Wanting to retreat was one thing, but seeing everyone around her so full of energy, Li Yunxian couldn’t help but let a faint smile tug at the corners of her mouth.
“Alright, let’s move out,” Li Yunxian said aloud.
Going alone to die alongside a Strange Beast was one thing; setting off together with a group was a completely different feeling.
The most obvious difference was how much lighter it felt.
With comrades supporting her from behind.
This kind of experience wasn’t unfamiliar to those from the star systems, but…
A single misstep caused an attack to miss, and the Strange Beast’s ferocious claws suddenly appeared right before the fighter’s face.
Just as he was about to be taken down, a sword aura shot straight past his side.
The Strange Beast was sent flying and exploded midair, scattering coins and materials like fireworks.
“My arm’s injured. When gripping the gun, shift your right hand down by two finger widths and use your wrist strength.”
A calm voice floated into his ear. “Add two points of energy, then hold back three more Strange Beasts.”
The fighter instinctively adjusted his movements according to the voice.
The effect was almost immediate.
With a soft pfft, his spear effortlessly pierced through the core of the Strange Beast without any hesitation.
So swift and clean, it was as if someone else was wielding the spear.
Similar things happened to others as well.
Sometimes it was Li Yunxian’s sword aura; other times, talismans suddenly flew past; or flickering array plates swapped their positions.
But unchanging was the calm voice diagnosing their problems and offering solutions.
Living in the star era where danger could arise at any moment, all cultivators, regardless of talent in combat, sought every possible way to improve themselves.
This was why Li Yunxian’s Four Arts items always sold out quickly.
Improving one’s own strength was difficult, but equipping oneself was easy.
Just a few simple sentences, and they really seemed to have grown stronger.
Previously, whether Li Yunxian was teaching talismans or providing Four Arts agents, the majority were just consumers, not direct beneficiaries.
But this group about to go offline was quite mixed—various types of people, many not appearing on the trading market.
Most of them only knew about the things Li Yunxian did to some extent.
Now, things were completely different. Li Yunxian’s guidance truly enhanced everyone present.
The teasing nicknames like “Teacher Xiao Li” or “Boss” somehow carried genuine sincerity when spoken now.
Li Yunxian didn’t pay attention to these mental shifts; all she felt was the noise.
With so many people moving together, she hardly needed to take drugs and act anymore.
But that didn’t mean it was easy.
Without spiritual sense to assist, Li Yunxian had to expend much more focus to perceive everything around her.
The sounds of the wind stirred by human and beast movements, footsteps, and the clashing of weapons—all demanded her full attention to analyze.
This path forward felt even more exhausting than going alone.
Yet in the end, they arrived.
After four hours of travel, having dealt with the second Jindan Strange Beast they encountered, they seemed to stumble past a certain tree.
Suddenly, the endless waves of Strange Beasts vanished right before their eyes.
In front of them was the familiar, utterly silent wild forest.
The huge contrast left everyone stunned.
They instinctively looked back over their shoulders.
Relentless Strange Beasts continued spawning behind them, unwaveringly rushing toward their city without a glance back.
“We… made it out?” everyone was dazed.
Then a voice echoed what many were thinking: “Not so hard, huh?”
“Why didn’t you all do this before?” Li Yunxian said, completely baffled.
The group:
Don’t make it sound like they never thought of this!
Killing through the entire beast tide isn’t that simple!
And besides… everyone looked at the people around them.
And they all survived to get here.
Seeing this scene, many wanted to ask—Boss, are you really here to go offline?
Ying Wenhe looked at Li Yunxian’s clueless expression—or rather, how her personal strength made her understanding different from the rest—and spoke up for the others.
“This way is more troublesome.
“And the early beast tide Strange Beasts are lower in cultivation level.
“The main reason is that our goal is still to defend the city.” Except for Li Yunxian, no one else really needed to kill through the beast tide.
Most Nascent Soul cultivators could clear a beast tide, but the beast tides were endless.
Killing off one wave simply made way for others to fill the void, still charging toward the city.
Not everyone had Nascent Soul cultivation.
Even in the star systems, the spiritual power on various planets rivaled the cultivation world, but most were ordinary Qi Refining beginners or first and second tiers, still making up the vast majority.
Many in this group couldn’t withstand even a single blow from a Strange Beast.
City defense was always the most crucial task during a beast tide.
Li Yunxian replied casually, her gaze constantly scanning the ceaseless surge of Strange Beasts behind them.
“Oh.”
She was thinking about something.
Ying Wenhe noticed the pause in her speech.
He sensed Li Yunxian was pondering some kind of crazy idea.
Recalling the previous agent interview, then the distant look Li Yunxian gave the forest hours earlier, and how she had calmly handled all the unexpected events along the way, leading everyone to this point—
Ying Wenhe suddenly felt his blood boil again.
Suppressing his excitement, he looked at Li Yunxian: “Boss, what are you planning? Are you going to wipe out the beast tide directly?”
Gripping his knife, Ying Wenhe was ready to charge into battle alongside her.
In his eyes, Li Yunxian was now completely enveloped in an intense radiance.
***
The old notion that the shortest beast tides lasted at least three days no longer seemed immutable.
He didn’t hold back his wildest guesses about Li Yunxian’s plan.
Li Yunxian:
She cast Ying Wenhe a look of someone staring at a madman.
A real beast tide and solving the root cause? That made some sense.
But this was a game, The Many, why fight the monster-spawning mechanics?
She wasn’t stupid!
“It’s something, but not about ending the beast tide,” Li Yunxian said, waving her spiritual sword.
The sword aura howled as it charged toward a fresh wave of Strange Beasts on the spawning line.
The newly spawned Strange Beasts were ruthlessly sliced in two by the sword aura, leaving piles of game coins and spiritual materials scattered on the ground.
The beast tide seemed to let out two programmed howls in response, but the command to charge the city was clearly a higher priority.
All the Strange Beasts merely glanced around without spotting enemies, then continued charging forward relentlessly.
Not a single beast reacted to those of them standing beyond the spawn line.
Li Yunxian looked around.
Everyone’s faces showed sudden realization, then one by one, they grasped the meaning behind Li Yunxian’s strike.
Instantly, their expressions brightened.
Li Yunxian smiled: “If no one’s in a hurry to go offline… how about farming materials here for a while?
This is infinite material respawn, and there’s no danger at all in this spot!”
Crossing this village, there really wouldn’t be another store like this!
“No rush!” the group yelled, whether genuine or not, now they were clearly anglers watching a pond full of jumping fish.
There was no way they were leaving now!
Li Yunxian chuckled.