It was as if he could see through Ji Haoyuan's thoughts; Zhou Kun, who had just appeared extremely confident, suddenly flashed an awkward expression on his face.

However, he continued, "To be honest with you, Junior Brother Nanhua, if we want to fully unleash the power of this War Fortress, it might require the consumption of a great amount of Spirit Stones."

"A great amount of Spirit Stones?"

Ji Haoyuan asked unflinchingly, "Approximately how much are we talking about?"

"This..."

Zhou Kun hesitated slightly but still replied:

"I'm afraid it would take at least ten million Spirit Stones.

And every time it is fully activated, the longest it can sustain is no more than one hour. Otherwise, it would cause some irreversible damage to the War Fortress itself."

As expected.

Ji Haoyuan knew that for such a seemingly formidable War Fortress, the price of fully unleashing all its power would not be small.

Ten million Spirit Stones, that is equivalent to a thousand top-grade Spirit Stones.

This amount, even for a late-stage Golden Core cultivator, is not a small sum.

Many Golden Core cultivators might not even carry such a large number of Spirit Stones.

After all, the resources they consume in their daily cultivation are astronomical.

Having Spirit Stones and resources at hand cannot be kept unused forever.

Moreover, even with such a high cost, fully unleashing the power of this War Fortress can only last for one hour.

Unless it's a critical moment, generally, it would not be wise to fully activate the War Fortress's power.

The reason being, the effort and reward are not proportional.

Nonetheless, he couldn't deny the War Fortress's role and significance.

Even if it's not fully activated, just maintaining its usual operation and defenses shouldn't require too many resources.

Thinking of this, Ji Haoyuan continued to inquire about other aspects of the War Fortress.

When the time was about right,

Ji Haoyuan personally arranged accommodations for Zhou Kun and the others, providing them with a place to cultivate and dwell.

Celestial Moisture Plain.

This area is the middle ground between Heaven-Piercing Valley and the Qiu Long Mountain Range.

It is a buffer zone for the current beast tide.

It was a place developed by the Ji Family after they moved into Heaven-Piercing Valley in the past.

At this moment,

a signal flare suddenly shot up into the sky above Celestial Moisture Plain.

Ji Qingfei and Ye Shuling, who were patrolling nearby, suddenly noticed the signal flare, their faces dramatically changing.

"Not good!

That's the highest level of alert and distress signal!"

At this moment, both husband and wife's expressions turned extremely solemn.

"What should we do? Husband, that place should be where the people from the Demonstration Sect are patrolling, should we...?"

Ye Shuling immediately looked towards Ji Qingfei beside her.

She clearly knew what that signal flare meant.

Ji Qingfei decisively said, "Shuling, you take our people back first, I'll go over there and take a look!"

Ye Shuling's face dramatically changed.

But before she could say anything else, Ji Qingfei continued:

"Right now, our Ji Family and the Demonstration Sect jointly guard the clan territory against this beast tide.

If we hadn't seen that signal flare earlier, it would be different.

But now that we've seen it, and if we turn a blind eye to it, once the cultivators from the Demonstration Sect find out about this,

not only will we be unable to explain, but it will also surely diminish the prestige of my Uncle significantly.

You must know that the reason our Ji Family is what it is today relies entirely on my Uncle.

I absolutely cannot, and will not, allow anything that could harm my Uncle's prestige to happen.

Not even a trace, not at all!"

By the end, Ji Qingfei's expression had become resolute.

He looked at his partner beside him and slightly softened his tone:

"Moreover, I carry many life-saving items from my Uncle.

Even if I encounter a true third-tier high monster, I still have some capability to protect myself in the short term."

"Then be extremely careful; if it's truly impossible, don't push yourself."

Seeing Ji Qingfei speak with such conviction, Ye Shuling knew that no matter what she said, it was no longer of use.

But she also couldn't stay here any longer.

She must take her people back and report what happened as soon as possible, perhaps even informing their Uncle, Ji Haoyuan.

Only by reporting this quickly can they truly ensure Ji Qingfei's safety, as well as that of others.

With that thought, Ye Shuling no longer acted coy.

Clenching her teeth quietly, she led the Ji Family cultivators swiftly back towards Heaven-Piercing Valley.

Seeing this, Ji Qingfei didn't hesitate further, swiftly heading towards the location where the signal flare had just been released.

At the same time.

At the location where the signal flare had just been fired,

four men and one woman, five Foundation Establishment cultivators in Demonstration Sect attire, were leading a resistance against the incoming Demon Beasts from all directions.

These Demon Beasts were varied in appearance, cultivation, and even varied in species.

Among them, some were even natural enemies.

But at this moment, they seemed to entirely ignore this ingrained genetic rivalry, collectively charging at the Demon Sect cultivator team.

This wasn't normal!

Especially since these Demon Beasts appeared as if out of nowhere.

Initially, the team had been caught completely off guard.

Moreover, what filled the five from the Demonstration Sect with despair was this:

As time continued, more Demon Beasts from the Qiu Long Mountain Range were rushing towards them.

The number of beasts, types, and sheer scale had already amounted to a medium-sized beast tide.

"Watch out!"

Suddenly, the silver-haired youth leading the five shouted loudly.

The next moment, in horror and anger, they saw numerous spikes shoot up from the ground near them.

In the blink of an eye, large, brownish-yellow rats burst from the ground.

In a few strikes, they pierced the bodies of several Qi Refining cultivators in their team and dragged them underground.

Creak, creak—

Soon, a teeth-gnashing sound of gnawing and chewing emanated from the original underground location.

"Those are Earth Rock Demon Rats!"

The lone beautiful female cultivator in the yellow dress among the five stated with an extremely grim face.

"Roar!"

However, just as she finished speaking, the ground under several people quaked violently.

Then, the numerous Demon Beast groups charging towards them seemed to be forcibly split apart by some formidable force.

When the silver-haired youth and the green-dressed female cultivator raised their eyes, a similar look of astonishment appeared in their pupils.

"That is...?

The Tier 2 high-grade Demon Beast, Earth Bear!"

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.