Without wasting any time talking to rookies, Ji Ye made his decision.

After all, time was of the essence and he had to make other preparations.

“Heave-ho!”

With a loud shout, the Flowery Monk's bare upper-half muscles expanded, once again displaying the legendary scene of him uprooting a willow tree.

Then, the villagers hurriedly made the “Yin wood” into bolts, wooden spears, sharpened fences, and simple traps.

“Quick! Enter the shrine. Don't come out before the battle ends.”

All the natives, women and children, including the two old men, were left inside the shrine.

This was because according to the forum, the core of the settlement was protected by the race's light from providence. It could block all attacks.

However, the strength of the light barrier was related to the number of living people outside. If the people outside died, they would directly lose their protection.

“For thus was so ordered by the divine weapon, exorcise evil spirits, capture ghosts, and slay demons. Collecting souls at the mouth of the three-p.r.o.nged road, Ancestral Master Talisman shall descend to the mortal world…”

After Ninth Uncle finished drawing the array, he took out a “brush” that was made from Big Bear's long fur. It was bigger than a broom and was stained with the blood of ordinary creatures in the core area of Twin Dragon Mount. The walls and ground that originally belonged to the temple were covered with talismans.

Thankfully, the vajra and Bodhisattva statues in the temple had already been removed.

Otherwise, if they saw a Daoist drawing talismans in their territory, the vajra would probably burn with anger as the Bodhisattva glared at them.

“Due to the lack of spiritual energy, these blood talismans cannot kill the Souls directly. However, it can block them for some time and give us a chance to launch a counter offensive.”

Close to nightfall, Ninth Uncle was finally ready.

At the entrance of the shrine, he had already used as many magical items as he could find in the fort. Some candles, white rice, chicken blood, and other items formed a relatively simple magic altar.

“It's a pity that I don't have enough magical power at the moment. Otherwise, if I can draw talismans to invite a G.o.d's descent, I should be able to increase the combat strength of an Extraordinary!” Ninth Uncle said with a pale face.

“It's enough!”

“As long as we defeat the Souls tonight, the Honor and EXP gained will be enough for everyone to make a huge breakthrough.”

Ji Ye cultivated the Five Thunder Art, so he naturally knew that this “divine talisman” could turn an ordinary person into an expert in a short period of time. Especially in this Land of Inheritance, the G.o.d invited was probably even more extraordinary.

However, this was the hardest talisman to master in the entire Maoshan repertoire. It was said that only outstanding geniuses could comprehend it.

Hmm, Ji Ye felt that this shouldn't be a problem for him…

After everything was prepared, everyone quietly waited for the Souls to arrive at night.

At night, in the sky, the full moon appeared aqueous.

On the ground, Twin Dragon Mount was brightly lit with flaming torches.

The atmosphere was a little tense, but no one spoke.

“Here they come!”

Li Qing, who was standing on the wall of the temple in the middle of the fort and wearing his red “Combat Scouter” lens, suddenly shouted.

[Race Mission: Ten-Species Compet.i.tion begins!]

[All species must face challenges and compet.i.tion from other species during their development. Only the successful ones can be considered a true civilization!]

[Mission Objective: Destroy the surrounding settlements of other species within 55 days or submit to them as subsidiary species.]

Almost at the same time, a notification appeared in the minds of all players on Earth.

However, no one was in the mood to care about this mission for the time being.

This was because under the bright moonlight, there were already many glowing green and flaming things approaching the fort.

“Huff…”

Even before the green light approached, a cold wind that made the temperature drop gushed over, causing many torches and lard candles flicker!

“Are these the legendary Yin winds and ghost flames?”

An Quan's teeth were chattering. He wasn't afraid, but the atmosphere was indeed a little horrifying.

However, when he thought about how Ninth Uncle was guarding behind him, he felt boosted with courage. He held the protective talisman made of Mandrill's skin hanging on his neck and wished that these Souls could come quickly.

Thud!

However, the Souls were indeed a little slow. After all, the agility of a refined “zombie body” was far inferior to a body of flesh.

After more than ten minutes, the first “dead object” appeared under the moonlight. It emitted a green light as it finally arrived at the outer perimeter of the fort.

It was a “tiger” that was about 2.5 meters long with black gas swirling around its body. Its thin tiger claws were the size of a child's head. The five sharp hooks and four fangs that were as long as fingers were all glowing with the green light of death under the moonlight!

Ji Ye had some impression of it.

It was the corpse of the Siberian tiger he had seen in the Mandrill cave. Clearly, after it was stolen by the Soul Commander who used the body of an Eagle Man to climb up the cliff, it was refined into the Soul race's “mount”!

Whoos.h.!.+

However, just as the zombie tiger's paw stepped into the fort's vicinity, a black shadow flew out of the village and hit its chest with a chime. It managed to send the “tiger vanguard” to retreat several steps.

It was a large crossbow bolt as thick as a baby's arm. It was made from a yin-type willow tree. The weapon that fired it was a defensive bolt held in the temple.

“Attack!”

Following a shout—

Hum!

Another similar crossbow bolt hit another “vanguard” that had appeared outside the fort. It was a vanguard boar with curved, blade-like fangs that were also covered in green light. After being hit by the large willow tree bolt, this zombie boar, which was way inferior to the Siberian tiger, almost collapsed.

As a former bandit settlement, the defensive capabilities of Twin Dragon Mount could be said to be far superior to ordinary human settlements. After all, they needed to prevent the government's armies from attacking the mountain.

Whoos.h.!.+ Whoos.h.!.+ Whoos.h.!.+

Not only were the Souls' “vanguards” being attacked by powerful crossbows, but there were also soldiers standing on the walls, shooting arrows at them.

This time, it was not made of willow wood, but ordinary wood. However, the tip of the arrow was stained with talisman water. It was even fastened with several ancient copper coins whose surfaces were slightly corroded!

When Ninth Uncle was searching the fort to set up his array, he had accidentally dug it out from under the temple's tiles.

For example, this kind of copper coin had once been circulated in the hands of people. It was donated and contained the power of faith from incense. It was also buried underground to receive the earthen energy. It had an extremely powerful effect of neutralizing baneful aura!

Pop! Crackle!

When the arrows and copper coins landed on the various zombie beasts, they immediately produced a series of popping sounds, causing the black gas on their surface to scatter. Even the copper coins that fell on the ground emitted a faint red light under the stimulation of the black gas, making the Soul race's “mounts” feel as if they were stepping on charcoal. Their movement was greatly hindered.

This was the first line of defense of the entire Twin Dragon Mount settlement!

Even if there were Souls who relied on a st.u.r.dy “mount” and could forcefully storm their way past the defense line, it was not easy to attack the humans.

This was because everyone was currently concentrated in the large temple at the core of the settlement. The two-meter-tall wall around the temple was undoubtedly an insurmountable existence to the somewhat stiff Soul mounts.

Splas.h.!.+

However, there were many types of wild beasts that had been refined by the Souls.

For example, an eagle-type Soul with a wingspan of about two meters and a body shrouded in black gas directly used its wings that could barely be flapped to fly two meters high to cross the defensive line and enter the large temple.

Thud!

However, just as it crossed the wall and was still in midair, a bronze bolt had already hit its head, directly blowing up the zombie eagle's entire body!