Xiao Fei once again clashed with a demonic Nascent Soul cultivator. His victory or defeat was crucial for the entire human race's morale. Though he couldn't kill the opponent, he had to hold on until the enemy retreated, even if it meant a protracted struggle.
Thus, after the initial probing attacks, realizing he still couldn't harm the opponent, Xiao Fei changed his tactics.
He no longer sought merit, only to avoid mistakes, prioritizing self-preservation.
Therefore, facing the attacks of the Nascent Soul cultivator Hei Lin, he dodged with all his might, not considering counter-attacks. As long as he remained unharmed, he would be in an invincible position.
After all, Nascent Soul cultivators in this world were limited by the concentration of spiritual energy and couldn't last long.
Once Hei Lin's demonic power was nearly depleted and he couldn't quickly recover it from the surrounding spiritual energy, he would have to flee.
At that point, his combat record would gain another glorious entry: on such-and-such date, he decisively defeated a Nascent Soul demonic cultivator, forcing Hei Lin to flee in disarray.
Of course, Nascent Soul cultivators consumed a large amount of demonic power to unleash great divine abilities. His use of teleportation to dodge also consumed a significant amount.
Moreover, he was only at the Nascent Soul stage, and the spiritual power stored within his body was far inferior to that of a Nascent Soul cultivator.
Under normal circumstances, he would exhaust his spiritual power faster than a Nascent Soul cultivator, lasting at most a quarter of an hour before his power ran out.
However, he had a large supply of ten-thousand-year-old spiritual wine in his spatial dimension. Each sip of this wine contained rich spiritual energy.
During the battle, while dodging Hei Lin's attacks, he used his divine sense to transport the ten-thousand-year-old spiritual wine from his dimension directly into his mouth.
The ten-thousand-year-old spiritual wine continuously supplied him with spiritual power, making him more enduring than the Nascent Soul cultivator.
While Xiao Fei dodged with all his might, he also deliberately provoked Hei Lin, enraging the Nascent Soul cultivator to the point of sputtering.
"Old cur, I'm taking a break, not playing with you anymore!"
Xiao Fei uttered this one sentence, followed by several teleportations, as he retreated into the Flying Sky Giant Boat.
He was tired and wanted to rest!
As long as Hei Lin retreated first, he could boast that he had achieved victory.
As soon as Xiao Fei entered the Flying Sky Giant Boat, the thousand spiritual energy cannons within the boat simultaneously fired, bombarding Hei Lin.
As soon as one round of bombardment ended, another began, completely engulfing Hei Lin's small figure in the light of spells.
Xiao Fei casually found a spot on the flying boat and used a formation to anchor himself.
Sustaining high-intensity combat with a Nascent Soul cultivator was truly exhausting, like dancing on the tip of a blade, where the slightest mistake could lead to death.
The constant tension left him mentally and physically drained, desperately needing rest to maintain his peak condition.
While Xiao Fei was taking his halftime break, Hei Lin, enraged, burst out of the barrage of spells, smashing a spiked mace fiercely onto the Flying Sky Giant Boat.
The Flying Sky Giant Boat was sent tumbling through the air again.
This was followed by a series of clanging impacts, each one causing the Flying Sky Giant Boat to shake violently.
The flying boat had undergone several modifications, and everyone was now secured by formations, preventing them from being thrown around with the boat.
However, such violent shaking still made people weak in the knees and legs, affecting their speech.
Xiao Fei, at this moment, ignored Hei Lin's continuous attacks from outside the flying boat. As long as there were enough spirit stones, it would be difficult for a Nascent Soul cultivator to break through this tortoise shell.
He even brewed a pot of spirit-nourishing tea in his dimension, then took it out and directly blew on the spout.
The spirit-nourishing tea plant, cultivated in his dimension, had grown into a large tree several zhang tall after tens of thousands of years, and the quality of its leaves had significantly improved.
Spirit-nourishing tea could eliminate fatigue and restore divine sense, which was very helpful for his current state.
A quarter of an hour later, seeing that the protective array on the flying boat was about to fail, and having recuperated sufficiently, Xiao Fei once again drew his sword and charged out of the flying boat.
"Old cur! How dare you be so arrogant! Watch as I slay you!"
"Human race's cowering turtle, all mouth and no substance!"
Hei Lin was provoked by him into a frenzy. Xiao Fei had been dodging him throughout the fight, unwilling to engage in a head-on confrontation, yet he still managed to gain the upper hand verbally, making it seem as though he had the advantage.
The human and the demon once again clashed.
Xiao Fei maintained his original strategy, unhurried and steady, seeking no merit but avoiding mistakes. When he was exhausted, he would retreat into the flying boat to rest.
As Sun Tzu said: "He who knows when he can fight and when he cannot, will be victorious."
Xiao Fei knew that as long as he could remain unharmed by Hei Lin, and the flying boat was not destroyed by the opponent, he could outlast the Nascent Soul demon cultivator.
His eventual victory was virtually assured.
Although this method of victory was not flashy or glorious, the human race needed a victory now.
After Xiao Fei's several halftime breaks, Hei Lin was not foolish and had long seen through his intentions.
However, he had no other recourse. This was a blatant gambit.
If he turned and fled now, he would be playing right into Xiao Fei's hands.
He had tried several times to unleash his ultimate moves, hoping to heavily injure Xiao Fei with a single blow.
But Xiao Fei, having fought with Nascent Soul cultivators every day for years, had become incredibly slippery. As soon as Hei Lin unleashed his great divine abilities, Xiao Fei would have already escaped.
When Hei Lin slightly relaxed his guard, Xiao Fei would rush forward again to harass and insult him, driving Hei Lin to distraction.
"In my entire life, I have never met such a shameless person!"
After a full day of attrition, Hei Lin's demonic power was nearly halved. Finally, he retreated in anger, as further engagement held little meaning for him.
"Oh! Oh oh oh…"
"We won!"
"The Nascent Soul demon cultivator was soundly defeated and fled by Young Master Xiao!"
At this moment, the cultivators on the flying boat, led by Huang Feifei, all cheered loudly with clear consciences.
A battle that could at best be considered a draw was hard-pressed into being declared a great victory.
Even Xiao Fei's old face blushed unintentionally.
After all, Hei Lin had retreated first. Regardless, it was he who had used his great divine abilities to drive the Nascent Soul demon cultivator away.
Following this battle, the channels controlled by Huang Feifei and Xiao Lan began to spread the news: Xiao Fei, with his late Nascent Soul cultivation, had defeated a Nascent Soul stage demon.
This news, regardless of its truthfulness, greatly boosted the confidence of human cultivators in their fight against demons.
Simultaneously, many human powerhouses abandoned their initial strategy of stubbornly defending a single peak or city.
Emulating the Flying Sky Giant Boat, they ventured deep into demon-occupied territories, initiating guerrilla warfare against the demons.
The situation now was that the enemy was in the open, while they were in the shadows, and the combat pressure was significantly reduced.
The Flying Sky Giant Boat continued to operate in demon territory, specifically targeting larger demonic strongholds.
Furthermore, they discovered several more demonic caves used for breeding offspring, all of which were destroyed.
At the same time, they discovered a worrying fact: all the demon-sealing caves they found had been completely opened.
Demonic powerhouses could cross the dimensional passage at any time.
The reason demonic powerhouses had not yet arrived in large numbers might be related to the extremely thin spiritual energy of this world.
However, there was another, more unsettling development.
From the passages in various locations, dense true demonic energy continued to emanate, polluting the spiritual energy of this world.
Some spirit herbs and spiritual plants had been transformed into demonic plants under the contamination of demonic energy.
Additionally, a type of demonic plant was discovered that could absorb spiritual energy and then convert it into demonic energy.
Currently, this demonic plant was being widely cultivated by demons across various regions.