He took a black porcelain bottle from his robes and gently shook it.

"Xue San."

"Your subordinate is here."

A short, somewhat stooped figure in a black robe emerged from the crowd.

He looked like a sentient monkey, his eyes darting about restlessly.

"This bottle contains a special ’Beast-Attracting Incense’."

"I want you to use it to lure out every last wild beast from the deep mountains and old forests within a fifty-kilometer radius!"

Xue San’s eyes lit up.

"My lord, you mean... create a beast tide?"

"Precisely."

The old man sneered.

"The more Demon Beasts, the more chaotic the scene."

"The farm’s guard squads have limited firepower."

"When the mountains and fields are crawling with frenzied Demon Beasts, will they be able to handle it?" 𝐟𝕣𝗲𝕖𝕨𝗲𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝗲𝚕.𝗰𝚘𝐦

"Understood!"

Xue San took the porcelain bottle, a bloodthirsty glint flashing in his eyes.

"I’ll get on it right away. I guarantee I’ll make their night an eventful one!"

"Don’t be hasty. This is only the first step."

The old man’s gaze grew even colder as he looked toward several other cultists wearing wingsuit gear.

"What if those iron lumps still refuse to come out of their shell?"

"What if they abandon the perimeter and dig in to defend the core area?"

The crowd exchanged glances.

’That’s right. If that old turtle Lei Zhen pulls all the Heavy Armor back to the residential area and forms an Iron Barrel Array, it won’t be easy for us to slip in.’

"Then we’ll force them out."

The old man raised his hand, pointing distantly toward the fields of wheat on the farm’s outskirts that were about to turn golden.

"Burn the wheat."

The two words hung in the air, and the cultists present froze for a moment.

Then, a wave of sinister, knowing chuckles rippled through them.

’What a malicious move. And so vicious.’

The Purple Crystal Wheat was the lifeblood of Golden Ears Farm.

It was also a gold mine in the eyes of Lei Zhen and the bigwigs from East Sea City.

If this season’s harvest was destroyed, Lei Zhen’s tenure as Director would be over.

It would even cause problems for the entire grain reserve of East Sea City.

"Once the fires start, I refuse to believe they can just sit back and watch."

The expression on the old man’s face grew more savage.

"Those heavy mechas will definitely have to come out to fight the fire, and even their air force will be tied down."

"With that, their precious ’Iron Barrel Array’ will break without us even attacking it, and the defenses of the core residential area will surely be empty."

"That’s when we’ll have our chance to sneak into the residential area and dig out the [Nether Embryo]."

"But, my lord..."

Another cultist spoke up, his voice tinged with worry.

"I hear that Sharp Sword Squad is formidable, especially their fighter jets."

"What if we’re intercepted in the air while we’re setting the fires?"

"Our Flying Demon Beasts might be agile, but against proper fighter jets, they’re no different from sitting ducks."

The old man glanced at him and let out a disdainful snort.

"Fighter jets?"

"They have to land sometime."

He turned, his tone confident as he gazed at the faint, flickering lights of the farm in the distant darkness.

"The first beast tide is to exhaust their ammunition."

"Fighter jets have a limited payload. After one wave, they have to land to resupply."

"When they land... Xue Si."

"Here!"

The soil on the ground stirred slightly, and a strange man, only his upper half visible, answered the call.

His lower body seemed to have been assimilated into an annelid, and he reeked of damp earth.

"You will take your ’Earthworm Demon Insects’ and lie in wait beneath their runway ahead of time."

"Wait for those iron birds to land for refueling and reloading, or when they’re preparing to take off again..."

The old man made a fierce clenching gesture with his hand.

"Tear up the runway!"

"Create a few large craters. Let’s see how they fly then!"

"Without a runway, those iron birds are just a pile of scrap metal. They’ll have no choice but to sit in their nests and collect dust."

The cultists’ eyes shone as they listened.

’This chain of events... it’s a plan that leaves them no way out.’

First, use a beast tide to exhaust their ammunition, then set fires to scatter their ground troops, and finally, destroy the runway to cripple their air support.

By then, the entire farm would be a lamb to the slaughter.

"And if even that doesn’t stop them..."

The old man paused, his eyes turning utterly cold and his voice dropping to a terrifyingly low pitch.

"Then you will take the High-Explosive Psychic Bombs, ride your Flying Demon Beasts, and crash directly into their hangars."

"It is your honor to be sacrificed for the great cause of the Holy Sect."

A brief, deathly silence fell over the scene.

But soon, the few cultists assigned to the air assault raised their heads, their eyes gleaming with fanaticism.

"Yes! We offer our lives to the Holy Sect!"

They roared in unison without a hint of hesitation.

Under the Blood Feeding Sect’s brainwashing, death was not the end but a return to the embrace of the Blood God.

The old man nodded in satisfaction.

He turned and looked at the distant land shrouded in night.

It was as if he could already see the towering flames and hear the widespread wails that would be there three days from now.

In the early morning at Golden Ears Farm, the unique smell of last night’s gunpowder and scorched earth still lingered in the air.

Although the crisis had been averted, the grim atmosphere had not entirely dissipated.

The Rune Arrays on the walls still hummed, occasionally sparking with a flicker or two of blue electricity.

It startled the crows perched on them into a frenzy of cawing.

Outside the temporary barracks, Zhou Ping was already waiting with two staff members.

When he saw the members of the Sharp Sword Squad push open the door and come out, the Vice Director’s round face immediately broke into a wide smile.

The wrinkles bunched together, making him look just like a freshly steamed dumpling.

"Our heroes! Did you all sleep well last night?"

Zhou Ping hurried over to greet them, his enthusiasm almost overwhelming.

He was still clutching that ever-present handkerchief of his, wiping away sweat.

"Last night was all thanks to you, especially young brother Han Feng. That shot was simply a stroke of genius!"

"Director Lei was just talking about you in the command room this morning, saying he wants to request a commendation for you!"

Zhang Hao smiled. He was adept at handling such situations.

"You’re too kind, Director Zhou. We were just doing our job—you pay us to solve your problems."

"Ah, business is business, and personal relationships are personal relationships!"

Zhou Ping waved his hand, and the two staff members behind him immediately came forward, holding several exquisite redwood trays.

"This is a small token of the farm’s appreciation. It’s not part of the mission payment."

"It’s purely to thank you all for your righteous help last night."

"Especially with that Tier Two Blood Gu. If you hadn’t been here to hold down the fort, this bunch of us old-timers and weaklings really couldn’t have handled it."

He personally picked up the most exquisite nanmu wood box and solemnly presented it to Han Feng.

"Brother Han Feng, this one is for you."

"That shot last night not only saved Captain Wang’s life, but it also saved face for everyone here at the farm."

Han Feng didn’t stand on ceremony and reached out to accept it.

The moment the box touched his hand, a refreshing coolness spread from his palm throughout his entire body.

It instantly invigorated him.

He opened it to see a plant root, as thick as a thumb and jade-green all over, resting on a red silk cloth.

A faint fluorescent light flowed across its surface. It was clearly no Mortal Grade item.

"Whoa!"

Wang Meng leaned over from the side, his eyes as wide as copper bells.

"A Cyan Jade Bamboo Heart?"

"Old Zhou, you really shelled out this time!"

"What’s a Cyan Jade Bamboo Heart?"

Although Han Feng could tell the item was extraordinary, he truly didn’t know its name.

After all, he had been so focused on repairing planes in school that he had basically slept through all his herbology classes.

Wang Meng swallowed, a look of envy on his face.

"This is a genuine Tier Two Spirit Plant!"

"It can refine bone marrow and purify Qi Blood."

"For Martial Artists like us in the Body Tempering and Meridian Passage Realms, its effects are ten times better than those Elixir Pills!"

"On the Black Market, a small piece like this would cost two hundred Spirit Coins at the very least!"

Two hundred Spirit Coins!