Amidst the dark night sky dotted with faint specks of light, moonlight shone from above and cascaded into the water of the town al. The soothing trickle of flowing water echoed peacefully.

  Baiyun sat close by and fiddled with various items he bought from the marketpce.

  The most expeem he bought was a small qi ntern and 5 impure qi stones as fuel, at the staggering price of 200 tokens. It was small enough to be hidden in the csped hand of a grown man and was made of a flimsy tin-like metal with 4 panels of gss slotted in. Some simple formation lines were painted within with metal ink, allowing the o vert qi from items io light.

  It was sold by the sole artefact shop iown, that sold only simple household artefacts useful for daily life. Even mortals could make such basic artefacts if they had the blueprint and the right materials.

  Baiyun tied 3 hand mirrors around the ntern's side with ropes and took out a paintbrush and a jar of glue. He applied the glue evenly and pstered scraps of cloth on.

  As the glue dried, he adjusted the 3 mirrors into a cave angle and fastehe traption onto the mirror with yet more rope.

  It was a crude traption and perhaps even unsightly, but he was in no position to be picky right now.

  Baiyun poihe modified o the skies and flicked it on. The light reflected off the mirrors and focused into a steady beam that shone several times brighter and illumihe clouds. He tur off before it could attract attention and nodded in satisfa.

  With this, he could now search for distant threats even in the darkest of pces.

  Perhaps he could even shi in the skies to make sure Fei An wasn't- no, the bright light would pinpoint his location instead.

  Baiyun had a sudden thought. Exposing his location was a really bad downside, wasn't it? He frowned and wondered if this traption was a dud. Such s made basises such a pain to deal with...

  He sighed. At the very least, it would probably be effective at blinding his foes. Though it was somewhat redundant since he already had the onion spray.

  Baiyu his divihread around and looked around cautiously, before rushing out of town and following the bull's trampled path.

  This time he didn't have aipedes chasing him that Fei An could mark. But he still couldn't help but feel somearanoid. Every now and then he'd stop and rush backward to sweep his divine sense, but each time, nothing was found.

  It took him much loo arrive at the forest due to those efforts.

  Baiyun ed the tipede shells around himself before marg into the dense greenery. There were no clear paths and only i messes of vegetation. But he had created a mental map of the forest and was now retrag it.

  Snarling from various beasts echoed around him but none approached. Baiyun wiped the sweat off his forehead as he returo the Bckhorle's clearing where it slumbered as usual.

  That pcy would be its downfall.

  Baiyun walked around with hushed footsteps and pced his hands on the surrounding trees. Each of the trees were meticulously examined with diviouch as he frowned.

  He pced down a stool from his bag and sat, taking out the mortar ale he purchased from Qinghe. He pulled down the herb with golden thread essehe Yingtao's bull had been gnawing on with a strange look on his face. To think it would be useful here of all pces...

  Baiyun ground up a leaf of the golden thread herb with golden fern shoots from Guan Qiang's mountain. There were much better options in the herb pouch, but he had left it with the mole.

  He took out a pot and tossed in a pile of ropes, before p in the crushed herbs and massaging the paste in. This would give the ropes enharength, but he could not produce such ropes ahead of time as they would grow weaker from essence degradation over days.

  The rgest tree around was quite the spectacle with a trunk wide enough frowo their arms around it. Baiyun took out a firewood axe and chopped away at the trunk for several minutes until it was unsteady.

  Grueling work, but it was nothing pared to the Undying Basalt wall.

  He carved circur grooves into the surrounding trees and sthered lubrit from a rge wooden bucket into the exposed inner bark. When he purchased them from the town's marketpce, he got carried away and bought 20 buckets. The owner looked ed but didn't ask, notig Baiyun was from Ying Shi's party.

  Finally, he took out the slimy yellow ropes from the pot and tied them to the branches of the almost-fallen tree; he slotted the rest of the rope around the grooves carved into the other trees.

  Baiyuhe ends of the rope and tied it into a massive noose as he crept towards the still-slumberile. He had been pnning to hide and e ba hour ter if the stant chopping alerted it, but the i was still ptly sleeping.

  The preparations were plete.

  Baiyun approached the slumbering giant quietly. He opened his mouth and exposed the ring clutched between his teeth and jumped, the barrier striking the ground and ung him high into the air!

  He slotted the noose around the beetle's head and pulled as he fell, snapping it taut around its neck from his momentum.

  Finally, the creature roused. A furious bellow echoed as it vibrated its wings! But Baiyuhe beetle wouldn't move from its spot. He ran around it and reached into his bag, leaping over bushes and weaviween trees.

  The huge i was fused, not uanding why it was being circled. But suddenly, a bucket of lubrit struck its back with a cck! From every ahe buckets cttered against its shell and tumbled to the ground, c the grass in a thick coating of oily liquid.

  "Hrrrrr!"

  Once more, it shook its wings ahe oily substance flying in every dire. But Baiyun quickly summoned his barrier and deflected it harmlessly, before rushing towards the unsteady tree.

  He braced himself against the ground and gave it a mighty kick! A loud crackle filled the air as the tree shook and groaned, beginning to topple. The ropes tied to its branches grew taut, snapping tightly around the grooves of the surrounding trees.

  Baiyun watched with bated breath as the beetle finally realised something was wrong. As the rope pulled at its neck, it tried to cw at the grass but it only thered more of the oil onto itself.

  The falling tree hung midair at an awkward angle as it and the mighty beast pyed tug of rope. Smoke began to rise from the immense fri and the trees groaned as it saut between their many grooves, but Baiyun's alchemic solution made it hold on somehow.

  A statement! Baiyun had chosen the dire where the ground sloped most to maximise the strength of the falling tree, but it still wasn't enough. Tsk. If only there were a little more force...

  Baiyun suddenly narrowed his eyes. He knew he couldn't wait longer; if the rope snapped, all his efforts would be for naught.

  He rushed around the beetle as it struggled and barrier jumped towards it, smming into it from behind! A small forpared to the might of the falling tree, but at st...

  It was a small movement at first, but more and more oil soaked into the underside of the beetle as it filed. Until finally, it spun across the soil and slid down the subtle slope, crashing into the trees and sending a shower of leaves into the air!

  Only then did the fallen tree hit the ground, relieved of its duty at st.

  Baiyun quickly activated another barrier jump as he fell back to the ground, spshing off the lubrit soaked grass. It would be a disaster if it soaked into his shoes.

  The patud beh the beetle had been revealed, exposed to fresh air again for the first time in years. In its midst was a rge tangle of fleshy roots that were bck as night.

  As Baiyun fell, he reached into his bag and slotted a stool beh his shoes as he squatted. Its legs sunk ly into the soil as it struck the ground with him, the impact violently smming into his legs.

  "Whoa!"

  He lurched forward and was nearly unched off, but he quickly grabbed the edges of the seat with all his might, barely stopping himself from being unched off. Phew. He really did not want to nd face first in a pile of mud.

  The beetle struggled in the distance, but the rope around its ned its lubricated legs halted it.

  Baiyun reached into the soil and yahe roots out of the soil, holding them high in the air. He could not help but ugh; to think his ridiculous pn to use lubrit actually worked! It was an idea he thought up on a spur when he saw it on sale in a general store.

  It had caught his attention back then because he was surprised by how cheap it was despite its rge position of oil.

  He could feel the roots press in his hands as they drooped, their texture a strange mix of rubber and flesh. How ironic for a herb brimming with vital earth esseo ck the firmness of earth.

  Baiyun quickly rinsed off as much mud as he could with a water gourd before barrier leaping away and leaving the stool behind. Unfortunate. He had ow for more than half of this life.

  He ed the roots around his neck, a strange addition to the already grotesque tipede scarfs. Muddied water seeped into his robes and he grimaced.

  There was no choice. Regur spatial artefacts would destabilise and degrade plicated pound essences found in high quality ingredients like the Bckhorn root.

  Qinghe's pouch was an example of a specialised herb ste artefact but it resently with the mole and was currently full.

  "Hrrr... Hr! Hr! Hr!"

  The ground trembled as the beetle grew more and mitated. Time and time again would it try to get up, only to slip and crash sideways into the ground over and ain. But with every tumble, more dirt caked its shell and diluted the lubrit.

  Thumps echoed through the forest each time the beetle tugged at the ropes, raising and smming the fallen tree into the groued. More and more frays appeared in the rope as they grew bd charred from the fri; smoke and embers billowing from the grooves cut into the surrounding trees.

  A loud snap echoed through the forest as the rope finally broke, the beetle finally getting onto its feet. It shook its wings violently a a violent hail of muddied lubrit flying everywhere!

  Baiyun quickly activated a barrier jump a away over the lubricated grass. But just as he he barrier struck a clot of oily mud and slid across the ground before fading, his shoes sinking into it.

  Tsk! He quickly barrier jumped again and tossed his shoes away.

  Running with such slippery shoes was suicide and if he stashed them into his bag, they would get all over his items. The only option was to discard them.

  Baiyun could only run barefoot with all his might, enduring the pain of rocks and branches digging into his soles and wedging themselves between his toenails. A trail of red was left from the bloodied cuts he sustained.

  Meanwhile, a thunderous buzz echoed through the air, apanied by the sound of bde-like wings sshing through the air. He did not o turn his head. His divihread told him the beetle had soared into the skies.

  "Hrrrr!"

  The beetle suddenly tilted its body downwards, blurring as it shot forward with tremendous speed! Baiyun widened his eyes and barrier jumped upwards.

  A gust of wind rushed beh him as the beetle shot past, a deafening boom eg as it sliced the forest asunder horn-first. What was once a vibrant patch of forest was instantly reduced into a muddy dit crushed wood.

  It appeared dazed for a moment, but it shook the gunk off its head and slowly rotated itself to face Baiyun.

  Sudden acceleration rivalling that of an arrow... arait the wildlife guide failed to cover. Baiyun began to sweat and wondered why he trusted in it so much.

  But he couldn't bme the guide's author. Who would expect a sedentary Qi Gatheri that slept all year to have such absurd speed aructive power? He thought the enraged beetle would be slow and easy to outrun because of how armoured it was!

  He quickly pulled out his mirror ntern and shut his eyes as he flicked the switch.

  "HHHHRRRR!"

  The beetle let out a cry of fury and turs head away as the immense light shot straight into its right eye. But with how its eyes were on the sides of its head, he couldn't blind its other eye.

  Baiyun turned and ran deeper into the forest. It was risky, but with how ehe beetle was, it would likely chase him all the way back to town.

  Ying Shi's team would be able to take it down, but at this hour, they were asleep. The casualties would be immense if the beetle plowed its way through the buildings!

  He o find another beast to tackle it.

  Once again, he had thrown himself into a dangerous situatioe his promise to be more cautious.

  Baiyun shook his head in self-deprecation.

  Cries of terror from various beasts echoed through the forest. Birds took off into the skies, some even desperately carrying their s. The patter of paws striking grass echoed as nd-dwellis fled.

  There was no longer a need for the tipede scarf. Without the warding property, it was nothing but an unfortable hazard that could get caught in branches. Baiyun pulled it off his ned stuffed it into his bag.

  Eves with Foundational cultivation fled. It seemed almost absurd; after all, these beetles grew Bckhorn roots in preparation for their foundational breakthrough. How could a mere Qi Gathering i scare away hundreds of beasts, even some above its realm?

  The answer was simple. There was more tth than cultivation stages.

  It was like a parisoween a rat and an elephant. Even if the rat had flesh 50 times strohan the elephant’s, a stomp from the elephant would still crush it into blood paste. And in this case, the colossal beetle had the superior body cultivation on top of that!

  Size ower. It was why powerful spirit beasts would often grow to ludicrous sizes like that of a mountain. From its sheer mass, this beetle was a threat even to Foundational cultivators.

  Baiyu away with his barrier again as the beetle rose into the air and charged once more. Again and again they did their deadly dance, each time another scar added to the forest. Hundreds of trees had beeroyed by the rampage of the beetle; from above, one could see the tless gashes cut into the once pristine sea of vibrant green.

  "Hrrr…"

  The beetle shook its head again, as it trudged back to face Baiyun.

  Hundreds of scratches scarred its once pristine shell, even on its armoured eyes. Its movements felt slower and more fatigued than before, but even then, it was still determio sughter him!

  But Baiyun was in worse dition.

  From all his running, his feet were covered in horrible wounds and caked in bloodied mud. His entire body screamed for him to rest, but he could not patch his muscles. His entire soul was focused oerminating the deadly microbes entering his wounds from the exposed soil, limiting his ability to patch his muscles.

  His vision otty and his head spun. Barrier jumps took their toll on this frail body.

  Baiyun had ehe dangerous depths of the forest Fei An warned about and the charges of the Thousand Wills ring had dwio half their capacity. If it fully ran out, his fate was sealed!

  He panted as he limped into yet another clearing. In its midst was a crude hut, a mess of sticks and branches held together by mud that had hardened into stone.