Toward the two demons, Black King and Tianxuan, Luo Chen's treatment differed.
One was left to roam free, while the other was kept by his side.
Such differing treatment was not merely due to their different forms.
It was also because their paths of cultivation had diverged completely back when Tianxuan underwent her humanoid transformation.
Over the years, Tianxuan's cultivation progress had been slower than Black King's. Even though she occasionally received pointers from Luo Chen, her realm had only barely reached the fourth layer of Core Formation.
Yet Tianxuan felt not the slightest dissatisfaction.
She was well aware that Black King progressed so swiftly partly because he had awakened a special bloodline talent, and partly because he had devoured many formidable demon beasts in his earlier years. In particular, the corpse of that Cliff Snake had allowed Black King, once it was fully digested, to surge in a single breath to the peak of the mid-Tier 3 stage. As for her own cultivation speed, with the *Huanyu Secret Scripture* her master had tailor-made for her, it was already considered quite fast.
It was easy to imagine that by practicing this secret scripture long-term, her cultivation speed would only grow faster. No longer like ordinary demon beasts that took centuries or millennia just to advance a major realm, she would be able to rival human cultivators.
It was the same on Black King's end; he harbored no jealousy over Tianxuan being able to stay before their master and receive guidance at any time.
He had his own method of cultivation.
Though it was rough and primitive, he subconsciously felt this path suited him best.
Under normal circumstances, his master let him roam free.
Yet once his master sought him out, there was bound to be a task assigned.
At this moment, Luo Chen said mildly, "Nothing major. Just cooperate with me in a bit."
With that, his gaze fell upon the young girl on Black King's back.
She had bright eyes and white teeth, exuding an aura of ethereal vitality.
Her aqua-green dress set off skin as white as frost and snow.
"Is she... Zhang Jingqing?"
With a moment's thought, Luo Chen retrieved a vague impression from his memory.
"Xiao Qing, quickly pay respects to Master!" Black King urged.
Zhang Jingqing stood up and bowed respectfully. "Xiao Qing greets the Lord!"
The Zhang family of Cailian Island was a vassal of Luo Chen. When members of the clan met Luo Chen, even if they did not call him Master like Black King and Tianxuan did, they still had to address him as Lord.
After she finished her salute, Black King said in a muffled, booming voice, "Master, what do you think of Xiao Qing?"
Luo Chen quietly observed Zhang Jingqing, this young girl whose very name had been chosen to curry favor with him.
She stood gracefully, looking delicate and lovely.
On her, Luo Chen felt the passage of time.
Fourteen years old!
This also meant that it had been fully fourteen years since he arrived at the Myriad Immortals Association.
These fourteen years had been the fastest-passing period of his life—so fast that barely any major event seemed to have occurred in his memory, so fast that an infant wailing at birth had, in the blink of an eye, unwittingly become a Qi Refining cultivator.
In his divine sense perception, although the girl's mid-Qi Refining spiritual power fluctuations were concealed very well, they were still as conspicuous as a firefly in the dark night.
This concealment technique seemed to be one he had passed down to Black King and Tianxuan.
It had been synthesized and refined from the numerous breath-concealing methods Luo Chen had learned throughout his life, and its efficacy was exceptionally good.
Even though Xiao Qing had only grasped the surface, she was already able to deceive Foundation Establishment cultivators.
And for Black King to impart such a technique to Xiao Qing showed that he truly doted on the child from the bottom of his heart.
Now he was being asked for his thoughts on Zhang Jingqing?
Luo Chen smiled faintly. "Quite fine."
A delighted smile appeared on the young girl's nervous face. Master Qingyang, whom even her father and the elders had to treat with utter caution, had praised her as "quite fine."
Hearing this, however, Black King sighed in regret.
"Tianxuan, take Xiao Qing aside. There will be quite a commotion shortly; protect her."
Luo Chen gave the instruction and then walked toward the deeper waters of Penghu Lake.
Black King followed closely behind, unable to resist saying along the way, "That child's aptitude is quite good—dual spiritual roots of water and wood. Above all, she was born clever; she's a fine seedling for cultivation."
Luo Chen said calmly, "I have no intention of taking disciples."
"Then what about Xu Muxian of the Flying Swallow Archipelago?"
"He is merely a nominal disciple, not a true apprentice. Besides, clever?"
Luo Chen shook his head slightly. Having such an intricate, calculating mind at such a young age was not a good thing.
The saying "too much cleverness brings harm" held a grain of truth.
Naturally, it wasn't that being intelligent was bad. Once one grew older and matured in mind, intelligence was certainly beneficial. But maturing too early at a tender age, having seen through worldly ways with too many stray thoughts cluttering the mind, posed a severe hidden danger for laying the foundation during the Qi Refining stage.
That Zhang Jingqing had changed like this was likely related to the Zhang family.
From the very first meeting, Zhang Jiadi had been a timid, weak-willed person who put on a fierce front. Back then, it was Wen Xiu, that fallen clan cultivator, who spoke eloquently before Luo Chen and solidified their ties with him.
Later on, Zhang Jiadi gradually exposed the habits of a social climber.
Naming his daughter to flatter Luo Chen, never offending anyone in external affairs, and unhesitatingly latching on when he learned there was a chance to cling to the thigh of the Coral Sea's Zhou family. To that end, he wed Zhou Shanshan, neglected Wen Xiu, and gradually distanced himself even from the daughter he had once doted on most.
Luo Chen usually remained noncommittal about all this, but he saw through it clearly.
Because he, too, used to be like that.
However, beneath his scheming methods, there were lines he drew—things he would do, and things he would not.
Back then, when Mi Shuhua secretly conveyed an intention to form a marriage alliance through Sikong Shoujia, Luo Chen had refused without hesitation.
Because he knew very well that a marriage alliance or a Dao companion relationship could never truly bind a person to a faction, yet it served as a clear declaration of allegiance!
Once one took such a stance, one's subsequent actions would be constrained at every turn.
Right now, Zhang Jiadi was openly Luo Chen's vassal, yet he had also taken on the identity of a son-in-law to the Coral Sea's Zhou family.
While Luo Chen and the Zhou family shared aligned interests for now, it was fine; but if a conflict arose in the future, how would the Zhang family position themselves?
Luo Chen naturally did not care about the petty maneuvering of subordinates. For now, they were still useful, and he could use Zhang Jiadi to fleece the Coral Sea's Zhou family.
If they truly developed disloyalty down the line, he could simply use thunderous means to depose and replace them.
From that perspective, it was actually a blessing that Wen Xiu and her daughter were gradually drifting away from the core leadership of the Zhang family.
"Heh, I've let my thoughts wander too far."
Luo Chen gave a soft laugh and halted his steps in a stretch of water cordoned off by an archipelago.
The area was not vast, only about a hundred li across.
"Master, what do I need to do?"
"Simple. Use your innate demonic art to gather the surrounding water vapor and act as my formation eye!"
Black King was somewhat perplexed.
Yet under Luo Chen's direction, he meticulously deployed that so-called "innate demonic art."
As he opened his gaping, bloody maw, demonic qi surged violently from within his body.
The water vapor across dozens of li around began gathering frenziedly toward him.
Watching this and sensing the ever-mounting might, Luo Chen felt a flicker of marvel in his eyes.
This flood dragon's devouring demonic art was indeed formidable.
If he were allowed to keep stacking it, the affected radius would likely spread beyond a hundred li.
Perhaps this was also why mid-Core Formation cultivators seemed almost defenseless before Black King!
"Master, I'm nearing my limit."
While Luo Chen waited in silence, Black King began to struggle.
This stretch of water had already become churned by surging waves and howling gales, resembling the end of the world.
Luo Chen nodded slightly and took a deep breath, his Daoist robe billowing without any wind.
Raising one hand, he pushed his palm forward. An incomparably domineering wave of fire-attribute magic power gushed forth, its intensity roughly matching what Black King was currently releasing.
One water, one fire, converged at an imperceptible instant, instantly erupting into a terrifying clash.
Matchless power detonated repeatedly in the void.
Black King's demonic power was inferior to the Heavenly Phoenix magic power Luo Chen had cultivated through years of bitter effort.
Yet in his earlier accumulation, it had reached its absolute zenith, allowing him to barely match Luo Chen—and that was only because Luo Chen had intentionally held back.
Now, the two energies of water and fire clashed frantically, destructive power dissipating continuously in all directions.
Islands vanished silently into annihilation.
Waves evaporated the moment they swelled to their peak.
A look of terror even crept into Black King's eyes as he felt his power slipping from his control.
"Master, what did Old Black do wrong? Are you going to kill me?"
Luo Chen did not utter a word, keeping his eyes fixed solely on the point where water and fire clashed.
Suddenly.
With his free right hand, he channeled another stream of magic power, rapidly tracing patterns in the void.
Strands of formation patterns began emerging between heaven and earth.
Not only that, at that knife-edge moment, he followed the spiritual link between master and spirit pet to regulate Black King's rampant demonic power.
Under his modulation, the collision of water and fire began to slow, replaced by a sense of mutual fusion.
Luo Chen seized that abrupt harmony, tracing formation patterns with growing haste.
Just as Black King's strength began to flag, Luo Chen's eyes lit up sharply.
"Yes, just like this!"
The next moment, he pushed forward with both palms, fully blending water and fire together.
A Taiji yin-yang fish, half black and half red, manifested in the void.
The moment the yin-yang fish manifested, an invisible wave of energy rippled outward from Black King and Luo Chen, instantly covering a hundred li around and expanding further still.
One hundred li, two hundred li, three hundred li...
The eight-hundred-li Penghu Lake shuddered violently at this moment.
The spiritual energy of heaven and earth turned wildly turbulent, boundless lake waters boiled and surged, and terrifying water vapor rushed furiously toward Black King.
Free-floating fire-attribute spiritual energy in heaven and earth also gathered toward Luo Chen, though its quantity was sparse.
Yet Luo Chen did not care for the time being. His magic power remained superior to Black King's; even with Black King receiving the geographical advantage, Luo Chen could continue releasing magic power to sustain this formation.
"The Two Instruments Formation... so that's how it is!"
Luo Chen's eyes grew brighter as his comprehension of the Two Instruments Formation deepened.
On the attribute panel, the Two Instruments Formation—which had been stuck at the Perfect level—quietly broke through to the Grandmaster level at this very moment.
As one of the two core formation eyes of this array, Black King naturally sensed the upheaval in heaven and earth.
When the formation came into being, he suddenly felt as if his strength had returned!
His previously flagging state, bolstered by the ambient spiritual energy of heaven and earth, felt virtually inexhaustible.
However, because that power was so terrifying, his heart pounded with ambivalence.
He hoped his master would stop the formation quickly, yet also wished it would continue.
Luo Chen's eyes widened to their limit, hungrily capturing the shifts between heaven and earth.
Because water and fire blended, an even more extreme power was born, drawing together both water and fire spiritual energies from heaven and earth.
It was due to the formation!
And also due to that higher-tier power!
The convergence of these specific spiritual energies formed the array, and also forged a unique field.
That feeling was just like...
"A Nascent Soul domain!"
Just as this epiphany flashed through his mind, the Two Instruments Formation could no longer hold.
With a resounding boom.
Black King was sent hurtling back several li, crashing onto a deserted island and snapping a mountain peak clean off.
Yet Luo Chen paid it no heed. He merely hovered in the sky, eyes closed, savoring the extraordinary sensation.
Originally, he had only sought Black King tonight to practice blending water and fire in the Two Instruments Formation, never expecting to gain an extra revelation.
He had captured that trace of inspiration.
From it, thoughts began branching out ceaselessly.
In the Quyang Sea Territory, the black domain deployed by the white-robed cultivator using the Ten Thousand Soul Banner.
On the Tiangu Plain, the collision of Nascent Soul domains between Han Zhan and Wolf Emperor Ao Xiao, where the former, falling short, had used the Two Instruments Five Elements Sword Formation to hold his ground.
Gradually, a hypothesis took shape in his mind.
"Can I utilize formations, treasures, or even other powers to forcibly deploy a domain resembling that of a Nascent Soul cultivator while still in Core Formation?"
...
On the way back.
Looking at Black King's bruised and battered body, Luo Chen felt a bit apologetic.
"Sorry. When the formation lost control at the end, it injured you."
Black King grinned. "No matter. Old Black is thick-skinned and tough-fleshed; it's just minor surface wounds."
Luo Chen smiled. "Once we're back, I still have some leftover Tier 3 Black Emperor Paste. Take it and try it out!"
Black King's eyes lit up instantly.
Black Emperor Paste—that was Master's secret body-refining medicine.
And for demons, even if they walked the path of humanoid transformation, tempering the physical body remained of paramount importance.
If he got the Black Emperor Paste...
After the wild joy, his excitement cooled just as suddenly.
There probably wasn't much Black Emperor Paste left with Master, only a bottle or two, which would be a drop in the ocean for his massive frame.
With that thought, Black King hesitated.
"Master, may I decline the Black Emperor Paste?"
"Oh? Then what do you want?"
"Could Master personally forge a magic treasure for me?"
"A magic treasure? Didn't I bestow upon you the two flying daggers, Yin Lu and Yang Jue? That is a set of mid-grade magic treasures with formidable lethality."
"Uh, it's not for myself. I would like to ask Master to use this material to forge a magic treasure to give to Xiao Qing."
Luo Chen looked at the roll of hide Black King regurgitated from his mouth.
It resembled a fleshy membrane, yet also seemed like leather silk.
From it, he sensed a rich aura of the Cliff Snake.
"This is the membrane from the Cliff Snake's corpse that I couldn't digest. It's exceptionally tough. Using it as material, perhaps it can become a decent self-defense item." Black King explained its origin, a rare softness showing in his eyes. "That child, Xiao Qing, is rather pitiful."
"A serpent who rolled in the mud taking pity on a clan lady who grew up in silk and fine food."
Luo Chen chuckled mockingly.
Black King was momentarily stunned.
"Hand it over. She is still young, and her cultivation realm is insufficient. We will discuss it after she reaches Foundation Establishment."
Luo Chen took the Cliff Snake membrane, saying no more about bestowing the Black Emperor Paste.
When the two left that stretch of water, Tianxuan hurriedly came forward with Zhang Jingqing to greet them.
"Congratulations, Master, on mastering the formation!"
Luo Chen grunted in acknowledgment, his gaze sweeping across the low-hanging night curtain.
The commotion earlier had indeed seemed a bit large.
He had truly not anticipated that with two figures comparable to late-Core Formation cultivators serving as formation eyes, the Two Instruments Formation could unleash such power.
Yet this made him even more certain that using the Two Instruments Formation as the core to combine six Tier 3 defensive formations and inscribing them onto the Demon Emperor's remains would yield terrifyingly formidable defensive might!
For a moment, he could hardly resist engraving the formations onto the treasure embryo right on the spot.
Yet once the excitement subsided, he suppressed the urge.
"It has only been nurtured for one year. For an ordinary Six Jia, that would suffice, but for my protective treasure, it is far from enough."
"Nurture it a bit longer, nurture it a bit longer!"
...
Cailian Island.
The seat of the Zhang clan.
Over the past decade and more, the Zhang family's population had flourished considerably.
Aside from vassal rogue cultivators, Zhang Jiadi had taken many concubines who bore him numerous children.
However, the one he favored most in his heart remained the son borne to him by Zhou Shanshan.
On this full-moon reunion night, Zhang Jiadi was surrounded by chirping concubines and swarming children, presenting an image of boundless harmony.
When that terrifying wave of spiritual energy swept across the eight-hundred-li Penghu Lake, he jolted awake.
"What is that?"
A young woman cradling a young boy also rose to her feet in alarm.
"This sensation... it feels just like the Nascent Soul domain deployed by my Zhou family ancestor when subduing that peak Tier 3 Giant Squid!"
Hearing those words, husband and wife exchanged a glance.
In Penghu Lake today, only one person could cause such a commotion!
A look of reverence and dread surfaced in Zhang Jiadi's eyes. Dismissing his concubines, he kept only Zhou Shanshan behind.
"You saw Master Qingyang's formidable power. And this is merely the tip of the iceberg. You should give up your plan of securing this eight-hundred-li Penghu Lake for your clan brother as soon as possible!"
Zhou Shanshan felt somewhat unreconciled. "He is merely a rogue cultivator..."
"So what if he's a rogue cultivator? Even your Zhou family ancestor must rely on him to forge defensive magic treasures for you all, and you dare harbor designs against the Lord?"
Zhou Shanshan was left speechless.
Zhang Jiadi shook his head. "Since you married into my Zhang family, you are a member of the Zhang family from now on. My Zhang family is a vassal of Master Qingyang, so be more respectful toward him in the future!"
The woman privately agreed, but her tongue remained sharp.
"If you're so capable, don't use my Zhou family's spirit pills."
Zhang Jiadi gave a lecherous chuckle, wrapping his arms around the woman's plump figure once more.
"Matters of family—why bother distinguishing between Zhang and Zhou? Madam, you're being far too estranged!"
...
Meanwhile, on an isolated island in Penghu Lake, Han Zhan emerged from his cave dwelling.
Gazing into the distance toward the direction where the spiritual energy anomaly had erupted, the miniature Nascent Soul revealed a look of approval in his eyes.
"The Two Instruments Formation can vastly elevate the upper limit of power. My Two Instruments Five Elements Sword Formation is like this, and so is the Two Instruments Six Jia Formation Luo Chen intends to deploy in the future."
"If I recover to my peak state, attacking with the sword formation and defending with the armor formation, I might be able to scale even higher peaks!"
"For now, let Luo Chen pave the way for me first!"
Chapter 623