Chapter 659: Striking First

"Everyone, the Beast Tide will arrive in a few days."

"The demon race has also begun to gather on their side."

"However, I do not like passive defense. Now that we have gathered so many experts in the Liuyun Mountain Range, I want to take the initiative to strike."

Su Fan looked at the group of people in the great hall; excluding him, there were two Golden Core cultivators, fourteen Purple Mansion cultivators, and thirty-six Foundation Establishment cultivators.

Of course, not all the Foundation Establishment cultivators had entered the great hall; those who came to this hall were all core members.

There were also a few Purple Mansion cultivators sitting in command at the Taihe Mountain Range.

But these people alone accounted for nearly two-thirds of the Yunyang Sect's strength, and the number of Purple Mansion stage cultivators was not much worse than that of the Yunyang Sect.

"Does the Clan Head mean that we should strike in advance?"

Jin Guang asked hesitantly upon hearing this.

"Correct! In every Beast Tide, we Immortal Cultivators have always been on the defensive. The reason for this is that we previously had too many places to defend, so we could only be passive."

"But right now, with so many of us, our strength is somewhat overflowing just by defending the Liuyun Mountain Range. Since that is the case, why not take the initiative to strike?"

"If we attack a few of the demon race's Spirit Veins first and slaughter a portion of the Third-Rank Demon Beasts nearby, we can weaken the power of the Beast Tide when it arrives."

"What do you think?"

"I wonder where the Senior intends to attack?"

Lin Taihe asked cautiously.

"Hmm! What do you think of this mountain range?"

"The Huoyun Shanmai?"

Everyone looked at the Sand Tray in the center of the great hall, which displayed all the Spirit Veins in Zheng Guo and those surrounding Zheng Guo that connected to the outer edges of the Ten Thousand Mountains.

This Sand Tray was naturally made by Su Fan himself.

And the Huoyun Shanmai that Su Fan pointed to was a Third-tier Spirit Vein located to the southwest of the Liuyun Mountain Range, and it was also the first stumbling block for the Su Family's outward expansion.

Of course, with the demon beast army invading Zheng Guo, this Huoyun Shanmai was also one of their logistics bases.

"Correct! It is precisely this Huoyun Shanmai."

"The largest demon race in this Huoyun Shanmai is the Blazing Fire Ant clan. This Blazing Fire Ant clan not only has a huge population, but also has six Third-Rank ant kings and queens."

"Does the Clan Head mean to eliminate this Blazing Fire Ant clan first?"

"Correct. These Blazing Fire Ants are quite troublesome, and they can also burrow underground; they are especially adept at destroying Earth Veins. Once an Earth Vein is damaged, the Array will also have flaws."

Arrays are generally connected to Earth Veins. Once an Earth Vein is damaged, the Array naturally develops flaws. As long as one seizes these flaws, the Array can be broken.

When human Immortal Cultivators attack an Array, they often use Array-Breaking Beads. These Array-Breaking Beads are specifically designed to destroy the areas where Earth Veins are located.

The demon race naturally does not have any Array-Breaking Beads; after all, these things are refined by human Immortal Cultivators using special methods.

But while the demon race lacks Array-Breaking Beads, they have their own methods. Some demon races can burrow underground and destroy the power of Earth Veins.

Demon beasts such as ants, pangolins, and the like all possess similar abilities.

The only difference is the strength of their destructive power.

Although the Blazing Fire Ants are fire-attribute demon beasts, they also have an innate ability to burrow, so they also have a certain capacity for destroying the power of Earth Veins.

Especially since the number of these Blazing Fire Ants is so large; many ants can gnaw an elephant to death.

"Therefore, these Blazing Fire Ants must be eliminated."

"We will naturally follow the Clan Head's orders."

Jin Guang said without hesitation upon hearing this: "In that case, why not leave it to Pei Xian and the others? What does the Clan Head think?"

The Pei Xian that Jin Guang mentioned was naturally from the Hunting Team; he was one of the Purple Mansion cultivators under his command, and his cultivation had already reached the peak of the Purple Mansion Seventh Layer.

Clearly, Jin Guang wanted to let Pei Xian earn merit. He was already at the peak of the Purple Mansion Seventh Layer and would soon break through to the Purple Mansion Eighth Layer, and he was not far from the Purple Mansion Ninth Layer.

Only by earning more merit could one have a chance to be valued by the Clan Head. At that time, when forming a Golden Core and undergoing the Thunder Tribulation, if one could obtain the Clan Head's support, one would have the opportunity, like him, to survive the Thunder Tribulation and become a Golden Core cultivator.

"Senior, this junior Su Hanyu is also willing to head to the Huoyun Shanmai."

Su Hanyu was clearly more quick-witted than Pei Xian. After Jin Guang finished speaking, he also hurriedly stood up to request to join the battle.

His thoughts were naturally the same as Jin Guang's.

Seeing that Su Fan had successively supported two Purple Mansion Peak cultivators to successfully form Golden Cores in just a few short years, he, like Pei Xian, was in the late Purple Mansion stage. In terms of cultivation, he was slightly inferior to Pei Xian, but he had also reached the Purple Mansion Seventh Layer.

He was not far from the Purple Mansion Ninth Layer either.

His own master had reached the Golden Core stage, but he knew clearly that relying solely on his master to help him break through to the Golden Core stage was quite difficult.

But this Su Family Elder was different.

"Hmm! Since that is the case, the two of you shall go together, each leading three Purple Mansion cultivators and twenty Foundation Establishment cultivators."

Su Fan nodded upon hearing this. How could he not know what they were thinking? However, he did not care.

On the contrary, he was happy. When subordinates compete with each other and have ambition, it can reflect the positive and upward spirit of a faction.

As for supporting two people to form Golden Cores, it was not very difficult for him.

The resources in his hands were simply too numerous. In the Swallowing Star World, he had obtained too much; it must be said that the Swallowing Star World had made him immensely wealthy.

Wood Bud Crystals have an effect comparable to external pills refined from Fourth-Rank demon beasts. Although the effect is not as good as the latter, because Wood Bud Crystals are precious medicines, they do not have much pill poison.

Instead, the pure energy is easier to refine.

But those external pills are different. The Inner Core of a Fourth-Rank demon beast faintly contains the demon's soul and essence. If an Alchemist cannot completely remove them, there will always be a certain impact.

Although this kind of external pill can assist a cultivator in forming a Golden Core, the success rate is not high, at most only thirty percent.

But the price reaches over a million Spirit Stones.

In Zheng Guo, only the Yunyang Sect could produce so many Spirit Stones; even Lin Taihe could not.

The last time Lin Taihe took out a million, it had already scraped him clean of several hundred years of accumulation.

Do not look at the Taihe Mountain Range as being very profitable; the Taihe Lineage has so many disciples that their consumption is also very large.

Just like the current Su Family, which occupies half the profits of the Liuyun Mountain Range, their annual income is estimated to be no less than several hundred thousand Spirit Stones, or even more.

However, it would be good to have a true annual surplus of fifty thousand.

After all, the stipends for those Immortal Cultivators of the Su Family, along with the resources required for cultivation, amount to a very large figure.

For the first few years, the Su Family's balance was always in the negative; it is only in these last few decades that income has slowly increased, to the point where there is now a surplus of roughly thirty to fifty thousand a year.

Even so, to plan for one External Core would still require thirty years of time.

Of course, it is impossible for the Su Family to take out one million Spirit Stones all at once, as a portion must be kept for emergencies.

Under normal circumstances, it is estimated that it would take fifty to eighty years for the Su Family to scrape together the price of one External Core.