In response to the sudden upheaval in the Yunlu Mountain Range, various regions organized Martial Artists to mount a resistance. Some villages banded together, forming teams of Opening Realm Martial Artists to defend their homes.

Iron Gate Pass and the border garrisons of the Nan Feng Kingdom dispatched troops directly, sealing off the exits to the Yunlu Mountain Range. Any Demon Beast that appeared was to be killed on sight.

This upheaval in the Yunlu Mountain Range was too sudden and its scope was immense. Over in Mysterious City, the three great Primordial Ocean Realm experts flew into the air above the city gates. Gazing down at the Demon Beasts below, Iron Blood bellowed.

"Martial Artists of Mysterious City! The Demon Beasts are invading the territory of the Human Race! Follow me out of the city and slaughter them!"

Heeding Iron Blood’s rallying cry, a multitude of Martial Artists streamed out of the city to hunt Demon Beasts. Lin Yun, however, did not join them. ’It’s useless to kill these Tier One Demon Beasts, no matter how many I slay.’

The slaughter of Demon Beasts was rampant all around the Yunlu Mountain Range. But many Opening Realm Martial Artists were also being killed by the beasts. It was a brutal, tragic battle.

Many small villages, lacking any Martial Artists, were massacred by Demon Beasts. Larger towns were also struggling; their numbers of Martial Artists plummeted, especially those at the Opening Realm. In less than a day, half of them were dead.

The only places capable of resisting the Demon Beasts were major strongholds like Iron Gate Pass and Mysterious City.

After a day of slaughter, the corpses outside Mysterious City had already piled into mountains. What struck everyone as strange, however, was that these Demon Beasts would rather fight the Human Race to the death than retreat back into the mountains.

This only fueled everyone’s curiosity. Many Martial Artists began to say that a peerless treasure must have emerged within the mountains, scaring all the Demon Beasts of the Yunlu Mountain Range and causing them to flee in every direction.

That night, none of the Martial Artists in Mysterious City rested. Everyone stood atop the city walls, warily keeping watch over the Demon Beasts outside.

The night passed. By the next day, word had already spread among the Martial Artists of Mysterious City that a treasure had emerged in the mountains. Many began organizing themselves, and squad after squad of Martial Artists started heading into the Yunlu Mountain Range.

At Noon, the two great Primordial Ocean Realm experts, Iron Blood and the Blood Refining Ancestor, also led their respective subordinates into the Yunlu Mountain Range to investigate. Ye Yunlong did not go. The reason, of course, was Lin Yun.

When Ye Yunlong returned to the Death Row Shelter and saw the letter Lin Yun had left, he was so furious he could have coughed up blood. ’After wasting so many resources and offending so many people, the inheritance I finally obtained was actually fake?’

"Find him! You must find Lin Yun! Find him for me even if you have to tear all of Mysterious City apart!" Ye Yunlong roared maniacally. But by then, Lin Yun had already followed the crowd into the Yunlu Mountain Range.

Following the two great Primordial Ocean Realm experts, no one dared to act rashly. By this point in the Yunlu Mountain Range, Tier Two and Tier Three Demon Beasts were a common sight, and they had all become exceptionally ferocious.

A Qi Sea Realm Martial Artist could handle a Tier Two Demon Beast, but when it came to a Tier Three Demon Beast, it would take at least a dozen Qi Sea Realm Martial Artists to fight one. The only exceptions were the two great Primordial Ocean Realm experts, Iron Blood and the Blood Refining Ancestor.

’These Demon Beasts have really gone berserk...’ As the group fought its way forward, Lin Yun rarely attacked, instead using his Body Technique to dodge the Demon Beasts’ assaults.

The Demon Beasts in the mountains had become strange. They didn’t just attack humans; they wouldn’t even spare their own kind. They had become utterly ferocious and bloodthirsty.

A savage roar echoed. A kilometer away from Lin Yun, two Tier Two Demon Beasts were locked in a deadly battle. By the looks of it, they wouldn’t stop until one of them was dead.

The group made a wide berth around the two Demon Beasts. After a full day of travel, everyone had grown accustomed to the sight of Demon Beasts fighting to the death in the Yunlu Mountain Range. Unless a confrontation was unavoidable, no one wanted to clash with them.

Night fell. After a full day, the group hadn’t even reached the territory of the Tier Two Demon Beasts. Under the command of Iron Blood and the Blood Refining Ancestor, the thousand-strong party found an open area and began to set up camp.

"Hey kid, what’s your name?" a Qi Sea Realm Martial Artist asked, approaching Lin Yun with an unfriendly tone.

"My name is Lin Shan, sir," Lin Yun replied, not wanting to cause any trouble.

"Alright. You and he will take the first watch tonight," the man said after hearing Lin Yun’s reply, pointing to another Martial Artist beside him who was also at the Fifth Layer of Opening Realm.

Many people wanted to enter the Yunlu Mountain Range to try their luck and see if a treasure had truly emerged. However, it was impossible to venture deep into the mountains alone. Therefore, more than half of the Martial Artists in the area had gathered to follow the two great experts, Iron Blood and the Blood Refining Ancestor.

A group this large naturally required management. And the ones responsible for that management were, of course, the Qi Sea Realm Martial Artists chosen by Iron Blood and the Blood Refining Ancestor.

Hearing the man’s words, Lin Yun nodded. ’Watch duty is watch duty, I suppose. My goal is whatever lies deep within the mountains anyway.’ Lin Yun was extremely curious as to what could have made the Yunlu Mountain Range become like this.

"Hey, brother. I’m Li Tian." Since they were assigned together, the young man stepped forward and greeted Lin Yun with a smile.

"Lin Shan."

"Right, looks like we’re a squad now. Let’s look out for each other." Li Tian was the type to warm up to people quickly and soon started chatting with Lin Yun. However, when he heard the word "squad," Lin Yun looked puzzled.

Noticing his expression, Li Tian thoughtfully explained it to Lin Yun. A squad consisted of ten people, led by a squad leader at the Eighth or Ninth Layer of Opening.

Above the squads are companies. Each company is made up of ten squads and is led by a captain who is a Qi Sea Realm Martial Artist. Above them are Iron Blood and the Blood Refining Ancestor.

According to Li Tian, it was an idea from Iron Blood and the Blood Refining Ancestor to make managing everyone easier. After all, they would need to cooperate if they were to venture deep into the mountains.

The people who had entered the mountains at the beginning without waiting for the two Primordial Ocean Realm experts were already long dead. Having learned from that mistake, the others knew it was better to seek shelter under a big tree, so they had naturally flocked to the two great experts for protection.

With this management structure, the thousand-strong group became orderly. Each squad had its own tent, and each company formed a block. The ten companies formed a perimeter, with Iron Blood and the Blood Refining Ancestor securely protected in the center.

"Lin Shan, Li Tian, you two have the first watch. You’ll switch out in one hour, got it?" The leader of Lin Yun’s squad was named Tang Feng, a Martial Artist at the Ninth Layer of Opening. He was addressing Lin Yun and Li Tian. 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝚠𝚎𝚋𝗻𝗼𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝚘𝐦

"Understood," the two of them replied in unison.

Hearing their reply, Tang Feng gave a slight nod and walked into the tent.

The purpose of the watch was to guard against Demon Beast attacks. Sitting by the campfire, Li Tian was like an engine that wouldn’t stop, chattering away at Lin Yun incessantly.

"It’s been a massacre. Hundreds of Martial Artists from Mysterious City must have died just today. If it weren’t for the two great experts, I’m afraid we never would have made it this far."

"I really wonder what kind of treasure deep in the mountains could make all the Demon Beasts in the Yunlu Mountain Range act like this."

Li Tian prattled on tirelessly. Listening to him, Lin Yun had to resist the urge to sew the man’s mouth shut more than once. ’He’s so annoying,’ he thought. ’It’s like having a hundred flies buzzing around my ears.’