The Pastoral Life of a Cultivation Master

Chapter 3096 Setting the First Move
"Amo, what's wrong?" Ouyang Ruoxi noticed Chen Mo's unwell expression in the dim light and reached out to take his hand, asking softly.

Upon hearing this, Chen Mo turned to Ouyang Ruoxi and twitched the corners of his mouth, but he didn't actually laugh. He said, "You heard that roar just now, didn't you?"

"Well, what happened?"

"The owner of that voice is definitely very powerful. When it reached here, it still retained a certain amount of pressure, which made me realize that its strength is definitely not low." Chen Mo said to Ouyang Ruoxi with a frown.

He was quite surprised when he heard the roar coming from across the lake. After all, the sound could travel so far and carried such a powerful aura, which made him understand the strength of its owner. Furthermore, since it came from across the lake, it meant that the owner of the sound must have sensed a subtle danger while crossing it.

As they crossed the lake, the lake's water level began to drop, possibly because the owner of the sound wanted to come out.

Furthermore, judging from the oppressive aura emanating from the voice, Chen Mo determined that this guy possessed at least the strength of the peak Foundation Establishment stage, which was definitely not good news for him.

"Amo, what if the owner of this voice comes looking for us and attacks us?" Ouyang Ruoxi asked uncertainly.

Chen Mo looked towards the lake, but even with his daytime vision, he couldn't see it. It was too far away; they had walked for most of the day to get here. He just subconsciously looked in that direction: "I guess they might come looking for us tonight. Otherwise, why would they have roared like that just now?"

"Huh? Should we prepare in advance?" Ouyang Ruoxi suddenly wondered how she should prepare for the attack by a powerful opponent.
"Yes, we must be prepared." After thinking about it, Chen Mo decided to make preparations now. What if the owner of the voice came and they couldn't beat him? Wouldn't that just mean waiting to die?

"How are you going to prepare? Do you need my help?" Ouyang Ruoxi asked.

"No need. You should hurry up and refine the white cheese I gave you. It's a good thing that can help you increase your strength in a short time." Chen Mo couldn't explain the stalactite, so he simply called it cheese, which was simple and convenient.

"Cheese?" Ouyang Ruoxi had eaten it before and knew that this thing was definitely not cheese, but some kind of rare and precious ingredient. However, since Chen Mo didn't say, she didn't ask any further.

“Okay, I understand. You go ahead and get busy. I’ll remind my aunt and Nana to make the most of their time to cultivate,” Ouyang Ruoxi said.

On the way to the mountain gate today, Chen Mo gave her a lot of cheese, but she only ate a small piece on the way and didn't eat much more.

Ouyang Ruoxi discovered that a small piece of dried cheese had significantly boosted her strength, equivalent to a year's worth of dedicated cultivation. Therefore, her already advanced ninth level of the Acquired Realm took another small step forward, entering the early stage of the middle phase of the ninth level.

So, she knew cheese was good, but she didn't continue eating it. After all, if her strength continued to break through, it would definitely attract attention. At least some of the more perceptive members of the team, or the two innate masters, would notice something was wrong with her.

Therefore, it wasn't until it was time to rest that he thought about continuing to eat the dry cheese to improve his strength.

But that roar interrupted her preparations.

Upon hearing Ouyang Ruoxi's words, Chen Mo nodded and said, "Okay, share some of the dried cheese with your aunt and Nana as well. Focus on improving your strength. I'll be right back."

"Alright, you go ahead, I'll go to my aunt's side." Ouyang Ruoxi didn't ask Chen Mo how to make the arrangements, thinking that it would be better for her aunt and the other woman to improve as soon as possible.

After saying that, Chen Mo nodded and took out some dried stalactites again, handing them to Ouyang Ruoxi: "Take these. This kind of thing has no side effects. Just take it in small amounts and frequently."

"Okay, I understand." Ouyang Ruoxi took the cheese and smiled. Although the disguise mask was on, Chen Mo could still feel the radiant smile on her face.

After a brief moment of distraction, he pulled Ouyang Ruoxi aside and kissed her, then said, "I'll go prepare now," before disappearing into the distance.

Ouyang Ruoxi's face immediately turned red. Her aunt was not far away, but fortunately the darkness provided some cover, otherwise she would have been extremely embarrassed.

The darkness provided the best cover, and the area where Ouyang Nan and her group were resting was somewhat secluded. Most importantly, Ouyang Nan didn't want to get close to others, especially not to the Ouyang family warriors, which is why she rested a considerable distance from the main group.

This also provided Chen Mo with excellent concealment. Even the guards would not be able to see him clearly unless a flashlight beam shone directly on him.

Especially now, most people's eyes are on the lake, and they are talking about it. Only one guard is on guard in the direction of the mountain gate.

Ouyang Ruoxi quietly approached Ouyang Nan, her face still flushed. She handed a large piece of cheese to her aunt, then took out another piece and gave it to Ouyang Nana: "Aunt, Nana, you should eat this quickly and then focus on your cultivation."

Ouyang Nan took the cheese without asking what it was, put it in her mouth, and began cultivating. Ouyang Nana, who was next to her, did the same, taking the cheese and putting it in her mouth as well.

Upon seeing this, Ouyang Ruoxi secretly breathed a sigh of relief. Then, she took out a piece of dried stalactite and put it in her mouth to begin her cultivation.

What she didn't know was that Ouyang Nan and Ouyang Nana had already witnessed her intimate interaction with Chen Mo. However, knowing their niece was shy, they refrained from teasing her. Under the cover of darkness, Chen Mo quickly arrived at the inner side of the mountain gate. Then, using the towering gate as cover, he took out the array base and began setting up the formation with his true essence. This time, he also added numerous talismans to the array base.

After setting up a large formation, he once again moved towards the area behind the mountain gate. However, as he continued, he suddenly sensed that something was amiss with the stone statues on both sides of the mountain gate path.

"Huh? This is..." He immediately used concealment talismans and hiding talismans to isolate his aura before quietly continuing forward.

After continuing for a while towards the mountain gate, they arrived at an area with many buildings. On the way, they used array bases and talismans again to set up a composite array.

After setting up the formation, they returned.

As Chen Mo passed by the stone statues, he carefully examined them again, and when he approached one of them and used his divine sense to observe it, he discovered that something was amiss.

However, now is not the time for research; let's go back first.

After all, the roar from the previous voice indicated that the owner of that voice had already come out and could catch up with them at any moment. It wouldn't be good if something happened to Ouyang Ruoxi if they were delayed.

'These stone statues are a bit strange, but ultimately, the owner of that roaring voice is the one who's the hardest to deal with. Let's go back first.' Chen Mo muttered to himself as he sped back.

At the same time, after the shadowy figure reached the shore, it did not continue in the direction Chen Mo had left. Instead, it turned to face the lake, leaped from the rocks, and landed on the building on the lakeshore. Then it looked down at the lake.

The shadowy figure moved somewhat sluggishly, as if it were affected by something.

"I didn't expect that after so much time, the sect's grand formation is still in operation. I am still suppressed by the formation and cannot fly," the shadowy figure muttered to himself.

Standing atop the building, gazing at the now-dry lake, the figure murmured softly after a long while, "It's still the same as before. But it's a bit deserted now. Back then, this place was bustling with people..." The shadowy figure seemed lost in memories.

Finally, after a long sigh, he said again, "Damn intruder, since you're courting death, then wash your neck and wait!"

After speaking, he activated the restriction in his hand, which emitted a faint light. A faint light flashed across the entire sky above the lake, followed by a tremor.

Then, the strange beasts hidden in the caves at the bottom of the lake seemed to be summoned, and they all came out of their hiding places and roared.

However, the roars of these strange beasts did not travel out; instead, they echoed between the cliffs, as if a barrier had been placed over what was originally the surface of a lake, blocking out the sounds.

After roaring for a while, the beast began to run towards the location of the dark figure.

In an instant, over a hundred strange beasts of all sizes ran across the lakebed and then surged upwards along the cliff face. Their sharp claws easily pierced the rock, allowing them to climb effortlessly. Finally, the beasts reached the shadowy figure and prostrated themselves on the ground, as if paying homage to it.

The strange beasts varied in size, some nearly twenty meters tall, others only ten meters or so. However, the one that appeared at the same time as the unicorn was the largest.

Perhaps we can tell from their size that the strength of a beast is related to its size. Among these beasts, the strongest is the unicorn, followed by its mate.

The remaining beasts seem to be weaker than the unicorn, mainly due to their size difference.

Numerous strange beasts lay prostrate on the ground, making the normally tall black shadow appear even smaller, yet this only accentuated its imposing presence. Despite the sheer number of beasts, none showed the slightest disobedience before him; they all appeared remarkably docile.

"Hey, where's that one-horned beast?" the shadowy figure asked, scanning all the strange beasts.

After sensing for a moment, he said again, "So you didn't go back."

He whispered, "Get over here!"

Upon hearing the soft shout, the unicorn that was lying on the opposite bank immediately got up and ran towards them.

Of course, for the unicorn to run over, it must first descend the cliff to the lakeside, then cross the lakebed more than 500 meters deep, and then climb the cliff again to reach the location of the shadowy figure.

However, the shadowy figure did not move at all, but followed the unicorn's movements with its gaze, watching the unicorn run.

It seems that this shadowy figure's vision is unaffected by the darkness, allowing it to see clearly the movement of the unicorn through the night.