Feng Jiang groaned in pain, “Lord Spirit of the Rune, why do you treat me this way? I have already offered my soul. Is there some misunderstanding? The Old Ancestor sent me here to seek your favor, but I never expected you to mock me like this.”
He originally thought the Spirit of the Rune was just being childish, playing a temporary joke.
However, with a burst of soft laughter, Li Chengfeng stepped out from the shimmering runes, facing Feng Jiang directly, and said calmly, “Who is joking with you?”
Feng Jiang's expression changed drastically, and he exclaimed, “This… this is impossible! How could you collude with the Spirit of the Rune? This sealing power is incredibly strong, how did you break free?”
His voice was filled with shock and confusion, as if everything had overturned his understanding of Daoist magic.
Li Chengfeng smiled slightly, and with a wave of his hand, Feng Jiang's storage bag fell into his possession.
He didn't offer much explanation, just chuckled, “Feng Jiang, you came with such imposing momentum, intending to kill me, but now you've fallen into my hands. How does it feel?”
Feng Jiang was consumed by anger and roared, “Li Xu, you are utterly shameless! If you have the ability, face me in a head-on battle. Why resort to such despicable means?”
Li Chengfeng didn't take it to heart, and said indifferently, “Despicable means? Your Old Ancestor is a late-stage Core Formation cultivator, treating me as a whetstone. Have you ever considered reason? Hmph, what do you want?”
Feng Jiang gritted his teeth and said, “If you dare to hurt me, my Old Ancestor will never let you go!”
Li Chengfeng chuckled and said, “What can he do if he doesn't let me go? Now your life is in my hands, and your fate is mine to decide. However, I'll spare your life for now. You still have some use.”
He probed the storage bag with his divine sense and found ten high-grade Foundation Establishment Pills, as well as many treasures of the Nine Nether Earth Fiends.
Among them, a thirteen-sided small shield caught his great interest. With a thought, the shield flew out, and he erased Feng Jiang's divine sense from it.
He manipulated it to fly around him, laughing, “This shield is excellent! From today on, it belongs to me!”
Feng Jiang, witnessing this scene, was consumed by rage, smoke practically billowing from his orifices.
He regretted his carelessness, falling into this cunning enemy's trap.
He repeatedly pondered, but couldn't find where he had gone wrong.
He believed that whether it was the Old Ancestor's plan or his own schemes, everything should have been watertight. Yet, Li Xu had skillfully found a loophole.
His heart was filled with hatred and confusion towards Li Chengfeng, wondering how the other party had done it and what secrets he was hiding.
He roared uncontrollably, “If you have the guts, kill me! Even if I die, I won't be used by you! You are just a eunuch, spineless thing!”
However, he suddenly realized that Li Xu was keeping him alive, perhaps because he was afraid the Old Ancestor would find out.
Once he died, the Old Ancestor would definitely notice. He worried that if Li Xu used him to gain benefits and advance to a higher realm, the Old Ancestor would be furious.
He tried to provoke Li Chengfeng, seeking a quick death.
But Li Chengfeng remained unmoved, only smiling coldly.
A mysterious force enveloped Feng Jiang, and he found that he could no longer move, not even make a sound.
He realized that he had completely become Li Chengfeng's prisoner, his life and death controlled by the other party.
His heart was filled with despair and pain, finally understanding what true helplessness and suffering were.
Li Chengfeng looked at Feng Jiang with a smile and said, “In a moment, you can watch how I advance to the Foundation Establishment stage.
The reason I haven't killed you is because you still have a use.
If I kill you, that old thing Feng Wuya will definitely fly into a rage. Especially that Thunderstruck Wood, that's a treasure he bought with his life's savings.
If you lose it, do you think he will grind your bones to ashes?”
These words made Feng Jiang even more painful and self-reproachful. He understood that he had become a pawn in Li Xu's hands, his life and death at the other's whim.
He couldn't resist, he could only silently endure all of this.
Li Chengfeng ignored Feng Jiang and turned to the Spirit of the Rune, saying, “Protect me well. When I advance to the Foundation Establishment stage, my strength will be even greater. When that time comes, I naturally won't mistreat you.”
The Spirit of the Rune respectfully responded, “Big Brother, rest assured. I admire your methods.
You've toyed with this kid, it's really interesting. Just focus on advancing, I will protect you well.”
Li Chengfeng smiled and nodded, beginning his closed-door cultivation.
Li Chengfeng knew that time was of the essence, so he immediately sat cross-legged and began to fully focus on breaking through to the Foundation Establishment realm.
He took out the jade box, took out the Nine Nether Earth Fiend, and once again absorbed the fiendish energy within, condensing the Nine Nether Earth Fiend Gang Qi.
As the fiendish energy was continuously absorbed, the Gang Qi became more and more calm and powerful, emitting a special force.
The Spirit of the Rune cleverly transmitted ghost energy to him again, assisting him in his cultivation.
Li Chengfeng's strength rapidly increased, reaching an unprecedented peak.
He began to cultivate according to the "Flourishing and Decaying Sky-Reaching Art," with the nine blood shadows occupying positions around him. The aura on each blood shadow was full and rounded, reaching a terrifying level.
Then, he took out the Foundation Establishment Pills, giving one to each of the nine blood shadows.
He had more than thirty Foundation Establishment Pills on hand, plus the ten he had obtained this time, totaling forty Foundation Establishment Pills.
After taking the Foundation Establishment Pills, the nine blood shadows simultaneously began to refine the medicinal power, the rolling medicinal power traveling through their dantian.
As the cultivation progressed, a loud noise suddenly came from behind Li Chengfeng, and a huge Kunpeng phantom emerged from his back.
Although it was just a phantom, the wild aura was as real as it could be, causing chills in people's hearts.
At the same time, his body also underwent a special change, and a stream of foul odor gushed out of his body, which was a sign that impurities were being expelled.
His dantian was constantly compressed, and the rolling spiritual energy gradually turned into mist. When the mist reached a certain level, it turned into water droplets, dripping into his dantian.
His dantian instantly expanded to ten zhang in size, which was unprecedented in the early stage of Foundation Establishment.
The dantian of ordinary Foundation Establishment cultivators is only about half a zhang, while Li Chengfeng's dantian has expanded to ten zhang, even before he has fully advanced.
As the cultivation deepened, the spiritual energy and ghost energy from the outside world poured into his body like a tide, Yin and Yang harmonized, and flourishing and decay changed.
His face was shriveled like a skeleton for a while, and then it became round and flawless, youthful and refined.
Days passed, Li Chengfeng's cultivation was constantly growing, and he was getting closer and closer to the real Foundation Establishment realm.
Another month passed, Li Chengfeng let out a roar, announcing that he had officially advanced to the Foundation Establishment stage.
However, he did not stop cultivating, but instead worked harder to consolidate his cultivation.
He poured all the accumulated spiritual herbs into his mouth and began to refine them with all his might.
Suddenly, a powerful force exploded in his body, sweeping through his body like a torrent.
This force surged wildly, causing the greatest change to occur first in his hell realm.
Under the frantic construction of the ghost energy, the space in the hell realm instantly expanded to one hundred mu.
The hell realm used to be only one mu in size, but now it has expanded a hundredfold, forming a vast space.
The life realm space was also changing. With the power fed back from the hell realm, it also expanded to the corresponding one hundred mu.
This was only a change in the early stage of Foundation Establishment. Li Chengfeng knew that as his cultivation continued to improve, when he advanced to the middle stage of Foundation Establishment, the space of this life and death realm would undergo even greater changes.
