Chapter 1 The Storm Thunder Battle Body
Xiao Fei faced the difficulty of insufficient spiritual energy halfway through cultivating the second level of the Storm Thunder Battle Body.
This upper realm cultivation method’s creator had not considered the problem of excessively thin spiritual energy at all.
But Xiao Fei had only cultivated to the second level, and often after circulating his magic power a couple of times, the surrounding area would become a spiritual energy vacuum.
He had only reached the second level, with seven more levels to go, and the spiritual energy consumed doubled with each subsequent level.
Since the spiritual energy of heaven and earth could not support him, Xiao Fei could only use other methods to continue cultivating.
The only methods he could now use in large quantities were spirit stones, spirit wine, and pills.
He was a bit reluctant to spend his spirit stones now; the spirit stones on the entire Eastern Continent were not enough for him.
He still needed to save them for future breakthroughs, and accelerating the passage of time in his spatial dimension also required spirit stones.
Only spirit wine and pills were available as choices. For replenishing magic power during combat, spirit wine was more effective.
For assisting cultivation, pills were gentler and more suitable for cultivation.
Xiao Fei took out a pill the size of an egg and stuffed it directly into his mouth.
Pills refined from ten-thousand-year-old spiritual herbs could provide a hundred years of cultivation in a single dose.
In the past, he couldn't eat too many, as it could easily destabilize his magic power. Now, using them solely to supplement the consumption of the Storm Thunder Battle Body cultivation was fine.
After swallowing the pill, a surge of magic power immediately rose within him, guided by the Storm Thunder Battle Body cultivation technique into his muscles and bones, continuously strengthening his physical body.
Three months later, the second level of the Storm Thunder Battle Body cultivation was completed.
At this point, he walked out of the mountain cave where he had been hiding. With a gentle tap of his foot, a gust of wind blew, and his figure appeared a hundred feet away.
Then, he clenched his fist with one hand and struck a mountain peak. This punch carried the sound of wind and thunder, accompanied by a bolt of purple-gold divine lightning.
"Boom!"
With a deafening roar, the mountain peak collapsed.
Besides refining the body, making it more resilient, and greatly increasing strength, the Storm Thunder Battle Body also had significant advantages in speed and attack.
Body refining cultivators excelled in close combat, but their greatest fear was being unable to reach their opponents. No matter how great their strength, it was useless if they couldn't land a blow.
This cultivation method included a wind-element teleportation secret technique, which could instantly traverse a hundred feet, allowing one to suddenly appear beside an enemy.
There was also the lightning-element attack secret technique, which could condense the power of lightning, ensuring that every strike was accompanied by lightning damage.
Xiao Fei was already skilled in lightning magic, and he possessed a lightning spirit. Now, combined with the lightning secret techniques from the Storm Thunder Battle Body, his power had increased severalfold.
Glancing at the mountain peak he had just destroyed with a single punch, Xiao Fei’s eyes showed satisfaction.
Then, his form changed, and he transformed into the image of a Black Scale Demon. He took out two large hammers, slung them over his shoulders, and strode away.
After the incident at the Tai Ran Sect last time, he realized that dressing up as a high-level demon while walking in demon territory was incredibly satisfying.
In demon territory, he could commit evil deeds at will, killing anyone he disliked without any injustice.
He had been hiding and cultivating for three months and discovered that the situation on the Eastern Continent had become even more perilous. The territory still held by the human race was now very small.
The lands occupied by demons had been ravaged, with corpses strewn everywhere, and vast stretches of land devoid of human life, resembling a living hell.
He had received news from his second sister a while ago that due to the excessive number of people who died unjustly, her subordinate forces had expanded rapidly.
Many new ghosts joined her forces daily, and the Myriad Ghost Tower was now overcrowded.
In fact, only a small fraction of humans killed by demons could transform into vengeful ghosts.
Most people were annihilated on the spot, their souls scattered, or their primordial spirits were devoured by demons, leaving no chance to become ghosts.
Xiao Fei discovered that besides using them for food, cultivation, and entertainment, demons also collected many human cultivator corpses for unknown purposes.
According to the intelligence Xiao Fei currently possessed, Huang Feifei's flying giant ship had been active on the battlefield.
However, its movements were quite covert, often appearing, striking, and then disappearing, only to reappear elsewhere later.
His second sister, Xiao Lan, and her Myriad Ghost Tower were currently cooperating with Huang Feifei. The Myriad Ghost Tower, with its numerous vengeful ghosts spread across various locations, primarily provided intelligence and guidance to Huang Feifei.
The reason for the flying giant ship's tactics was mainly to guard against the demon race's Nascent Soul stage powerhouses.
Currently, five demon Nascent Soul stage powerhouses had been revealed openly. Xiao Fei had killed one, leaving at least four more.
On the human side, only two Nascent Soul stage powerhouses remained. They had been injured and broke through during the demon race's last surprise attack and their whereabouts were currently unknown.
It was unclear whether they were hiding to heal or preparing to remain in hiding.
Regardless, on the current battlefield, whenever a demon Nascent Soul stage powerhouse appeared, there was no one who could match them.
Fortunately, the spiritual energy on the Eastern Continent was too thin, making it unbearable even for demon Nascent Soul stage powerhouses. They would avoid acting if possible.
Each time they exerted themselves, the energy consumed required a long period of rest to recover.
Otherwise, if the demon Nascent Soul stage powerhouses had acted freely, the entire Eastern Continent would have fallen long ago.
After understanding this information, Xiao Fei became even more determined to engage in guerrilla warfare against the demons.
He quietly returned to Meteor Island, delivered the supplies he had seized from the Tai Ran Sect back to the island, and arranged for the refinement of a second flying giant ship.
Then, he set out again, entering demon territory in the guise of a Golden Core stage Black Scale Demon.
In the days that followed, he was like a fish in the sea, and the first targets he ravaged were those forces that had defected to the demons.
The methods he used were similar to those he had employed against the Tai Ran Sect.
First, he summoned the high-level members of the force as a demon envoy, then poisoned them, smashed them one by one with his hammer, and finally swept away the entire force's wealth.
He had become increasingly familiar with this entire process, making him appear skilled and at ease.
After emptying several forces consecutively, his spatial dimension was filled with not only various precious resources but also a large amount of spirit stones, all converted to low-grade ones, totaling approximately 200 million low-grade spirit stones.
He gritted his teeth and took out one hundred million spirit stones to invest in his spatial dimension.
Since the passage of time in his spatial dimension had reached 40 times, each increase of one point required 10 million spirit stones.
After investing his one hundred million spirit stones, the passage of time in his spatial dimension indeed increased to 50 times.
If his predictions were correct, from 50 times onwards, each additional point would require 100 million spirit stones, which the entire Eastern Continent's spirit stones could not afford.
He had originally intended to save the spirit stones for future breakthroughs, but the recent cultivation of the Storm Thunder Battle Body consumed a lot of spiritual herbs, and he feared that the spiritual herbs would not keep up.
Increasing the speed of time in his spatial dimension was a task that improved efficiency, as it could accelerate the growth of many spiritual plants.
Especially the root of the Black Dragon Vine, which he was running out of, and he would have to use poisons more sparingly in the future.
Xiao Fei sensed the greatly increased spiritual energy in his spatial dimension, surveyed the spiritual plants within, and then exited the dimension to head towards his next target.
Due to the numerous crimes he had committed recently, they had already spread among many forces. Therefore, his next target was a demon stronghold.
Upon entering demon territory, he suppressed his usual arrogance and his cultivation level to the Golden Core stage, appearing very low-key.
He was not noticed after entering the stronghold and was directly conscripted by a Nascent Soul stage demon to move corpses.
He followed a group of demons, transporting the human cultivator corpses brought back from the front lines to a large city in the demon's heartland.
Xiao Fei acted in a standard manner this time, without causing any trouble. He planned to follow the convoy to see what the demons intended to do with the human cultivator corpses they collected.