"The white space has expanded again. This time... good heavens, it's five times bigger!"

After examining his inner self, Chen Yang saw that his spiritual storage space had expanded once more.

Taking advantage of the time while Yang Linghu went down the mountain to report, he tried to mobilize the spiritual power within his body.

First, he tested his Qi Gathering ability. The range was basically the same as before, but the amount of spiritual Qi it gathered was far greater.

Chen Yang compared it: previously, it was about three times the normal spiritual Qi concentration, but now it reached nearly five times.

Then, drawing upon the residual sensation of spiritual power being pulled from his earlier mobilization, he wanted to see what new tricks he had.

Guided by his intent, the spiritual power within his body flowed out from the white space, seeping outward until it gradually gathered on the surface of his body.

Once it had completely enveloped his exterior, the spiritual power stopped flowing out.

Chen Yang controlled the spiritual power on his surface and discovered he could compress it.

Bit by bit, he pressed it down, quickly concentrating the spiritual power that had originally covered his entire body into a tiny point no thicker than a single finger.

"Oh, I can compress it. Hmm..."

"So, what use is this?"

Chen Yang looked at the small white dot on his body, somewhat confused. He couldn't make sense of this ability.

It didn't seem like it could sense surroundings, nor did it seem like it could provide illumination.

With some bewilderment, Chen Yang continued trying to compress this point of spiritual power.

The moment the thought crossed his mind, this small clump of spiritual power, compressed to its absolute limit, detached from his body and shot forth!

Boom!

Though it was just a spiritual force impact the thickness of a finger, its power was astonishing.

Chen Yang had no idea this thing could be fired, nor did he consider the direction he was aiming. As a result, an entire row of empty side rooms within the Restricted Grounds was instantly reduced to rubble by the Spiritual Force Impact.

"Holy crap! I'm this strong now?!"

The power of this Spiritual Force Impact was already equivalent to a full-force strike from a peak mid-stage Qi Gathering cultivator. An ordinary mid-stage Qi Gathering cultivator would surely perish if hit by such a blow!

Chen Yang was both shocked and delighted. He never imagined that he, an innocuous little Strange Stone, could possess such formidable destructive power.

Such a massive commotion naturally attracted everyone's attention.

The three children who were originally at the foot of the mountain, along with Elder Yu, rushed to the Restricted Grounds.

Seeing the side rooms reduced to ruins, they were all somewhat stunned.

"Did someone break into the Restricted Grounds again?" Yang Linghu asked.

Yang Lingqing immediately shook her head and said, "No, the formation is functioning normally, the control token hasn't sensed anything, and why would an intruder break in just to blow up a row of empty rooms?"

At this moment, the four of them simultaneously turned their gazes to Chen Yang.

"Ah... alright, it was me, but it really was an accident," Chen Yang thought to himself.

Elder Yu stepped forward and gently touched Chen Yang, finding his surface somewhat hot.

Then, he sensed the spiritual power fluctuations remaining within the Restricted Grounds.

"Lingqing is right. No one entered the Restricted Grounds. This was caused by the Strange Stone itself when it completed its advancement."

"Huh? The Strange Stone blows up houses after advancing? Are we going to live here in the future? Will we be blasted awake in our sleep?" Yang Linghu said with a straightforward expression.

"Pfft..."

His words made Lingqing and Lingrui burst into laughter.

Elder Yu also shook his head with a smile. "The Strange Stone's ability is certainly not to blow up houses. From what I just sensed, it resembles a concentrated, ray-like technique."

He picked up Chen Yang, cradled him in his hand, and slowly infused him with spiritual power.

Maintaining a steady rhythm, Chen Yang still exerted his Qi Gathering effect. Feeling the spiritual Qi gather much faster and denser than before, Elder Yu nodded with satisfaction.

Then, he changed his approach, rapidly infusing his spiritual power at great speed.

At this point, a change occurred.

They watched as spiritual power began to pool on the Strange Stone's surface, quickly enveloping it completely.

Experienced and discerning, Elder Yu continuously compressed the spiritual power. When the glowing point condensed to the thickness of a finger, he immediately raised his hand, aiming Chen Yang at a large boulder farther up the mountain.

"Go!"

Whoosh-

Bang!

The Spiritual Force Impact shot out violently, traveling incredibly fast. In the blink of an eye, it blasted the boulder, which was over two zhang in size, into fragments.

This scene shocked the three children once again.

"Such a powerful technique!"

"With this level of destructive power, even my Gang Wind cannot match it."

"I feel this is already equivalent to a strike from a mid-stage Qi Gathering cultivator."

The three children spoke in turn.

Elder Yu's lips curled into a smile, and he turned around. "Lingqing's perception is accurate. This indeed possesses the power of a full-force strike from a mid-stage Qi Gathering cultivator. The Strange Stone is truly miraculous and extraordinary. Originally just an auxiliary spiritual treasure, it now provides a means of self-defense!"

Seeing the eager expressions on the three children's faces, Elder Yu handed Chen Yang over to them.

After some guidance, all three children successfully unleashed Spiritual Force Impacts through Chen Yang.

However, because their own spiritual power was insufficient, the power was naturally not as great as Elder Yu's, only just reaching the threshold of the mid-stage Qi Gathering level.

Moreover, after four consecutive firings, Chen Yang's surface had become extremely hot, making him impossible to hold.

"It seems this technique has a limit on its consecutive uses. Overuse causes the spiritual treasure to heat up. If one does not stop, it might cause damage to its core."

Elder Yu reached a conclusion, and the three children nodded in agreement.

Chen Yang also found it reasonable, because at this moment, his consciousness was feeling a wave of fatigue.

"Elder Yu, is the Patriarch still at the mineral vein today?"

After testing Chen Yang's new ability, Yang Lingqing asked Elder Yu.

"Yes, the Family Head is still guarding that area."

"How strange. Weren't the wild beasts driven away before? Why is there still a Beast Calamity now?"

"This situation has been going on for over ten days. It's not just our Yang family; both nearby towns have been harassed by wild beasts. Now the mortal army is stationed outside the town walls."

Chen Yang had heard about the Beast Calamity before he fell into his deep slumber.

The Yang family's Restricted Grounds were high on the mountain, and he had sensed that familiar aura before.

During his twenty years in the secret realm, he had seen all kinds of Demon Beasts and knew their presence all too well.

"This matter is not a simple Beast Calamity."

Speaking of this, Elder Yu's expression turned serious.

"Previously, the Family Head, the two town heads, and I went deep into the mountains together to investigate, and we found traces of Demon Beasts."

"Demon Beasts!"

Hearing this word, the three children felt a chill in their hearts.

Demon Beasts fed on humans, and the relationship between the two races was entirely irreconcilable. They had all read about this in ancient texts.

Although they had never seen a true Demon Beast with their own eyes, they already understood their ferocity.

"Elder Yu, if this matter is caused by Demon Beasts, then it probably won't end anytime soon," Yang Lingqing said.

"Lingqing is right. We have already considered the worst-case scenario: a Beast Tide."

Elder Yu said in a deep voice, "This is likely the first major trial our Yang family will face after becoming independent from the dynasty's local authority. You all need to prepare yourselves in advance."

"Yes, Elder Yu, we understand!"

In the following period, the five cultivators of the Yang family rarely returned to the Restricted Grounds to cultivate.

To deal with the increasingly severe Beast Calamity, they all had to descend the mountain to protect the clan.

The Yang family's current situation remained stable. Because they had trained Clan Soldiers in advance and possessed five cultivators to hold the line, there were only some injuries, but no deaths had occurred.

The two towns had the mortal army stationed there, so their situation was also manageable. At least the common townspeople were not in immediate danger.

But others, like the small villages scattered around the wilderness, were not so fortunate.

Under the constant raiding of the Beast Calamity, many villages had become completely uninhabitable.

There were even cases where large groups of wild beasts directly destroyed the villagers' homes, breaking inside to slaughter and consume the inhabitants.

The villages that were still within the safe zones were filled with panic. Countless people packed their belongings, took their families, and fled their ancestral homes to seek refuge within the fortified towns.