Chapter 59: The Ambush

As night fell, a bright moon hung in the sky.

It was just after nightfall, not yet the time for demon beasts to come out, and the surroundings were silent.

Rustle, rustle...

The gentle breeze stirred the leaves, producing a rustling sound.

Lin Tianming sat nearby, carefully observing his surroundings. Although it was not yet deep into the night, he had to remain vigilant.

More than an hour passed without incident. Lin Tianming was relieved from his watch and replaced by two other uncles from the family to continue the night vigil.

Having been on high alert for half a day, Lin Tianming was now exhausted.

Sitting with the other family members, he circulated his cultivation technique, meditating to recover his spiritual energy. Despite the dangers, the rich spiritual energy in this place gradually restored their depleted reserves.

At the deep of night, Lin Xingzhi and Lin Xingcheng took over the night watch, fully focused on monitoring their surroundings.

Rustle, rustle...

Rustle, rustle...

The sounds caught Lin Xingzhi's attention.

"Xingcheng, did you notice anything?"

Lin Xingcheng carefully scanned the surroundings but found nothing unusual.

"No, just the sound of the leaves rustling. Are you being overly cautious?"

Despite Lin Xingcheng's words, Lin Xingzhi did not relax but remained even more vigilant.

"Could it be that I'm being overly cautious?"

"No, the sound earlier, although similar to the rustling of leaves in the wind, was sharper and had faint collision sounds."

Rustle, rustle...

The sounds grew louder and closer.

"Everyone, be alert! There's something wrong!"

Lin Xingzhi shouted, waking everyone up. They quickly got to their feet.

Just as Lin Xingzhi gave the warning, a sharp sound was heard.

A scorpion the size of a small house emerged from the ground, swiftly charging at them.

The entire scorpion was silver-white, with a golden stinger on its tail, and its massive pincers were thicker than a water barrel, looking menacing.

"It's a Silver Earth Scorpion!"

As soon as Lin Xingzhi raised the alarm, the Silver Earth Scorpion was less than ten meters away from him, ready to attack.

The scorpion opened its huge mouth and swung its large pincers at Lin Xingzhi.

Fortunately, Lin Xingzhi had been cautious. Sensing something amiss, he had kept a high-grade defensive talisman ready in his hand for such sudden attacks.

As the scorpion attacked, Lin Xingzhi activated the defensive talisman without hesitation.

The talisman formed a wall of earth, blocking the scorpion's deadly blow. Using this opportunity, Lin Xingzhi quickly retreated to the group, keeping a wary eye on the front.

The failed attack enraged the scorpion, which let out a sharp hiss.

Rustle, rustle...

Within ten breaths, more than thirty Silver Earth Scorpions emerged from the ground, surrounding Lin Tianming and his group.

Everyone quickly drew their spiritual weapons, ready for battle.

Lin Shiji's expression was grim as he rapidly assessed the situation.

The Silver Earth Scorpions numbered over thirty, including three at the late stage of the first level, with the rest mostly at the mid-stage and a few at the early stage.

The scorpion that had attacked Lin Xingzhi was nearly at the second level, posing the greatest threat. It appeared to be a colony, given their large numbers.

Although the late-stage scorpions were few, the sheer number of mid-stage ones made it a challenging fight, as each person would have to handle multiple scorpions at once.

"Xingzhi, Xingcheng, you two handle two late-stage Silver Earth Scorpions. Tianming, you and the others deal with the rest quickly. We must not attract more demon beasts!"

"Yes!"

Having assigned tasks, Lin Shiji summoned a spiritual sword and charged at the lead Silver Earth Scorpion.

Seeing Lin Shiji's attack, the lead scorpion rushed forward with alarming speed.

Within a breath, Lin Shiji and the scorpion were locked in combat.

Lin Xingzhi and Lin Xingcheng each targeted a late-stage scorpion, engaging them in battle.

The others quickly followed, summoning their spiritual weapons to fight the scorpions.

The valley was soon ablaze with activity, multicolored sword lights and spells cutting through the night.

"Bang, bang, bang..."

The valley was chaotic, the continuous clash of metal echoing loudly.

Lin Tianming wielded his Earth Shaker Sword, launching multiple sword energies at the scorpions.

"Bang, bang!"

Two Silver Earth Scorpions were struck by his sword energies, sent flying back.

The two scorpions had several palm-sized cracks on their bodies, letting out pained screeches before getting back up to attack Lin Tianming again.

"These Silver Earth Scorpions have incredibly tough shells!"

Although Lin Tianming was only at the seventh level of Qi Refining, his heavenly technique and dual cultivation of body and spirit made his attacks comparable to those of an eighth-level Qi Refining cultivator.

Caught off guard, five Silver Earth Scorpions attacked Lin Tianming from different angles.

Lin Tianming leaped tens of meters high, secretly activating a formation with fifteen Earth Shaker Swords to cover a hundred meters below him.

Fortunately, the scorpions had low intelligence and were unprepared, getting trapped in the formation. Four mid-stage and one early-stage scorpion were caught.

The trapped scorpions didn't realize the danger until sword energies filled the formation, making them scatter in fear.

Desperately, the scorpions rammed against the sword formation, trying to escape.

But their strength and defenses were insufficient. The sword energies repeatedly repelled them, leaving them severely injured.

"Hmph!"

"Today, I'll test the power of this formation!"

"Shred!"

As the formation's space shrank, and sword energies increased, the early-stage scorpion was decapitated, dying instantly. The remaining four scorpions struggled to break free.

Within ten breaths, the remaining scorpions were shredded. Lin Tianming sighed in relief, observing his companions to assist where needed.

Not far from Lin Tianming, Lin Tianhong was being besieged by three scorpions, two mid-stage and one early-stage.

Lin Tianhong was in a dire situation, already wounded in several places, and his spiritual energy was nearly exhausted, forcing him to retreat continuously.

He threw a mid-grade defensive talisman, blocking the scorpions' attack, and quickly backed away.

Lin Tianming rushed over, summoning several Earth Shaker Swords to form a powerful sword energy, decapitating one mid-stage scorpion.

With Lin Tianming's help, the greatest threat was removed, allowing Lin Tianhong to regain his footing and counterattack the remaining scorpions.

Elsewhere, Lin Tianfeng was battling three mid-stage scorpions simultaneously, holding his ground with his extensive combat experience.

Other family members, seasoned in fighting demon beasts, also managed to fend off multiple scorpions without being overwhelmed.