86: Traveling through the night to return to the mountain gate, the devastation before my eyes is shocking.

Wu Yuanshan worked with extreme efficiency. In less than four hours, a black off-road vehicle with ordinary license plates, but an interior clearly modified for special use, stopped silently in front of Li Muchen.

The driver was a sharp-looking, reticent young man. After a brief confirmation of Li Muchen's identity, he gestured for him to get in. The vehicle then sped away from Longkou Town, racing along rugged mountain roads toward the provincial capital's airport.

The journey passed in silence. Li Muchen closed his eyes to rest, continuing to regulate his breathing for recovery while repeatedly analyzing the information Wu Yuanshan had shared and considering potential complications.

At dusk, the vehicle arrived at a small military airport in the provincial capital that was closed to the public. The young man handed Li Muchen over to an officer who had been waiting there and then drove away.

The officer was also a man of few words; he simply saluted and led Li Muchen onto a small jet with its engines already running. The cabin was sparsely furnished with only a few seats, clearly a private plane reserved for special missions or personnel.

The engines roared as the plane taxied, took off, and soared into the twilight sky. Outside the porthole, the ground rapidly shrank, and the mountains and towns blurred into patches of color.

Li Muchen watched the clouds receding swiftly outside the window. The sense of urgency in his heart did not diminish with the increase in speed; instead, as the distance shortened, it became even clearer.

What exactly had happened at Yuntai Mountain? What was the Origin of this so-called "monster"? Did the earth vein arrangements he left behind truly defend against the enemy automatically? Were the people of the temple and Zhaojiaao Village safe?

Questions swirled in his mind one after another.

Several hours later, the plane landed at a military airport in Jin Province. Another vehicle was already waiting. Without the slightest delay, Li Muchen transferred again and sped toward Yuntai Mountain.

The night was deep, and vehicles on the highway were sparse. The off-road vehicle's high beams cut through the heavy darkness like a black arrow.

It was already the latter half of the night when the familiar silhouette of Yuntai Mountain finally appeared faintly on the distant horizon.

However, before he even reached the foot of the mountain, Li Muchen sensed something was wrong.

First, there was the presence of people.

Even in the dead of night, there were actually scattered vehicles traveling on the main road leading to Yuntai Mountain. He could even see figures on foot carrying backpacks, trudging along under the beams of flashlights, all heading toward Yuntai Mountain. This was a sight that would have been absolutely impossible in the past.

Second, there was the "Qi."

Although his Spiritual Sense had not fully recovered to its Peak due to the long journey and previous exhaustion, he could already clearly perceive that the flow of Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi within a dozens-of-mile radius of Yuntai Mountain had become abnormal. A restless, chaotic, yet somehow "heated" aura permeated the air. It was a special field formed by the convergence of a large crowd, the intertwining of intense emotions (worship, curiosity, greed, fear), and... a certain residual, violent, "non-human" aura.

The sensation was like a pot of water about to boil; it might look calm on the surface, but underneath, undercurrents were surging and bubbles were churning.

When the vehicle was still several miles from the foot of the mountain, it was stopped by temporary roadblocks and personnel on duty. Several people in uniforms wearing "On Duty" armbands came forward to inspect them. The driver showed his identification and spoke a few words in a low voice before the roadblocks were moved aside. However, Li Muchen noticed that the eyes of those on duty were filled with awe and a trace of subtle tension when they looked toward Yuntai Mountain.

“Daoist Master Li, the car can't go any further,” the driver said, stopping at a temporary parking lot closer to the Mountain Gate. It was already filled with various vehicles, and there were even several tour buses with out-of-town plates. “Too many people have been going up the mountain lately. For safety and order, the mountain roads are under control—limited flow during the day and closed at night. You see...”

“No matter, I will go up myself.” Li Muchen pushed the door open and stepped out. The mountain wind brushed against his face, carrying a familiar yet strange scent. He looked up; in the night, the silhouette of Yuntai Mountain remained the same, but in his perception, it seemed shrouded in an invisible, restless veil.

He thanked the driver and did not take the controlled main mountain road. Instead, his figure flickered as he silently vanished into the woods by the roadside, following a hidden path known only to him, Zhao Desheng, and a few others, swiftly moving up the mountain.

The closer he got to Qingfeng Temple, the more obvious the abnormal aura in the air became. In addition to the restlessness of the gathered crowd and the residual violent Demonic Qi, he also sensed that the auras of many plant spirits in the mountains seemed somewhat listless, as if they had been frightened. Animals were also scarce, and the forest was unnervingly quiet.

When he finally reached the edge of the summit plateau where Qingfeng Temple was located, the sight before him caused his steps to halt abruptly, his pupils constricting slightly.

Qingfeng Temple... had changed.

The originally simple and serene temple still had its main buildings, but they had clearly undergone emergency repairs and reinforcement. The open space in front of the temple had been widened significantly, paved with new bluestone slabs, and temporary rain sheds and railings had been set up. Even though it was late at night, there were dozens of people who looked like pilgrims sitting on the ground wrapped in blankets or military coats, either chanting in low voices or praying silently. Bits of incense flickered in the night.

Outside the temple walls, the ancient cypress tree was still vigorous, but on the ground beneath it and on parts of the trunk, there were several clear, terrifying marks that looked like they had been scratched by a giant beast's claws! Bluestone slabs were shattered, soil was overturned, and even a decorative rock as large as several people's embrace had been split down the middle. The cut was as smooth as a mirror, yet it bore residual charred burn marks!

What shocked Li Muchen even more was that, with Qingfeng Temple as the center, he could clearly feel that the several earth vein nodes he had previously organized and reinforced were currently in a state of being "activated" and "consumed."

Particularly the core node directly beneath the temple, which was emitting steady pulses of earthy yellow spiritual light—clearly several times more active than usual. It resonated with the earth veins of the entire Yuntai Mountain, forming an invisible "guardian field" covering the temple and the surrounding dozens of yards.

This field was tough and heavy, carrying the sense of the earth's stability and suppression, firmly protecting the temple within. At the same time, however, several obvious areas of "damage" and "thinning" could be seen at the edge of the field, looking as if they had been repeatedly struck by a powerful force. Although it hadn't completely collapsed, it appeared to be in a precarious state.

In the air, there lingered an extremely faint aura that made his spiritual instincts instinctively wary—tyrannical, cold, and carrying a primeval stench. it was completely different from the aura of human Cultivators, Yin souls, or even the Western Hunan refined corpses; it was full of primitive destructive desire and bestiality.

Demonic Qi! And it was quite powerful Demonic Qi at that!

Li Muchen's gaze grew solemn as he walked quickly toward the temple's Mountain Gate. Two young villagers on night watch were dozing against the gateposts. Hearing footsteps, they looked up alertly. When they saw it was Li Muchen, they were momentarily stunned, and then their faces erupted with unbelievable joy!

“Abbot?! The Abbot is back!!” one young man jumped up, his voice cracking.

“The Abbot is back! Quick, go tell Uncle Desheng! Tell everyone!” The other young man turned and ran into the temple, shouting as he went.

Soon, the silent temple was stirred. Zhao Desheng practically stumbled out of a side room. Seeing Li Muchen, tears streamed down his old face, and he lunged forward as if to kneel: “Abbot! You're finally back! If you hadn't returned, we... we really wouldn't have known what to do!”

Li Muchen quickly supported him: “Layman Zhao, please get up. What exactly happened? Is anyone in the temple injured? What about the villagers down the mountain?”

“Everyone's fine! No one in the temple or the village is hurt! It's all thanks to the immortal method you left behind!” Zhao Desheng wiped his tears, so excited he was speaking incoherently. “It was a monster! A huge monster! Ten nights ago, it suddenly emerged from the back mountain! It was like a small hill, with eyes like lanterns, and its roar made the ground shake! It tried to break into the temple, but as soon as it got close, a huge patch of yellow light burst from the temple and fought with it! Good heavens, that commotion was scarier than thunder! The mountain was shaking! Finally, the monster was driven away, but... but the front and back of the temple ended up in this state...”

Under Li Muchen's comfort and questioning, Zhao Desheng, along with the arriving Zhao Xiaowen and Li Shiyu, chimed in one after another, finally piecing together the general course of events.

At about midnight ten days ago, an earth-shaking beast roar echoed from the depths of Yuntai Mountain. A terrifying Yao Beast, shaped like a giant ape but with a single horn on its head, black scales all over its body, and eyes like blood-red lanterns, charged out from the back mountain Forbidden Ground and lunged straight for the incense-rich Qingfeng Temple. Its goal seemed very clear: to destroy the temple or seize something within it—whether it was the pilgrims' Power Of Will or the earth vein Spiritual Qi was unknown.

Just as the giant beast was about to crush the Mountain Gate, the temple's ground, walls, and even that ancient cypress tree simultaneously burst with intense earthy yellow light, forming a massive light shield to protect the temple. The shield was incredibly solid and carried a counter-shock force, engaging in a fierce battle with the Yao Beast.

The battle lasted for nearly an hour, causing rocks to shatter and trees to break. Finally, the Yao Beast was struck by a concentrated beam of yellow light shot from the shield. Injured and roaring, it fled into the deep mountains and vanished.

Since then, the temple had been shrouded in this self-operating earthy yellow light shield. It was precisely this "miraculous" manifestation of the protective shield, combined with the previous reputation of the spirit well water, that caused the story of the "Abbot manifesting to subdue a demon" at Qingfeng Temple to spread at an incredible speed. This drew in far more pilgrims and prying eyes than ever before. The local government was also alerted. After sending people to investigate, they assisted the Zhaojiaao Village villagers in strengthening the management and repairs around the temple for the sake of stability and safety, and implemented mountain access controls.

“Abbot, that yellow light... it's the immortal method you left behind, right?” Zhao Xiaowen looked at Li Muchen with sparkling eyes full of worship. “We all saw it; it was amazing! If it weren't for that, the temple would definitely be gone!”

Li Muchen nodded, understanding clearly. That earthy yellow light shield was precisely the natural earth vein guardian field formed after he used the earth vein suppression talisman as a hub to initially organize and reinforce Yuntai Mountain's earth veins. This Formation inherently had the ability to "automatically protect its master." Upon sensing a powerful evil attack capable of threatening the temple's Foundation, it would trigger itself, mobilizing the power of the earth veins for defense or even counterattack. The Yao Beast had clearly triggered this mechanism.

He just hadn't expected that in the mere month he was gone, such a powerful Yao Beast was actually hidden in the mountains! And why did it suddenly attack the temple now? Was it a coincidence, or... was it attracted by the temple's growing incense Power Of Will or earth vein Spiritual Qi? Or was there another reason behind it?

“Abbot, it's good that you're back!” Zhao Desheng said earnestly. “Now the word outside is spreading like it's something divine. Many strange people have come, and some don't look like they have good intentions. We were all uneasy, relying entirely on this layer of immortal light to hold on. Now that you're back, we have someone to lean on!”

Li Muchen looked around at everyone, seeing on their faces both the relief of surviving a disaster and the fear and dependence in the face of unknown changes.

He took a deep breath, suppressing the doubt and solemnity in his heart, and spoke in a calm tone that carried a reassuring power: “You've all worked hard. Since I have returned, I will take charge of everything. Layman Zhao, first arrange for everyone to rest, especially the villagers on night watch. Xiaowen, Shiyu, you go rest as well.”

Seeing his composed expression and steady tone, the panic in everyone's hearts mostly dissipated, and they dispersed as told.

Li Muchen walked alone to the center of the courtyard, beneath the ancient cypress tree.

He reached out and gently pressed his hand against the rough bark. His Spiritual Sense sank into the ground, re-establishing the closest connection with that warm earth vein suppression talisman.

The suppression talisman sent back pulses of exhaustion yet stability, like a loyal guard who, after a great battle, was still performing its duty. He could clearly "see" the structure of the earth vein guardian field, as well as the several weak nodes left behind after the Yao Beast's impact.

“Thank you for your hard work,” he whispered in his heart. At the same time, he slowly injected the true essence that had mostly recovered in his body into the suppression talisman, beginning to nourish and repair those damaged nodes while attempting to communicate more deeply with Yuntai Mountain's earth vein Origin to learn more about that Yao Beast.

The night was deep, and the mountain wind was biting.

Li Muchen stood quietly beneath the ancient cypress tree, his figure as upright as a pine.

The demon's tracks had appeared, and the storm had not yet subsided.

Since the opponent had already come knocking on his door, then next, it should be his turn as the Abbot to take the initiative and meet that "neighbor" hiding in the deep mountains.

However, before that, he still needed to settle the temple and the villagers in the mountain properly.

He looked up toward the deeper, darker parts of Yuntai Mountain—the back mountain Forbidden Ground that now seemed to hide endless secrets and dangers—and his gaze gradually turned cold.