Chapter 49 – The Grand Scheme

Something wasn’t right.

Very not right.

Before, Lynn Naya didn’t have to go out and fight, so she hadn’t given it much thought. But now that she was standing on the edge of the battlefield, she couldn’t help but think more deeply about it.

She put herself in their shoes. If she were a low-level evil cultivator, she wouldn’t act alone, even if she wanted to ambush human cultivators. At the very least, she would find a powerful ally, ride on their coattails, and run at the first sign of trouble.

But when she thought back on the two groups of evil cultivators she had just encountered, they were not only low-level but also acting alone. No matter how bad the Dao Palace disciples were, killing these evil cultivators would be as easy as cutting a melon. So how did they dare to come alone?

If the Dao Palace disciples on the outskirts were simply letting these low-level evil cultivators in to give them a chance to practice, the highest-cultivation mortal cultivator at the foot of the mountain was only at the third layer of QiCondensation. There were only a handful of them, and they were all in the early stage of Qi Condensation, so they could only stay in the innermost area to clear land or patrol.

There weren’t many Dao Palace disciples who could go further out. Based on Lynn Naya’s previous observations, there were no more than a thousand Dao Palace disciples at the mid-stage of Qi Condensation and above.

With such a small number of people, it was hard to imagine the kind of precise control required to orchestrate this. What’s more, the low-level evil cultivators saw their high-level counterparts getting beaten, but instead of running, they kept burrowing in. This was all too strange.

With these questions in mind, Lynn Naya asked the others who were searching the evil cultivators’ storage bags, “In the past, would you also encounter several evil cultivators in one day?”

“Today is a bit strange, we encountered three in one day. We didn’t have this many before. It was more like one every three days.”

“Oh, were they all low-level evil cultivators like these?”

The others thought for a moment. “Most of the time, yes. Sometimes we would also encounter a powerful evil cultivator, but those aren’t something we can deal with. We just run when we see them.”

“I see.” These answers made Lynn Naya suspect human intervention even more.

Looking at it from a broader perspective, it was clear that the Dao Palace was intentionally letting only low-level evil cultivators in, as it went against all common sense. But when she thought about the details, she couldn’t figure out how the Dao Palace was operating with such precision.

The teammates by the fire were still distributing the spoils. The two evil cultivators had given them two storage bags, forty-three spirit stones, three weapons, a heart-protecting mirror, three evil cultivation methods, and a bottle of low-quality spirit recovery pills.

Two of the weapons were still usable. The good things were given to their own people first. Qi Yaozu and Lin Qingwantook one each for the price of twenty-eight spirit stones a piece. Zhou Yuan took the heart-protecting mirror for twenty spirit stones. The cultivation methods had to be handed over according to the rules. As for the spirit recovery pills, they were sold to Qi Yaozu for two spirit stones.

Lynn Naya didn’t take anything and ended up with forty fresh spirit stones.

“I finally understand why some people join the patrol team. If we encounter more evil cultivators in a day, we won’t be able to count all the spirit stones we earn.” Qi Guangzong said, touching the bulging bag of spirit stones in his arms, his thirst for more not yet quenched.

“We’re just lucky. Try being a little less lucky and encounter a powerful evil cultivator,” Xue Yong told him not to be greedy. “And today, we have to thank Naya for warning us in advance. Otherwise, with the first evil cultivator’s earth-burrowing technique, we probably wouldn’t have noticed him until he was right in front of us.” By then, they would have all been poisoned, and the opponent might have been able to kill them all by himself.

“That’s true.” Qi Guangzong smiled awkwardly. He was indeed being greedy.

As they were talking, Lynn Naya suddenly stood up.

When she moved, the others immediately knew something was wrong and followed her gaze.

“Someone is coming again.” Lynn Naya said, frowning. She signaled for the others to stay put while she went forward alone.

After sensing that the person this time was a third-layer Qi Condensation cultivator, she immediately blew a short whistle and retreated.

Her actions were quickly discovered by the evil cultivator, but before he could get close, a patrol team appeared out of nowhere.

The leader of the patrol was also a third-layer Qi Condensation Dao Palace disciple. The evil cultivator immediately turned around and ran, but it was too late. He was quickly surrounded by the group.

Seeing that the danger had greatly decreased, Lynn Naya stopped and moved a little closer to watch.

This third-layer Qi Condensation evil cultivator was much stronger than the three she had encountered before. At the very least, he could fight and retreat while being surrounded by a group of people. She thought for a moment. If she had to fight him, she wouldn’t be able to kill him in one hit unless she used a Five Thunder Talisman.

In the end, the evil cultivator didn’t manage to escape. After fighting for about fifteen minutes, his legs were cut off, and his aura was weak. Perhaps he knew he wouldn’t survive, so the evil cultivator gave up the struggle. But before he died, he suddenly opened his mouth and spat something at the Dao Palace disciple’s face. The Dao Palace disciple dodged it, and then Lynn Naya heard the mortal cultivator who was standing behind him scream and fall to the ground, rolling around.

“Everyone, get back!” the Dao Palace disciple shouted, retreating a hundred paces himself.

After the disciple on the ground stopped struggling, Lynn Naya saw that half of his body had become a skeleton, and something was still squirming on it.

This sight made her stomach churn and filled her with more caution.

This is what an evil cultivator is like. When they are alive, they will use every means to kill their opponents. Even after they die, they will try to take someone down with them. I can never be careless.

Lynn Naya didn’t stay to watch how the patrol team distributed the spoils. She quickly left and found her teammates waiting for her about five or six miles from the edge of the safe zone.

Seeing her return, everyone breathed a sigh of relief and asked what had happened.

Lynn Naya saw that the sun was about to set, and there was nothing more they could do even if they went back. She simply told everyone to go back and told them what she had just seen as they walked.

When they heard that a third-layer Qi Condensation evil cultivator had come, they were all shocked. Later, when they heard that a member of the patrol team had died at the hands of the evil cultivator, they were filled with fear. If Lynn Nayahadn’t warned them in time, they might have been the ones who died there.

Lynn Naya just told them as a reminder. She didn’t lecture them. What she was more concerned about was the question of whether all the evil cultivators who snuck in were low-level. But only time could answer that.

Perhaps because of the threat of the third-layer Qi Condensation evil cultivator, Lin Qingwan and the others started to cultivate nonstop after they got home. Lynn Naya also felt that she lacked combat experience, so she sparred with them for the entire night.

The next day, when their team went out into the wilderness again, the three storage bags from yesterday were still too expensive for anyone to buy for now. Since the three storage bags had similar space, Qi Guangzong simply let Lynn Nayatake one to offset the spirit stones she was supposed to get. Qi Yaozu also took a storage bag, but since he didn’t have enough spirit stones, he would pay it back little by little.

That day, they encountered two more evil cultivators, one at the first layer of Qi Condensation and one at the second. At first, they were a little panicked. But when they saw the isolated Lynn Naya, their expressions turned to joy.

Then, they met the same fate as their predecessors from the day before.

Why were they so panicked?

After the danger was averted, Lynn Naya was lost in thought about the expressions of the two evil cultivators.

On the third day, they encountered six more low-level evil cultivators. They killed the ones they could kill, and for the ones they couldn’t, they just blew the whistle and ran.

One of the third-layer Qi Condensation evil cultivators, who was incredibly fast, wanted to kill Lynn Naya. She used a full-power sword strike and sent out ten Five Thunder Talismans. After the flash of lightning, there was only a burnt, incomplete corpse left on the ground.

On the fourth day, they encountered five evil cultivators, but three were stolen by the patrol team. They only got a pitiful half of a broken spirit stone each.

The fifth day, the sixth day…

Half a month quickly passed. Because the evil cultivators’ pockets were so full, everyone in the team now had a storage bag. Lin Qingwan had also successfully taken a second-grade beast core and entered the second layer of Qi Condensation. Two other teammates had also vaguely touched the threshold of the second layer and would likely break through soon.

As the person who had gained the most during this time, Lynn Naya also took the opportunity one morning to announce that she had also entered the second layer of Qi Condensation.

On the night she told everyone she had broken through, Yun Xian, who had been missing for over half a year, finally returned.

“I have something I want to ask you,” Lynn Naya said, as she prepared a bowl of noodles for her as usual. Unfortunately, Yun Xian still hadn’t brought her back any live chickens, so there was no fried egg. “I’ve been clearing land for the past half month, and I’ve encountered twenty or thirty evil cultivators. I find it very strange that all the ones who managed to sneak in this far are low-level evil cultivators.”

She really hadn’t encountered a single mid-stage Qi Condensation cultivator.

Yun Xian slurped up her noodles and then blinked innocently at Lynn Naya. “As much as I want to tell you, I can’t speak.”

“Then you can write it down with your hand.”

“You know that’s also against the rules.”

When Yun Xian said this, Lynn Naya knew that this was a secret of the Dao Palace.

She didn’t make things difficult for Yun Xian and simply changed her approach. “Alright, you don’t have to say anything, but I can guess. You can just listen and see if my guesses are correct. I also asked around, and the other mortal cultivators have had similar experiences to us. I’ve compared notes, and the chance of us encountering evil cultivators is much higher now. Does this mean that the number of evil cultivators coming from the outside has suddenly increased a lot?”

Yun Xian blinked.

“Oh, evil cultivators are selfish people. They wouldn’t easily follow orders. There must be a very generous reward for hunting human cultivators. Otherwise, they wouldn’t take this risk. So, I can reasonably assume that Eastfall City is putting a bounty on us?”

Yun Xian continued to blink.

“Based on the fact that only low-level cultivators who are on par with us can sneak in, is there some special screening method outside? For example, only allowing low-level cultivators to come here.”

Yun Xian tried her best to hold her eyelids open to stop them from blinking, but her reaction was faster than her action. She had already blinked.

As expected.

Lynn Naya understood.

“Don’t ask about the method again. I really can’t say!” Yun Xian said, putting up a last-ditch effort. “I can’t reveal even a little bit.”

“Okay, I won’t ask,” Lynn Naya said, knowing that this was probably all Yun Xian could tell her. “Now that you’ve finished your noodles, you should get some rest. I’ve already boiled some hot water for you.”

“Okay. By the way, aren’t you curious about what I’ve been doing all this time?”

“Is it something you can tell me?” Lynn Naya was, of course, curious.

“Of course, I can. I’ve been with Senior Brother Wen, causing trouble. Remember that spiritual herb that killed a lot of us? It hasn’t matured yet. After that Phoenix-tailed Flame Sparrow snatched it, it’s been keeping it in its nest.”

“There are so many Qi Condensation Great Perfection evil cultivators outside waiting to break through. Senior Brother told us to help them out, so for the past six months, I’ve been spreading the news. Now, the Phoenix-tailed Flame Sparrow’s nest is incredibly lively. All the eggs have been stolen, and the nest has been completely destroyed.”

“The magical beasts and the evil cultivators were already on bad terms. After this whole mess, the magical beasts and the evil cultivators have been fighting fiercely. Eastfall City gets burned down every three days. Hehe.”

Lynn Naya understood. No wonder the evil cultivators were being cleared out every few days, and Eastfall City hadn’t made any big moves. It turned out they were being held back by the magical beasts.

The old schemers of the Dao Palace were finally not targeting their own people and started plotting against the outsiders.

“How much longer until that spiritual herb matures?” Lynn Naya asked. This thing was a hot potato. As long as it existed, the magical beasts and evil cultivators were destined to not get along, and the fighting would probably be very brutal.

“Ten years at most.”

Ten years…

No wonder the Dao Palace was training its forces. This was a grand scheme from the very beginning.

If things could continue like this for the next ten years, humanity would be completely transformed. By then, they would no longer be as passive when they encountered magical beasts or evil cultivators. They might even be able to fight back.