Spells Grinding: From Basic Sparks to Divine Arts

The first wave of the beast tide was a sledgehammer blow, and the eastern city wall bore the brunt of the impact.

Because of this, the defenders stationed there were the elite—mostly late-stage Foundation Establishment experts. Among them, Zou Chang was the undisputed anchor of the line.

Zou Chang was a mountain of a man, his face rough with stubble and his skin flushed a deep, furnace red. With muscles coiled like steel cables that seemed ready to explode with power, he looked less like a cultivator and more like a mortal blacksmith forged in fire.

He wielded a giant hammer, pitch-black as ink.

With every swing, terrifying waves of Spiritual Qi erupted from the hammer head, smashing down into the sea of beasts below. It was a relentless, indiscriminant bombardment.

The roar of the horde was drowned out by the wet crunch of bones and the cries of agony as Zou Chang pulverized everything in his range.

“Tsk. Truly worthy of a man planning to establish his own sect. His combat power is frightening.”

Qin Lu hovered in the air, watching the spectacle with a nod of respect.

His knowledge of Zou Chang came mostly from rumors. It was said that Zou Chang had spent years wandering the wilderness, searching for a spiritual vein suitable for founding a sect.

He was only in White Jade Market today because he had finally found his holy land. He had returned to gather his disciples and prepare for relocation, only to run headfirst into the beast tide.

Suddenly, Qin Lu’s expression sharpened. He looked down at his squad on the southern wall and roared:

“They’re coming! Get ready!”

The beast horde at the eastern wall was too dense; the monsters in the rear couldn’t reach the prey, so the flood began to spill over.

Like water seeking a crack, the tide split. A massive wave of beasts detached from the main group and surged along the perimeter of the light curtain, flanking toward the south to encircle the entire market.

THUMP! THUMP! THUMP!

The earth trembled. The chaotic, thunderous rhythm of thousands of heavy paws grew louder by the second.

The beasts slammed against the light curtain, their eyes glowing blood-red, claws tearing and fangs gnashing against the energy barrier.

Qin Lu exchanged a glance with the Gu siblings in mid-air. They nodded in unison, then dove down to the battlements to join their squads.

The swarm arrived instantly.

From Qin Lu’s vantage point on the wall, the ground below was a carpet of fur, scales, and muscle. Most were common Tier 1 Demon Beasts, but amidst the chaos, he spotted seven or eight Tier 2 monsters lurking like sharks.

HISS!

ROAR!

The roar of the horde was deafening. Thousands of claws raked against the formation shield simultaneously. Under the sheer weight of the assault, the massive light curtain began to groan and tremble violently.

“Attack!”

Qin Lu didn’t hesitate.

“Fire!”

Instantly, twenty cultivators unleashed hell.

Beams of multicolored light, fireballs, and shockwaves of Spiritual Qi erupted from the wall.

There was no need to aim. The beasts were packed so tightly below that every shot found flesh.

BANG!

BOOM!

CRASH!

Explosions blossomed like deadly flowers outside the shield. Smoke and dust billowed up, mixed with the pained shrieks of the monsters.

This was the strategic advantage of the Mountain-Protecting Formation. It was a one-way slaughter. The beasts outside could not strike the cultivators inside, but the defenders could launch attacks—talismans, arrows, flying swords, and Dharma Treasure beams—through the barrier without resistance.

However, the tenacity of the beasts was terrifying.

Most of the squad’s attacks only forced the thick-hided monsters back a few steps. Only a few of the weaker beasts were killed outright.

Worse, pain only seemed to enrage them. The wounded beasts roared, their faces twisting into masks of ferocity, and charged the light shield with suicidal abandon. They climbed over the corpses of their fallen kin, wave after endless wave.

“Again! Keep firing!” Qin Lu shouted, his voice cutting through the din.

The squad gritted their teeth and unleashed another volley, dumping everything they had into the pit below.

Qin Lu joined the fray.

With a thought, a disc-shaped Magical Artifact shot out from his sleeve, humming with a high-pitched whine.

It was a trophy from his time in the Great Lie Dynasty. Shaped like a gleaming silver moon, Qin Lu had named it the [Full Moon Blade].

It moved like a phantom.

Qin Lu controlled it with precision, sending it weaving through the horde at blinding speed. The blade was incomparably sharp, a buzzsaw of death that sliced through hide, muscle, and bone as if they were paper.

Swish! Swish! Swish!

The Full Moon Blade spun violently, turning into a blur of silver light. Everywhere it passed, heads flew and blood sprayed in fountains. Corpses littered the ground in its wake.

BOOM! The roar of exploding talismans.

PFFT! The sizzle of energy beams piercing flesh.

THWACK! The biting sound of arrows finding their mark.

The southern wall was a cacophony of destruction.

Seeing that the beasts were helpless to retaliate through the shield, the initial fear of the cultivators vanished, replaced by the adrenaline of the kill. They unleashed their techniques with growing confidence.

In Qin Lu’s squad, most relied on Magical Artifacts or Talismans, but there was one skinny, frail-looking cultivator wielding a bow.

His arrows were exceptional. Qin Lu didn’t know what material the arrowheads were made of, but they punched through Tier 1 beast hides with ease. In mere moments, the archer had already dropped three monsters.

Everyone was fighting bravely.

Yet, the frown etched between Qin Lu’s brows deepened.

He could feel the strain. Under the relentless pounding of thousands of claws and bodies, the defensive power of the light shield was draining at a visible rate.

Patches of the barrier were already dimming. The integrity of the shield was precarious.

Qin Lu didn’t hesitate. He blurred into motion, flying directly toward a section of the curtain that was flickering dangerously.

Pfft!

He fired a [Finger Flick Technique], the compressed bullet of air blasting a beast’s head into paste right on the other side of the glass-like barrier.

Then, he slapped a yellow talisman onto the damaged section of the shield.

Hummmm…

A warm surge of Spiritual Qi flooded out from the talisman. Instantly, the rippling, unstable energy of the light curtain calmed. The dim patch brightened, knitting itself back together like healing skin.

This was a First-Tier High-Grade Talisman—the [Repair Talisman (High Grade)].

Unlike the standard Repair Talisman worth five Spirit Stones, this high-grade version was far more potent, capable of restoring significant structural damage to a formation in seconds.

BANG!

Suddenly, a purple beam of light streaked past Qin Lu’s ear.

It struck a beast outside with unerring accuracy, blasting a fist-sized hole through its abdomen. Blood and organs spewed out as the monster collapsed.

Qin Lu turned. The shooter was Lu Xuan.

Lu Xuan was gripping an umbrella-shaped Magical Artifact. As he channeled his Spiritual Qi into the handle, the tip of the umbrella glowed, gathering energy before spitting out deadly purple beams.

“Nice shot!” Qin Lu praised.

He had a good impression of Lu Xuan. As Lu Anchen’s close friend and partner, Lu Xuan had proven himself to be upright and pragmatic. He helped manage their gambling den with efficiency, ensuring a steady stream of Spirit Stones flowed into Qin Lu’s pocket.

Hearing the praise, Lu Xuan grinned, his teeth white against the grime of battle.

“Sect Master, these beasts don’t seem so tough after all!”

“Don’t get cocky,” Qin Lu snapped, his eyes scanning the chaos. “Kill them all first, celebrate later.”

“Yes, sir!” Lu Xuan straightened up, firing another purple beam.

The slaughter continued.

Qin Lu focused on controlling the Full Moon Blade. The Dharma Treasure was a dancing star of death, carving bloody arcs through the air, the centrifugal force flinging gore as it spun.

Hm?!

Just as the rhythm of battle seemed to stabilize, Qin Lu’s heart skipped a beat.

A sudden, overwhelming sense of palpitations seized him—a primal warning of imminent danger.

He jerked his head up, looking straight into the sky.

High above, a massive avian shadow was diving toward them. Its beak glowed with blinding, accumulated energy.

“A late-stage Tier 2 Demon Beast?!”