Spells Grinding: From Basic Sparks to Divine Arts

At Jiang Ge’s summons, Gu Yue glanced at Qin Lu. She gave a slight nod, her eyes conveying a silent reassurance.

“Don’t worry,” she transmitted via voice projection. “I’ll go take a look. Cover the battle line for me.”

“Understood,” Qin Lu replied, his expression grave. He looked up, his gaze intense. “Be careful.”

Gu Yue offered a faint smile. Then, with a flicker of movement, she shot toward the eastern city wall.

She wasn’t alone. Three other figures launched themselves from their respective stations, their auras revealing them all to be mid-stage Foundation Establishment cultivators.

“The pressure on the East District must be crushing,” Qin Lu muttered, watching them go. “It looks like a significant number of beasts have breached the perimeter. The shops in that area are likely doomed…”

He gazed into the distance.

The East District was a chaotic tableau of billowing dust and blinding flashes of spiritual light. The screams of cultivators and the roars of Demon Beasts rose and fell in a cacophonous rhythm, echoing across the market.

Qin Lu withdrew his gaze. He couldn’t afford to be distracted.

He turned back to the battlefield in front of him. His responsibility had just doubled; he now had to secure both his own defensive line and the sector Gu Yue had left behind.

He could not allow a single beast to tear through the formation’s light screen.

Qin Lu manipulated the Full Moon Blade, sending the silver disc whistling through the air to decapitate beasts outside the shield. Simultaneously, he flew back and forth along the wall, his eyes scanning both sectors for weak points.

The beast tide surged endlessly. The pressure was suffocating, keeping every cultivator’s nerves stretched to the breaking point.

Qin Lu frowned. After unleashing several consecutive barrage attacks to clear the walls, his stock of Repair Talisman (High Grade) was running dangerously low.

If the damaged sections of the formation weren’t patched immediately, the light screen would fracture. Once the shield failed, the cultivators would be forced into a meat grinder of face-to-face combat.

Casualties would skyrocket.

“Everyone!” Qin Lu’s voice boomed over the noise of battle. “If you have Repair Talismans, use them now! If you keep hoarding them, you’ll die with full pockets!”

His shout caused several Loose Cultivators to stiffen, their faces twisting in reluctance.

A Repair Talisman (High Grade) was expensive—each one cost over 10 Spirit Stones. For a freelancer, that was a significant chunk of wealth.

However, they understood the stakes. Spurred by Qin Lu’s warning, they gritted their teeth, pulled talismans from their robes, and slapped them onto the flickering light screen.

Under their combined efforts, the defensive barrier deepened in color. The cracks and dim spots healed, restoring the shield’s integrity to nearly eighty percent.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

The battle raged on without pause. Under the concentrated fire of the cultivators, the Demon Beasts outside the formation fell in droves.

Yet, the horde seemed infinite. For every beast that fell, two more scrambled over its corpse to claw at the barrier.

It was a stalemate.

Time dragged on, minute by agonizing minute.

As the siege continued, many cultivators began to show signs of exhaustion. Their Spiritual Qi was running dry.

Their attacks lost their initial ferocity. Spells that once blasted craters into flesh now only left shallow scorch marks.

“This isn’t sustainable,” Qin Lu observed from mid-air. “We need to rotate.”

He made a snap decision.

“Listen up!” Qin Lu shouted, his voice cutting through the din. “We are switching to a rotation strategy! Cultivators at the Qi Condensation eighth and ninth layers, hold the line and continue attacking! Everyone else, fall back to the battlements, take your Pills, and recover your Qi!”

“Yes, Senior!”

The Qi Condensation seventh-layer cultivators, who had been struggling to stay upright, looked ecstatic. They immediately ceased fire and retreated to the rear.

They were efficient. As soon as they hit the stone floor of the battlements, they sat in meditation, popping pills and regulating their breathing.

The remaining elite cultivators—the eighth and ninth layers—redoubled their efforts to cover the gap.

After another intense bout of fighting, the density of the beast tide seemed to thin.

Although the crowd of monsters outside was still massive, the frequency of their suicidal charges had dropped significantly. The pressure had lessened enough that the reduced squad could hold the line without issue.

Whoosh!

Qin Lu suddenly hurled a Tier 2 Talisman into the fray.

The paper strip ignited in mid-air, transforming into a ferocious, spectral tiger. It pounced on a Tier 2 Demon Beast outside the shield, jaws clamping down on the monster’s neck.

The beast’s tough hide tore like wet paper. Blood sprayed as the creature shrieked in agony.

However, the talisman’s power was finite. After a few breaths of carnage, the spiritual tiger dissolved into motes of light.

The mauled Tier 2 Demon Beast, displaying the terrifying vitality of its kind, staggered back to its feet. Ignoring its wounds, it threw itself back at the light screen, clawing madly at the barrier.

“Troublesome pests,” Qin Lu muttered.

He launched another attack, blasting the beast back.

As the squad leader, Qin Lu didn’t have the luxury of resting. He remained on the front line, maintaining a high-intensity barrage to anchor the defense.

“Senior! Strategic Supplies have arrived!”

A voice called out from behind him.

Qin Lu turned to see a cultivator in the robes of the Demon Slaying Sect—a member of the market patrol.

“Here!”

Qin Lu waved his hand, using telekinesis to snatch the Storage Bag from the patrolman. He immediately probed it with his spiritual sense.

His eyes lit up. The bag was stuffed with Pills, standard Talismans, and most importantly, a fresh stack of Repair Talisman (High Grade).

Qin Lu didn’t hoard a single item. He flew along the line, distributing the supplies directly to the exhausted cultivators.

“Take these! Recover your strength!”

With the fresh influx of resources, the tension on the cultivators’ faces eased. The supplies were a lifeline, instantly stabilizing the defense.

“Sect Master! Look! The beasts are retreating!” Lu Xuan suddenly shouted, pointing outward.

“Hm?”

Qin Lu whipped his head around.

Lu Xuan was right. A significant portion of the besieging horde was pulling back. But they weren’t fleeing into the wilderness.

They were moving laterally—heading straight for the East Wall.

Qin Lu’s stomach dropped. A bad premonition seized him.

They’re shifting to the East? Does that mean the breach hasn’t been plugged yet?!

As if answering his unspoken fear, Jiang Ge’s voice exploded from the sky again, urgent and desperate.

“East District Critical! All available Foundation Establishment cultivators, reinforce immediately!”

Qin Lu’s expression darkened.

Four mid-stage Foundation Establishment cultivators went over there, and they still haven’t contained the chaos?

He’s asking for help again, and he didn’t even specify a number. That means the situation there is catastrophic.

Gu Yue…

Anxiety flared in his chest. Qin Lu hovered in the air, glancing at the thinning ranks of Tier 2 beasts outside his sector.

He turned to Gu Can.

“Little Can! I’m going to the East District. I’m leaving this sector to you!”

“Go!” Gu Can responded instantly, his usual playfulness gone. “I’ve got this!”

Qin Lu glanced down at his four sect members.

Lu Anchen, Nie Feng, Lu Xuan, and Qi Xiaofeng looked at him with worried expressions. They looked like they wanted to stop him, to tell him it was too dangerous, but the words died in their throats.

Qin Lu gave them a curt nod, signaling them to stay focused. Then, he turned and rocketed toward the East District.

He wasn’t the only one.

Five other beams of light streaked across the sky above the market. Other Foundation Establishment commanders had made the same choice.

The battlefield situation was identical across the market: the beasts were ignoring the other walls to swarm the breach in the East.

Everyone understood the grim reality. They were all tethered to the same sinking ship. If the East Wall fell, the market fell. And if the market fell, they all died.

Qin Lu pushed his speed to the limit, arriving at the East District in moments.

The scene that greeted him was a nightmare.

High above the eastern wall, the light screen had been torn open. It wasn’t just a crack anymore; it was a gaping, ragged hole. Demon Beasts were pouring through it like a dark waterfall.

Around the breach, Foundation Establishment cultivators were engaged in chaotic aerial dogfights, trying desperately to stem the tide.

The East District was on the verge of total collapse.

Qin Lu scanned the battlefield frantically.

Where is she?

His eyes swept the ruins of the streets below. Finally, he spotted a delicate figure fighting amidst the debris.

Gu Yue.

She was on the ground, locked in mortal combat with a massive Tier 2 Demon Beast. The surrounding buildings had been pulverized, reducing the street to rubble.

Qin Lu didn’t hesitate for a microsecond.