At dawn the following day, Li Yi rose and prepared his belongings in his pouch. He went out and greeted all his siblings, as was his custom, so as not to raise any suspicion regarding his intentions.
Moments later, he left the cabin area, crossing through the town center until he reached a more secluded sector on the outskirts. He chose a route different from his usual one to avoid being seen or followed; furthermore, he had no desire to encounter that fox in this area.
Minutes later, he reached an upper section of the river and continued walking until he found a spot seldom visited by others. Quickly, he broke the branches of some bushes to create a small hiding place where he would begin his plan.
Upon entering and sitting down, he took out all his materials: several medicinal herbs, the twenty-eight low-level spiritual herbs, and the single high-level one, placing them around him. He sat cross-legged and began to calm his mind. When he felt ready, he directed his concentration to his abdomen and visualized his shattered base.
At the center of his base, he focused his mind on one of his cells; he quickly isolated it and began to fill it with his own energy. Then, he concentrated even further, visualizing an even smaller sphere at the center of the cell—an almost tiny particle—and filled it as well with the contained energy.
When it was ready, he isolated it and, little by little, began to make it rotate. With every passing second, the small sphere spun with greater rapidity. As the minuscule sphere accelerated, it became increasingly difficult to maintain both the isolation and the rotation.
"If I fail, I'll end up with shattered organs and won't be able to heal quickly; I must concentrate and relax," he thought. He remembered the saying: "A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step." So, he focused calmly on rotating the sphere.
As the speed increased, nearly reaching the speed of sound, all the energy accumulated within the cell attempted to start rotating. Li Yi concentrated his mind to stop it and force it to turn gradually in the opposite direction, but he focused primarily on the small central sphere.
The moment the sphere exceeded supersonic speed, it began to rotate vertiginously. A thin solid film was created on its surface, protecting its rotation from external energy. The energy inside began to compact against the walls, creating a vacuum at the center.
The instant all the energy was compressed against the outer walls and the center became an absolute vacuum, without a shred of energy, the tiny sphere began to expand rapidly. Li Yi noticed this and started to rotate the energy within the cell in the opposite direction to create a confinement vortex.
When the vortex rotated sufficiently, Li Yi brought the small vacuum sphere toward the center, where it began to be compressed. Noticing it was at the optimal point—where the expansion of the vacuum sphere and the compression of the vortex balanced—he began the hardest part: maintaining the equilibrium while increasing the rotation.
He practiced for hours: increasing the rotation of the vortex to compress the sphere until it nearly dispersed, then boosting the vacuum sphere so it would expand and repel the compression.
Elsewhere, at that very same moment...
In the village, several martial cultivators arrived running at full speed, shouting and warning that a beast horde would arrive in at least three hours. Many of them quickly entered the houses of the Great Families and the schools.
Inside the foremost martial arts school, in a majestic and high hall, one of the cultivators burst in. He arrived before the thrones where four people were seated and knelt before them. He directed his words to the central figure:
"Grand Director Leng Lubai! A beast horde has been spotted heading toward this town. It is estimated to be at least ten thousand strong. Reconnaissance estimates seven thousand beasts in the Base Forging Realm, two thousand nine hundred in the Martial Realm, and one hundred in the Warrior Realm. No Master Realm beasts have been identified, Grand Director."
"Very well, you may withdraw," said one of the people gathered with Director Leng Lubai.
"It seems the situation is critical. The only way for this to be an opportunity rather than a loss is if there truly isn't a Master Realm beast. If that's the case, Grand Director Leng can destroy the entire horde single-handedly," stated Vice-Director Du Luo, a cultivator at the peak of the Warrior Realm.
"I don't think it will be that simple," intervened Zu Chen, also at the peak of the Warrior Realm. "A horde led by so many Martial Realm beasts is not normal. It's highly likely that, in the shadows, there is one or more Master Realm beasts directing everything."
At that moment, Director Leng Lubai rose from his seat:
"It is very probable that there are hidden beasts waiting for us to lower our guard. But in this situation, the best thing to do is resist until the other two Masters from the Great Families arrive with reinforcements."
Then, someone who had remained silent spoke up:
"Those two said they would arrive today, probably in about seven hours. We will have to resist for that entire time. Currently, we have one hundred and twenty-five cultivators in the Base Forging Realm, barely forty-three in the Martial Realm, and only thirteen in the Warrior Realm, counting those from the village and the families," said Sao Shueli, a cultivator at the peak of the Warrior Realm. "The only thing that marks a difference is that we have the Grand Director at the peak of the Master Realm, but that only counts if the beasts don't have someone of equal power."
On the other hand, in the cabin area, Li Yi's siblings were running about, gathering their belongings to take refuge in the town center. Upon hearing the shouts of alarm, they began to pack supplies and medicinal herbs.
Suddenly, someone arrived running: it was Brother Xuhan Mo. He quickly approached Sister Shen Shinyu and placed an object similar to a tablet in her hands.
"What is this, Brother?" she asked.
"It's a tablet with a small formation. I bought it with all my savings, knowing you all would need it more than I would. This formation can release a strike with the maximum power of a Martial Realm cultivator; it will serve to protect you if any beast reaches this far," Xuhan Mo explained with a strained voice.
"No, Brother Xuhan! You will need it more to protect the village!"
"Don't worry, there are many of us and we cover each other. Just remember to protect our siblings and stay together," he said quickly before running back toward where his fellow guards were waiting.
Shen Shinyu tried to follow him to return it, but her speed was far inferior to Xuhan's, and she lost sight of him in seconds. She then returned, knowing she had to help complete the preparations to entrench themselves in the town center with all her siblings.
When they had everything ready and were running toward the center—where all the people were gathered and preparing—she noticed one of her brothers was missing.
"Li Yi! Where is Li Yi?"
She quickly approached Zang Li and asked about him.
"Li Yi seems to have gone to look for medicinal herbs on the outskirts of town," Zang Li replied.
In that instant, Shen Shinyu handed all her belongings to Zang Li. Clutching only the formation Xuhan Mo had given her, she ran toward the fields where they usually searched for herbs.