she praised repeatedly.
"As expected of the renowned Malevolent Spirit Sect. Fellow Daoist Li's methods have truly opened our eyes. With such a virulent poison, can Fellow Daoist really lay down an entire defensive line?"
At this moment, they no longer had any doubts about the toxicity of the deadly poison Li Yan had produced. However, they still didn't believe that Li Yan would carry so many poison pills and liquids with him, enough to last for three months.
"On this trip out, I happened to bring some materials with me. There should be no problem!" Li Yan said faintly.
Just then, the Great Elder's aged voice suddenly echoed in Li Yan's mind.
"So Fellow Daoist Li is the third Zhu Luan and Mo Gu. To be able to witness this with my own eyes today is truly a blessing of three lifetimes!"
Upon hearing this, Li Yan shot a sidelong glance at the Great Elder, who was looking at him with a smile.
'Someone still recognized it after all!'
Nascent Soul cultivators on different continents did not necessarily know about the high-level cultivators on other continents. But the Desolate Moon Continent and the Wind God Continent were relatively close, so among the high-level cultivators, some would know some things about the other continent.
Just like this Great Elder, back when the Great Sacrificial Priest was still guarding, he had also been to the Desolate Moon Continent and knew some things about the high-level cultivators of the Four Great Sects at that time.
What Zhu Luan and Mo Gu were famous for on the Desolate Moon Continent was no secret among the high-level cultivators.
Now, among the few elders of the Tianli Clan, there was still one person who knew about the Malevolent Spirit Sect, and that was Gong Shanhe. Because of Gong Chenying, he had also been to the Desolate Moon Continent a few times.
Although the Third Elder had previously transmitted a message to the Great Elder, describing the situation Gong Chenying had told her.
However, after personally witnessing the virulence of the deadly poison in the basin, and then thinking about his inability to see through Li Yan's poison-applying methods before, the Great Elder immediately thought of a possibility.
The Great Elder saw the look Li Yan shot him. Although the other party did not reply, it was an undeniable tacit admission.