Chapter 86: Summons

After carrying Ba Jiang back to his rented wooden hut, Chen Mobai prepared to take his leave.

"Brother Chen, words cannot express my gratitude for your immense kindness. Once I recover from my injuries, I will prepare a generous gift for you," Ba Jiang said with a wry smile, lying weakly on the wooden bed.

"After all, we are acquaintances; I couldn't stand by and do nothing," Chen Mobai replied, shaking his head. He then inquired about the demonic beasts, but Ba Jiang didn't know much.

After they hunted a Black-Armored Turtle, he and his sister made a detour to hunt another type of demonic beast. However, before they could succeed, they encountered a vast horde of Black Plague Birds. The second-tier bird king hadn't even attacked yet, but nearly a thousand Black Plague Birds spewed forth fierce winds, forming a dense rain of arrows that covered all possible escape routes. Ba Jiang had a life-saving second-tier defensive spirit talisman on him, but his sister was not so fortunate; she was riddled with holes and perished in the water.

"Do the demonic beasts in Cloud Dream Lake often attack the islands?" Chen Mobai asked. As a complete outsider, his understanding of the local situation was limited to what he had learned recently.

Although Ba Jiang had also just arrived, he hailed from a local cultivation family in the Eastern Wilds and had grown up hearing legends about Cloud Dream Lake, so he was aware of some details.

"It is said that a fourth-tier demonic beast resides in the deepest part of Cloud Dream Lake, but a century ago, it was suppressed by the Primordial Ancestor of the Five Elements Sect, along with several fellow cultivators," Ba Jiang began. "After the Primordial Ancestor passed away fifty years ago, this seal has become increasingly unstable. Powerful demonic beasts frequently break out of the seal, leading their respective tribes to cause chaos. If not for True Person Roaring River of the Five Elements Sect's Water Vein, who has been stationed at Wind and Rain Dock year-round to guard the seal, Cloud Dream Lake would likely have long become a paradise for demonic beasts." He continued, "Even so, the Seven Great Sects of the Eastern Wilds still organize their disciples to come to Cloud Dream Lake periodically for large-scale demonic beast hunts. Otherwise, with both the inside and outside of the seal pushing against Wind and Rain Dock, that legendary fourth-tier demonic beast might truly escape." "In the past thirty years, the demonic beast army has also grown cunning. They now preemptively attack the various market islands embedded within Cloud Dream Lake before the great sects of the Eastern Wilds jointly launch their beast-hunting conventions. This is usually when the most brutal battles occur."

Chen Mobai fell silent after hearing this, then posed a question.

"Can Azure Radiance Island withstand such an attack?"

"The Divine Wood Sect is, after all, one of the Seven Great Sects of the Eastern Wilds, with extraordinary foundations. It's highly probable they can defend it, though many people might die," Ba Jiang replied, giving Chen Mobai cause for a sigh. 'Highly probable' also meant it was possible they wouldn't be able to hold it.

"At such a time, as rogue cultivators, we have no choice but to place our hopes in the Divine Wood Sect. They will also issue a mobilization order, calling on us rogue cultivators to help defend the island."

"Oh, is this mobilization order mandatory?"

"That depends on the Divine Wood Sect's attitude," Ba Jiang said with a bitter expression, revealing the crucial point. "However, even if it's not mandatory, we rogue cultivators must help defend the island. Because once the island falls, the disciples of the Divine Wood Sect might be able to use teleportation arrays to leave, but we rogue cultivators would certainly be abandoned as cannon fodder." Chen Mobai's face cleared with understanding.

Indeed, with teleportation arrays, the Divine Wood Sect could clearly preserve its forces and retreat to its sect's main base. However, he quickly realized something else. Azure Radiance Island market, as one of the Divine Wood Sect's most successfully managed markets in Cloud Dream Lake, generated at least tens of thousands of spirit stones monthly from the rent of cave dwellings and wooden huts, along with various shops and business commissions. If they were to withdraw now and allow the demonic beasts to rampage and destroy everything, even a Golden Core True Person would feel immense heartache. Therefore, even if the Divine Wood Sect were to retreat via teleportation arrays, it would certainly only happen when they had exhausted all resources and could no longer defend. In such a scenario, rogue cultivators would naturally also hope the Divine Wood Sect wouldn't retreat and would contribute their strength to help them defend the island.

Chen Mobai, however, pondered whether he should leave immediately. He possessed a Turtle Treasure, allowing him to withdraw at will. Yet, a demonic beast attack on an island was a rare experience. Since he already had a safe escape route, and the Divine Wood Sect would surely prioritize defending the island, he might be able to observe the situation and use it to hone his combat skills.

"Brother Ba, you should rest and recover first. I'll go look for Fellow Daoist Qi Hou and see if he's on the island," Chen Mobai said before getting up and leaving.

He had accompanied Qi Hou on several demonic beast hunting missions and knew the Divine Wood Sect disciple's residence. It was the highest cave dwelling at the center of the island, boasting the best spiritual veins, even superior to those at the Water Manor—a top-grade second-tier location.

"Oh, it's you," Qi Hou said. Qi Hou was fortunate; his Junior Brother Xi happened to have an urgent matter today, so he hadn't left the island, thus narrowly escaping danger. Chen Mobai, however, was even luckier; he had indeed left the island and even encountered the Ba siblings, but he chose the right direction afterward and returned safely.

After learning about the Ba siblings' situation from Chen Mobai, Qi Hou couldn't help but sigh. He then took out a "Resurrection Talisman" and asked Chen Mobai to deliver it to Ba Jiang.

"Fellow Daoist Qi, if demonic beasts attack the island, how should we rogue cultivators handle ourselves?" Chen Mobai asked after receiving the talisman. If the Divine Wood Sect treated rogue cultivators harshly, he planned to flee.

"Right, I just came from Martial Uncle Zheng's side. The mobilization order is about to be issued, so I'll tell you about it in advance."

"Our Divine Wood Sect will hire all rogue cultivators on the island with spirit stones: 5 spirit stones per day for those in the late Qi Condensation stage, 2 spirit stones per day for those in the middle Qi Condensation stage, and 1 spirit stone per day for those in the early Qi Condensation stage. As long as everyone dares to fight with their lives, the spirit stones will be distributed on the same day." "Furthermore, if someone performs exceptionally well during the island's defense, our Divine Wood Sect can make an exception and recruit them as a disciple after the battle." After Qi Hou finished speaking, Chen Mobai couldn't help but marvel at the courage and foresight of this Foundation Establishment cultivator named Zheng.

Even without spirit stones, under the principle of 'when the lips are gone, the teeth feel cold,' the island's rogue cultivators would help the Divine Wood Sect defend the island for their own survival. However, with this generous mobilization order issued, virtually ninety-nine percent of rogue cultivators would fight with all their might. Even Chen Mobai himself was tempted.

"Junior Brother Chen, you are already at the seventh layer of Qi Condensation at such a young age. I truly look forward to you joining our Divine Wood Sect, and for us to become true martial brothers," Qi Hou encouraged him. After a few more words, Qi Hou said he was going to set up defenses near the formation flags on the east side of Azure Radiance Island. After waiting for three fellow junior brothers to form a small team, he also departed in a hurry.

Chen Mobai, holding the Resurrection Talisman, returned to Ba Jiang's wooden hut. After handing him the talisman, he also relayed the Divine Wood Sect's mobilization order.

"If they distribute spirit stones on the same day, even the most suspicious rogue cultivators will dispel their doubts. This Martial Uncle Zheng Deming truly lives up to his reputation as one of the Divine Wood Sect's most promising cultivators to achieve Golden Core; he is incredibly decisive and, being from a rogue cultivator background, understands our mentality," Ba Jiang exclaimed with emotion after listening.

As expected, some rogue cultivators had originally planned to pack their belongings and leave. After all, the demonic beast army's target was certainly Azure Radiance Island. If they left the island and scattered to hide throughout Cloud Dream Lake, as long as they didn't directly encounter the beast army's "lake cleansing," their chances of survival were considerable. However, once this mobilization order was issued, almost all rogue cultivators chose to stay.