The area was desolate beyond belief—sand, gravel, and dust as far as the eye could see, along with a crooked forest of dead trees. Calling it “where even birds won’t shit” was no exaggeration. Only the occasional bird-like cry could be heard in the distance.
Sound meant prey. Lin Jin snapped off a thick branch from the deadwood forest, tied it with the hemp rope, and carefully propped up the wooden basin with the branch.
When he was little, Lin Jin had seen villagers catch sparrows this way. Scatter some grain under the basin, wait for greedy birds to come sniffing around, then yank the rope to pull out the stick—the basin would drop and trap the sparrow every time.
He didn’t know if there were sparrows in the cultivation world, but birds were birds. Low intelligence was enough—as long as he could catch something to eat.
With that in mind, Lin Jin shelled the last of his peanuts and sunflower seeds, scattering the kernels beneath the basin as bait.
Unfortunately, either he cracked the shells too forcefully or something went wrong—one shell shattered sharply, slicing a short cut across the pad of his thumb. A trace of bright red blood stained the kernels.
“Hiss…”
Lin Jin rubbed the bleeding cut, not paying it much mind.
He finished arranging the bait, grabbed the rope, and ran off to hide in the weeds at a distance, lying in wait for his prey.
Just then, a sudden gust of wind rose, and Lin Jin shivered involuntarily.
Through the gaps in the weeds, he watched the gale sweep across the ground, the deadwood forest swaying violently. He only hunched his shoulders and pulled his collar tighter.
Man, it’s cold.
—
“Thud.”
Half a chicken leg dropped from the old man’s hand.
Staring at the boy’s actions in the mirror, he was utterly baffled. He turned to ask someone—only to see Liuxun beside him, eyes shining brightly.
Liuxun stammered, fanning herself in agitation.
“This is… this is…!”
The old man looked at her eagerly. “What is it?”
“It’s—”
“A third-rank Demon-Trapping Basin and a second-rank Immortal-Binding Rope?” Jiang Lou cut in.
He leaned closer, scrutinizing the image in the mirror.
“They can actually be used like this?”
His words drew everyone’s attention. Most of the elders gathered around, clicking their tongues in amazement as they watched.
The old man, watching them speak in riddles, grew anxious and slapped his thigh.
“What is going on? Speak plainly!”
Jiang Lou frowned slightly.
“Taken individually, the third-rank Demon-Trapping Basin and second-rank Immortal-Binding Rope are nothing more than common low-tier artifacts. But when this boy combines them, it forms something rather peculiar…”
He paused, searching for the right word.
Seeing him struggle, Liuxun cut in impatiently.
“Of course, a useless blacksmith like you wouldn’t see the trick! This is a formation—a formation setup!”
Someone asked in confusion, “Using artifacts to set up a formation? I’ve never heard of such a thing.”
Liuxun shot them a look, as if she were about to say “ignorant.”
“These items look unrelated, but in truth, they interlock perfectly! Look—the wooden Demon-Trapping Basin and the Immortal-Binding Rope both belong to the wood element. He separates them with a dead branch, yet that same branch also connects them. He’s in the extreme west of the trial realm—spirit energy here is thin and desolate, with few elemental influences. Only wood is strong. Using this pile of junk, he’s pushed the wood element to its limit. Once a demon beast is lured in and he yanks out the branch with the rope, both artifacts activate at once. Borrowing the wood element and the formation’s momentum, these two low-tier tools will display at least sixth-rank power—enough to kill any first-level Xuan-realm beast in one strike! Brilliant—truly brilliant!”
Jiang Lou considered her words, then asked,
“But this place is so barren. How does he plan to lure demon beasts here?”
Liuxun lifted her chin and pointed at the image with her fan.
“The basin is overturned, and the kernels beneath it are bait—and also the formation’s core. With the formation complete, it can amplify the bait’s effect hundreds of times using the wood element. Unfortunately, kernels aren’t very tempting, and not many demon beasts eat them. If he’d used a spirit fruit or a small spirit beast—something rich in spiritual energy—the attraction would be far greater. Drawing in all the demon beasts within a dozen miles wouldn’t be difficult.”
The others nodded in understanding. But before anyone could comment further, a man standing on the other side of the mirror suddenly spoke up:
“Something’s wrong in the first Xuan zone—what’s happening?!”
Everyone turned to look. In the center of the mirror, the girl in red was about to ambush a demon beast—but the beast, which had been dozing, suddenly snapped awake as if stimulated by something, spread its wings, and flew off in a certain direction!
The same thing was happening on Han Ao’s side. He was fighting a third-rank three-headed wolf, and just as he pinned it down to deliver the killing blow, the wolf suddenly went berserk, threw him off, and bolted without looking back, racing in the same direction.
“This isn’t right—why are all the demon beasts in the Xuan zone gathering toward the west?! Is it because of this kid? His formation is clever, sure, but no matter how effective, it shouldn’t reach hundreds of miles away! And the bait he used was just ordinary kernels!”
Liuxun fanned herself so hard it seemed she might catch fire. She’d studied talismans and formations for hundreds of years, yet now, faced with a boy who had barely reached Foundation Establishment, she couldn’t figure out where the problem lay.
Nearly ten elders on Qingjade Terrace considered every possibility—but not a single one noticed the faint trace of blood on the kernels.
Meanwhile, the culprit lay hidden in the weeds, yawning as he waited for some dumb bird to deliver itself as dinner for his dog-son, completely unaware that thousands of demon beasts across the Xuan realm were rushing toward him.
He only felt that the wind was a bit cold, and the ground was trembling slightly.
So the trial realm has earthquakes too, huh?
Lin Jin thought to himself.
Sam Williams On TYMIMA Chapter 152