Father Yuan said three days, and he really did fix the formation within three days. You You and the others also guarded outside the sect for three whole days. There were just too many demonic beasts, one after another, and after clearing out one wave, a second wave would appear endlessly.
Only when the formation above changed, and the entire Zhenyan Sect seemed to be pulled into another space, becoming semi-transparent, did the number of demonic beasts surging towards them below gradually decrease. Their previous frenzied behavior also began to return to normal; after wandering around the grassland below for a while, they slowly dispersed and went far away.
You You breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed that isolating the scent was the right thing to do. As long as the monsters couldn't smell the 'bait,' they wouldn't be affected by it. Now, all that was left was to wait for the scent on Lin Feng and the others to completely disappear.
But before that, we must figure out what exactly is going on.
"I don't know either." Lin Feng shook his head blankly. He really didn't know how he was tricked into being baited, and he didn't even know what bait was before all of this happened.
It should be said that apart from Yuan Qi and Feng Rong, no one else, including Nie Zheng, had ever heard of this thing.
"During your training, did you come into contact with any people? Or eat any foods? Especially cultivators!" Yuan Qi asked in a deep voice. "'Bait' takes at least seven days from planting to maturity. You can think about whether anything happened during that time."
“Seven days…” Lin Feng thought for a moment, then suddenly seemed to remember something and quickly replied, “Seven days ago, when I was returning to my sect, I helped a cultivator from another sect subdue a demonic beast near the eastern market town and stayed there for a while.”
You You was startled and immediately asked, "Then do you remember which sect he belongs to, and what his name is?"
"This..." Lin Feng thought about it carefully but couldn't remember. It was as if something was veiled in his mind, and even the other person's face became blurry. "I... I don't remember."
You You was stunned for a moment, and even Yuan Qi frowned. Feng Rong took the initiative to step forward and said, "Let me see!" As she spoke, she made a hand seal and touched the other person's forehead.
Cultivators possess powerful spiritual senses, making it impossible for them to completely forget something in just one month, unless someone deliberately erased it!
Feng Rong only examined him for a short while before withdrawing her hand, her brows furrowing as she said, "His memories have indeed been tampered with; there are traces of manipulation in his sea of consciousness."
As soon as he finished speaking, everyone present frowned. It seemed that Lin Feng being tricked was not an accident, but rather someone's deliberate act. Otherwise, it would have been impossible to use magic on him to make him forget what the other person looked like, and the purpose was probably to destroy the entire Zhenyan Sect.
“‘Bait’ only appeared in ancient times when the three realms were one,” Yuan Qi said in a deep voice. “Because it was too dangerous, not only demonic beasts but also the demon race could be affected, causing a lot of chaos. So it was destroyed by the combined efforts of all races long ago, but I don’t know why it still appears in this world.”
The crowd's expressions grew even more solemn. Something so rare even among the gods was something ordinary people certainly wouldn't recognize. If it weren't for Feng Rong, they might not have known the cause even when the beast tide arrived. Furthermore, the 'bait' on Lin Feng might have spread to every disciple in the sect. Even if some disciples managed to escape, they might be surrounded and killed by the frenzied beasts.
"Who on earth came up with such a vicious scheme to wipe out our entire True Transformation Sect!" Qiu Zhang was furious. The disciples here were the hope for inheriting the Qiu Zhang Technique.
Ling Qi was also puzzled. "Our True Transformation Sect is just a small sect that was established not long ago. What could possibly be so special that the other side would use something like 'bait' that only existed in ancient times to target us?"
This was also something You You couldn't understand. Judging from Lin Feng's description, the person who planted the "bait" in his trap might be a cultivator from another sect. Then, could the people targeting them be from another sect?
The True Transformation Sect has a short history. Among the sects in the Immortal Realm that have existed for hundreds or even thousands of years, they are considered a small sect. In the eyes of other sects, they are probably not even considered a minor one. What could possibly be so special about them that would warrant such a targeted attack, with the aim of annihilating them?
If that person's identity was fake, and they weren't a cultivator from another sect, then who devised such a vicious plan? Over the years, aside from sweeping away a demon's lair years ago, they don't seem to have offended any other sects, not even with this vengeful spirit incident…
Wait, vengeful spirits!
"Ling Qi." He quickly turned to look at him and asked urgently, "When did we start investigating the information about the Forest of Vengeful Spirits?"
"The investigation into the Forest of Vengeful Spirits began after you returned, Sect Master, and it hasn't been more than a month..." He was startled, then, as if realizing something, he said, "Sect Master suspects that this matter is related to the person who created those vengeful spirits!"
"Besides this, have we offended anyone else?" Besides, the other party even has things like divine artifacts and soul essence, so it's not surprising that they have 'bait'.
Ling Qi pondered for a moment, then his face darkened. They had indeed been investigating this matter recently. Could it be that the person behind it all had noticed and thus set up this trap to eliminate the True Exploration Sect once and for all, and to stop them from continuing their investigation?
It must be said that this plan was extremely ruthless. If it weren't for Feng Rong and Yuan Qi's existence, even if the Zhenyan Sect were wiped out, the other sects would only think that they were unlucky to have encountered a beast tide attack, and would not have thought that someone deliberately instigated the beasts to go berserk.
“Not only that, this matter may also be related to the Immortal Sect!” Yuan Qi suddenly said.
Youyou was taken aback, but then she realized, "That's right! If it's not related to the immortal sects, why would they be afraid of being investigated? Evil cultivators wouldn't care whether anyone knows about these things or not, and they wouldn't go to such lengths to stop us."
"Ling Qi, notify the disciples who are training outside to strengthen their defenses and return to the sect as soon as possible. If they encounter any problems, they must also notify us immediately," You You instructed in a deep voice. Before the matter is clarified, they cannot set off another 'bait' like this.
"Yes, Sect Master!"
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For safety reasons, Youyou isolated all the disciples within the sect for more than three months. Only after confirming that the 'bait' had completely worn off and personally tested it with the little monster Fenze did Yuanqi reopen the mountain-protecting formation.
Fenze knew nothing of its past attack on Lin Feng; it had no recollection of ever losing its mind. In fact, it happily followed the disciples down the mountain to gather materials from demonic beasts, even scraping off several pieces of fur-lined jacket fabric for itself—quite carefree indeed. It wasn't until Lin's mother refused to sew it any more jackets that it threw a tantrum, howling so loudly that the entire sect could hear it.
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