Lady Shee's brow furrowed slightly, she hadn't expected Li An to refuse.

In any case, she owed Li An a favor, and even offered him such a heavy gift as a Purifying Evil Pill.

"However, as Lingbird goes, I do have quite an understanding of it. Here is a special Spiritual Food prepared for avian Spirit Beasts, please accept it, my lady—"

Li An presented a precious Spiritual Food.

This Spiritual Food was usually reserved for the Cyan Flame Divine Sparrow, as well as for bribing Xiaoying.

To offer it to Lady Shee now was a sincere gesture.

After all, regardless of what Lady Shee thought, it was still wise not to offend her openly.

Lady Shee pondered for a moment, "Fellow Daoist Lin, I do greatly need the Lingbird, would it be possible to borrow it for half a month? I can offer two more Purifying Evil Pills."

She made a concession, a really heavy one.

Li An, helpless, could only summon the little red bird, and said, "Lady Shee, it's not that I am callous, but you know, there's no master-servant relationship between the Lingbird and me, so I cannot command it. If it is willing to go with you, it will; if not, there's nothing I can do."

Finished speaking, Li An addressed the little red bird, "Would you be willing to go for half a month as Lady Shee requests?"

As soon as he spoke, the little red bird flew straight to hide behind Li An, totally ignoring Lady Shee.

Lady Shee offered rare Spiritual Food to tempt, but the little red bird remained indifferent.

"I'm truly sorry, Lady Shee."

Li An said.

Lady Shee was also helpless; she couldn't possibly grab it by force, so she said, "Thank you, Fellow Daoist Lin, my apologies—"

She took her leave.

"She must be aware."

Li An became increasingly certain.

Taking advantage of the upcoming days when Li An was supposed to die, she aimed to take away Li An's Lingbird for free.

Back then, when leaving the Profound Yang Sect, Li An knew the sect was doomed, so he secured a lot of resources, borrowed but unpaid.

Now, had he not already guessed Jiang Ribai's intentions, there could have been a tit-for-tat scenario.

By dusk, sure enough, the mountain master's decree came down, no one was permitted to leave their cultivation grounds.

"Can't leave now..."

Li An pondered; he must now consider self-preservation.

The Spirit Charm Mountain environs were sure to be the crossing path for Mountain Master Jie's forces, and by then, the two sides must encounter.

Even if enemies truly come, Li An and Xiang Yuntian must actively intervene.

As tenants under Mountain Master Bai, safeguarding against enemies was also part of the duty, if one lets enemies infiltrate the cultivation site without obstructing, Mountain Master Bai's subsequent investigation would surely lead to a dead end.

Such a headache!

"Have you made up your mind? Killing someone isn't worth your headache and hesitation for so long?"

Xiang Yuntian came to find him, questioning.

Li An really wanted to say, you go kill Jiang Ribai then…

But it was merely a thought.

Of course, he couldn't genuinely trust Xiang Yuntian, stating it could lead to Xiang Yuntian backstabbing him, or acting indiscreetly leading to leaks, then Li An would be finished.

"You want to be quick, I'm leaving next month, after I leave, it'll be forever farewell, and your several hundred Spirit Stones would be like buns thrown to dogs, never coming back!"

Urging once more, Xiang Yuntian departed.

...

"The timing should be within these fifteen days."

Analyzing his conversation with Lady Shee, Li An felt it must be so.

Otherwise, she wouldn't have been willing to shorten the borrowing period of the Lingbird to fifteen days.

Facing the dire situation:

Cannot flee.

Must fight.

No way around it, the taste of an inevitable dead-end is pretty strong indeed...

This is the Cultivation Realm, pitfalls are everywhere, even as a Core Formation Master, one cannot escape Ghostly Realm schemes.

Upon pondering, only ensuring survival in battle remained, ultimately achieving the outcome of "narrowly escaping death."

Li An contemplated in this direction, giving himself three days to devise a strategy, if there remained no foolproof plan...

Then escape.

Li An would absolutely not remain to await death.

Spirit Veins are rare, but one must also consider life preservation.

In this scenario, as long as Li An was willing to flee, forsake everything now, then it was actually not an issue.

With that thought, his heart lightened significantly.

At least there was a retreat.

...

Three days later.

Taking advantage of Xiang Yuntian's inattentiveness, Li An stealthily left Spiritual Serenity Peak.

Though not personally venturing out in those three days, he continuously probed surrounding terrain with his Divine Sense, already having it figured out.

"Enemy attack likely comes from the direction of Black Night Forest."

"Upon reaching Spirit Charm Mountain vicinity, Xiang Yuntian and I will sense it and engage in battle."

"If I were the enemy, after being discovered, only two possibilities remain, firstly, to use swift force to suppress me and Xiang Yuntian to prevent exposure; secondly, send someone to block us, and then lead the main force onward."

"The former is hard to defend against, who knows what they possess? Are Nascent Soul Stage experts among them?"

"If it's the latter, then survival chances remain!"

Li An's gaze intensified.

"Therefore, I must maneuver them into the second choice."

"Facing suppression, they primarily aim to silence us to maintain stealth, yet if we are spotted, their plans already compromised, then killing us serves no purpose, sending someone to block or even ignoring us suffices, as the Great Lizard is the priority."

Li An meticulously plotted.

This was doable!

If Li An and Xiang Yuntian remained oblivious as if in a dream, they might indeed face a sudden assault.

But now, with Li An clearly aware of their approach, he holds the initiative!

As a Golden Core cultivator, Li An only has to erupt his cultivation at the enemy's arrival before they take action, signaling into the mountains, that's sufficient!

A sole loud shout from him could be sensed throughout a considerable portion of Mountain Master's domain.

Yet at that time, Li An would also become a target.

Combat will erupt then, Xiang Yuntian would surely engage... Li An contemplated and believed it feasible.

He quietly set up a Rank Three Array by Black Night Forest, near Spirit Charm Mountain foot.

This was the first line of defense.

Furthermore, a Rank Three Mountain Protection Array was deployed across Spirit Charm Mountain, the second line of defense.

Spiritual Serenity Peak where his cave abode sat already had a Rank Three Array, the third line of defense.

Then he chose two escape paths, placing a Rank Three Array along each route!

This was the fourth line of defense.

Li An's plan was as follows:

Once the enemy appears, he immediately sends a signal, disrupting the enemy.

The enemy will kill forth but also realize they've been exposed.

At this moment, Li An will first use the second line of defense, employing the Spirit Charm Mountain Protection Array to obstruct.

Unable to break through easily, the enemy will likely dispatch a few to block Li An and the rest.

If the enemy's strength is average, striving to hold, Li An would cooperate with Xiang Yuntian to resist; should the enemy be weak, and counter-strike seems possible, they could eliminate the enemy while the first line disrupts retreat.

If the enemy proves too formidable, Li An will resort to the third and fourth defenses to flee.

All arrays were Demon Sect's Rank Three Arrays, effectively "Sub-Tier Four."

Under such arrangement, even if Nascent Soul experts arrived, Li An could mostly escape.

Having prepared everything, Li An finally felt slightly relieved but painfully aware.

A Rank Three Array costs as much as five or six thousand Middle Grade Spirit Stones.

The expense for this battle reached twenty thousand Middle Grade Spirit Stones!

...

Time rushed by.

In the blink of an eye, five days passed.

Throughout these five days, Li An was sleepless, maintaining extreme mental tension, constantly monitoring several hundred miles using Divine Sense.

Especially Black Night Forest side.

In fact, sustaining Divine Sense constantly strained Soul Power tremendously.

Fortunately, Li An's Life Seed connected with the Spirit Platform, greatly enhancing Soul Power's quality and endurance, enabling this.

The seventh day.

"Here they come—"

In the deepest night, Li An's eyes shot open—

...

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