After I left the sect, the entire sect knelt down and begged for forgiveness.

Chapter 21: If you can't kill someone, play them to death.

That's awesome! If God can't kill you, he'll just play you to death.

Lin Yan's eyes sharpened, and with a thought, a Heaven-grade spirit sword appeared in her hand. She had formed a contract with the spirit sword, allowing her to summon it at any time.

The spirit sword originally intended to come and check the situation after the six lightning tribulations had finished striking, but as soon as it arrived at the cave entrance, it sensed that the lightning tribulations had not yet passed.

When the terrifying purple lightning struck, it thought its new master was doomed. But she miraculously survived and even caused a radiant glow.

A perfect Core Formation, a radiant glow—what a prodigy!

It wanted to wait until its new master had finished absorbing the radiant light before going over, but before it could even act, it was summoned directly. Sensing the surrounding demonic beasts, it felt a mix of emotions.

"You were trying to overcome a tribulation, and you even managed to destroy a monster's nest?"

The surrounding demonic beasts were watching her intently, and many of them let out threatening hisses. She didn't answer the spirit sword's question, but instead focused entirely on guard, paying close attention to the movements of the demonic beasts.

The eagle circled in the sky, its sharp eyes fixed on the ground, waiting for her to reveal an opening before launching a fatal attack.

The burrowing rats lurk underground, ready to pounce at any moment.

The saber-toothed tiger and the earth-swallowing snake cooperated, waiting for the right moment to launch a pincer attack on her.

The Whirlwind Sparrow flaps its wings, creating a whirlwind around it, waiting for other monsters to attack first so that its whirlwind can launch a sneak attack from the side.

Besides the fourth and fifth-tier demonic beasts, other lower-tier demonic beasts were also eyeing the spoils, hoping to get a share.

Because of the radiant glow, these demonic beasts saw her as a coveted prize for advancement, waiting only to devour her and ascend to a higher level.

Lin Yan understood that continuing the stalemate would be extremely disadvantageous for her. Only by launching an attack first could she seize an opportunity to break through.

She flashed forward, charging towards the saber-toothed tiger. With a swift swing of her spirit sword, a sharp sword aura aimed directly at the tiger's face. The saber-toothed tiger blocked her retreat; she needed to disrupt its defenses first.

These high-level demonic beasts had clearly communicated and were stationed in different locations, leaving her with no way to escape.

The saber-toothed tiger dodged to the side, the sharp sword energy grazing past, leaving only a superficial wound. It roared, seemingly trying to send a signal to the demon beasts.

As soon as she made a move, the monsters guarding other positions launched an attack on her.

A hawk hurled several wind blades down from the sky, but she rolled to the side to dodge them. A burrowing rat took the opportunity to launch earth spikes, but she dodged them again. A serpent spitting black venom at her, but she dodged it with agile movements, the venom grazing her shoulder.

Her already tattered robes were corroded into a large hole by a small amount of venom. The fabric around her shoulder blades was completely gone, exposing large areas of skin to the air.

What followed was the Whirlwind Sparrow's Dragon Whirlwind. She had no time to dodge and could only use her sword to create a powerful sword wind to counter it.

--boom!

The two forces clashed, producing a deafening roar. She seized the opportunity to activate the talismans within the formation.

The demonic beasts had just trampled through her first-tier defensive formation, but she didn't immediately activate the talismans within it, waiting for the right moment. The third-grade explosive talisman, weight-bearing talisman, and thunderstorm talisman were activated simultaneously, affecting nearby demonic beasts and sending dust billowing across the ground.

Taking advantage of the Earth-Swallowing Serpent being affected by the Weight-Bearing Talisman, she broke through directly from the direction it was guarding.

She unleashed a three-grade binding talisman and a thunderstorm talisman simultaneously, aiming straight for the Earth-Swallowing Serpent's vital spot. Meanwhile, the saber-toothed tiger beside her launched a sonic attack, which she countered with her sword energy. She then leaped away from the spot, dodging the eagle's swooping attack.

After escaping the encirclement, she used a third-grade explosive talisman to clear a path and repel the low-level demonic beasts that were watching from behind.

The Whirlwind Sparrow was fast, chasing straight after her and whipping her into two whirlwinds. She dodged to the side, barely avoiding them, while simultaneously unleashing several talismans.

The explosive talisman and the thunderstorm talisman detonated simultaneously, their roar echoing through the valley. She ran as fast as she could, returning to the cave.

Despite the cave's protective barriers, she still felt unsafe. The barriers set by the Nascent Soul cultivator couldn't be broken by fifth-tier demonic beasts, but when those beasts chased her to the entrance, causing a great commotion and attracting Profound-level demonic beasts, the barriers could no longer hold them back.

She was deeply worried and tried to think of a solution.

We still have to defeat them one by one! The low-level demonic beasts will naturally disperse when they see the high-level demonic beasts being killed.

But how can we separate these fourth and fifth-tier demonic beasts? As soon as she goes out, the demonic beasts gang up on her, showing absolutely no martial ethics!
A brilliant idea struck her – if reality couldn't be separated, she could bring it into the array! She had seen an introduction to illusion arrays in the beginner's guide.

Advanced illusion arrays are well-suited for use when facing multiple opponents. Lin Yan hasn't learned advanced arrays, but her father left behind a storage bag containing advanced array plates and array manuals. She has a little bit of basic array knowledge; she doesn't know if she has enough time to learn advanced illusion arrays now.

She took out ten first-grade explosive talismans, put them aside, and said to the spirit sword, "When the demon beasts come, use your spiritual power to wrap these talismans and throw them out one by one to buy some time."

After giving the instructions, she took out a high-level array plate and an array manual. She then sat cross-legged, opened the manual, and used her divine sense to scan it, searching for the method of setting up a high-level illusion array.

Lingjian asked incredulously, "You're not thinking of using the formation you just learned to trap the catching monsters, are you?"

Is a newly learned formation reliable? Formations are mysterious; can they be grasped in a short time? Even if a manual lists the corresponding formulas, it doesn't necessarily mean you can set them up.

High-level formations are unlike basic first-tier formations, which don't require formation plates and can be set up with just a few low-grade spirit stones and rocks. High-level formations require formation plates, spirit stones, magical artifacts, and so on. The more sophisticated the high-level formation, the more complex the steps; a single incorrect orientation can render the formation vulnerable.

Seeing that she was completely focused, Ling Jian didn't dare to disturb her. As the demonic beast attacked the barrier, he used his spiritual power to throw out a third-grade explosive talisman, which hit the demonic beast.

Once a spirit sword is imbued with spirit, it can absorb spiritual energy to nourish itself. And since heavenly-grade magic weapons are made of rare and precious materials, they naturally have the ability to store spiritual energy.

This is why magical artifacts created by living beings can launch attacks and unleash sword techniques on their own without needing their master's spiritual power.

The explosive talisman was thrown at the saber-toothed tiger that was in the lead, but the tiger quickly dodged and the talisman still hit its feet.

With a loud bang, the third-grade explosive talisman exploded, its power considerable, creating a deep crater in the ground. The saber-toothed tiger glowed with golden light; the power of the explosive talisman seemed to have only burned a corner of its fur.

—Hooray!
The tiger roared in fury. It slammed its paw onto the barrier, creating a resounding boom. Another explosive talisman greeted it; the saber-toothed tiger leaped aside, dodging the blast. Seeing the other beasts remain still, it too stopped moving.

To be honest, hiding in the cave and attacking directly with talismans, the monsters are temporarily helpless, making it seem like a one-man fortress that can hold off ten thousand.

(End of this chapter)