Two Demons on the March

Chapter 55

To the west of the Qingmiao Sect, there were four or five family-based Foundation Establishment forces, all of similar strength. Among them was a familiar name to Li Changmeng—the Feng Family.

"Let's start with the Feng Family. Let's see if the cultivators in this region can help me break through to Core Formation."

Shrouded in rolling black energy, Li Changmeng didn't even consider hiding his presence. He went straight to the Feng Family's headquarters.

"May I ask which senior has come to visit the Feng Family? We apologize for not welcoming you properly."

Feng Lianxin, the head of the Feng Family and a late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator, was only a step away from reaching the peak of Foundation Establishment.

She had been in seclusion but was abruptly disturbed by two unrestrained auras of cultivation. She hurriedly ended her seclusion to greet the visitors.

"Senior is too formal. I've come today to ask your Feng Family for something."

The old man clone chuckled, then extended a massive hand, covering the entire Feng Family with a sky-blotting wave of blood qi.

"It seems they come with ill intentions..."

Feng Lianxin's heart sank. From the beginning, she knew that this peak Foundation Establishment cultivator, shrouded in dense karmic energy, had come to harm her family.

But... within the Ten-City Alliance, how could a demonic cultivator act so brazenly? However, if it was just one peak Foundation Establishment cultivator, they might still have a fighting chance.

What Feng Lianxin didn't know was that they were actually facing two peak Foundation Establishment cultivators, and not long ago, these two had no cultivation at all.

"Activate the Crimson Fire Spirit Array!"

Facing the overwhelming blood qi, Feng Lianxin immediately activated the Feng Family's grand formation.

As the family's headquarters, having a protective formation was essential.

At the same time, three streaks of light were rapidly approaching from nearby.

These were the three Foundation Establishment cultivators stationed at other locations by the Feng Family. Seeing the family's grand formation activated, they rushed over.

"Good, the more the merrier."

The old man clone grinned, deliberately slowing his attacks while continuously releasing blood qi.

Inside the headquarters, the other Qi Refining cultivators of the Feng Family hid in their rooms.

A battle between Foundation Establishment cultivators was not something they could interfere with. They were sure their family head would prevail.

Soon, the three other Foundation Establishment cultivators arrived and immediately joined the formation.

The Feng Family's formation was a combined attack array that required multiple cultivators to power it. In exchange, it could combine the strength of all the cultivators within the formation.

One late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator, one mid-stage, and two early-stage cultivators. With the formation's enhancement, they could unleash power comparable to a peak Foundation Establishment cultivator.

The formation's strength increased dramatically as the three Feng Family Foundation Establishment cultivators joined, manifesting a fiery beast phantom.

"Interesting. This kind of combined attack formation suits me well."

Li Changmeng had little experience with cultivation techniques beyond spells and cultivation methods.

Seeing this combined attack formation, his eyes lit up. This could be a way to quickly increase his strength.

The old man clone took a step forward. The real killing move hadn't been used yet.

"Filthy Blood Dew!"

This was the only spell in the *Blood Fiend Yin Demon Art* that didn't require time to practice. It utilized the impurities and filth accumulated from absorbing blood qi.

By infusing the filth essence into the released spiritual power, it could severely damage orthodox spiritual artifacts.

A dark red mist, carrying a strong stench, surged toward the fiery beast phantom.

"Roar!"

The fiery beast let out a cry, spewing a large flame that ignited the mist, producing a dark green flame that contrasted sharply with the beast's orange-red flames.

"This formation does have some restraining effect on me, but only to a certain extent."

The *Blood Fiend Yin Demon Art* was indeed somewhat countered by fire-based techniques.

Thus, four Spirit Jade Hands slowly emerged from the old man clone's back.

The Feng Family's Foundation Establishment cultivators were fully focused on controlling the fiery beast phantom and didn't notice this change.

In the next moment, the four tentacles rippled with blood-colored waves, and the range of the Filthy Blood Dew expanded dramatically, completely enveloping the fiery beast.

"Ugh—how could this be? Such a sudden burst of power?"

Feng Lianxin was struck by the formation's backlash, spitting out a mouthful of blood. What had been an evenly matched battle, even slightly in their favor, was now a complete defeat.

She couldn't understand why this had happened. If they were facing multiple opponents, it would make sense for combined spells to enhance power.

But there were only two opponents, and one of them looked like a mere child.

How had they done it?

"Ah, why did you have to spit out blood?"

The old man clone looked pained. This was the blood of a late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator!

By now, he had retracted the Spirit Jade Hands. Naturally, the Feng Family wouldn't think of such a divine ability that could assist in spellcasting.

Each Spirit Jade Hand could independently cast spells.

Especially after mastering the *Infinite Body Technique*, Li Changmeng's ability to split his consciousness and control multiple entities had grown significantly.

Simultaneously casting multiple offensive spells was as easy as eating or drinking for him.

In short, as long as he had enough spiritual power, he could cast multiple copies of the same spell at once.

As for different spells, Li Changmeng couldn't do that yet.

The process of casting a spell was essentially invoking the Dao, outputting spiritual power in a specific way to resonate with the Dao that gave rise to the spell, thus producing different effects.

This specific method currently allowed only one spell per body.

He hadn't yet found a way to cast two different spells simultaneously.

With the formation's backlash, the Feng Family's Foundation Establishment cultivators were now at less than ten percent of their strength.

"Cough, cough... Could you spare my Feng Family? I can tell you the location of an ancient treasure."

Feng Lianxin's heart ached. The white-haired demon was already devouring her family members with his blood mist. The sounds of agony, transmitted through the mist, were chilling.

"Oh? An ancient treasure? A mere late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator like you knows about ancient treasures?"

Ancient treasures were artifacts used by ancient, powerful cultivators.

Ordinary artifacts couldn't be called ancient treasures. Only artifacts with spirits, which chose to hide after their masters' deaths, waiting for a destined owner, could be considered ancient treasures.

Such treasures were at least fifth-tier artifacts, and artifacts with spirits could also be called spirit artifacts.

Even if a spirit artifact chose a mortal as its master, the artifact's own power could kill Foundation Establishment cultivators as easily as slaughtering chickens.

So, it wasn't that Li Changmeng looked down on Feng Lianxin, but she simply wasn't qualified to know about such things.

Even if she had stumbled upon the location of an ancient treasure by sheer luck, why would she leave it for him?

The treasure must be difficult to obtain.

On the other hand, there was no harm in listening.

"Speak. I can agree to spare one person to preserve your Feng Family's bloodline."

"Mm... Then please spare Feng Ranfei of my family. The map to the ancient treasure is here. I discovered it by chance in the market. I hope you keep your word."

A leather map marked with a location, along with Feng Lianxin's annotations from her investigations, indicated a high probability of an ancient treasure.

However, the location also explained why she hadn't dared to retrieve it—it was in the Li Mountain Range, home to a fourth-tier demon beast.

"Don't worry. You can go in peace."

After taking the map, Li Changmeng absorbed Feng Lianxin's blood qi and soul. The bottleneck at the peak of Foundation Establishment loosened slightly.

Then, the other three Foundation Establishment cultivators met the same fate as Feng Lianxin.