"I didn't expect Senior Sister Mo's might to have reached this level, that Tiger Demon actually retreated without a fight out of fear."

Feng Zikang smiled faintly, guiding the carriage forward slowly. Within the Thirty-Six Linked Peaks, the energies were complex and the demonic presences numerous; he was in no hurry for a quick victory.

Mo Fenghuang recalled the tiger's pathetic display and couldn't help but show a slight softening of her features. "That tiger is truly useless! But Brother Feng, you must not be careless. The demons within the Thirty-Six Linked Peaks of Mangcang Mountain are not weak. That tiger's actual skill isn't bad, he was just too cowardly. The demon on the Second Peak is exceptionally fierce, but I engaged him a few days ago and he suffered a serious injury, so he shouldn't pose much of a threat."

Feng Zikang paid it no mind. After all, demonic beasts suffered from innate disadvantages, and without the aid of the Great Samsara Disk, breaking through to the Foundation Establishment stage was incredibly difficult. Below that level, he truly didn't take them seriously.

For demonic creatures cultivating, the first hurdle is the lack of spiritual sentience. Ordinary birds and beasts would need rare encounters and live for hundreds of years just to slowly awaken intelligence, far inferior to humans born with innate awareness. Once sentience bloomed, if they then encountered an opportunity for cultivation, it would take nearly several centuries of arduous effort just to refine away the 'bone obstruction' and achieve transformation into human form.

Reaching this stage meant they were barely comparable to a cultivator who had just entered the Qi Induction realm.

They still needed to regulate the demon core and recast their meridians before they could begin to advance, requiring thousands of years of painstaking effort to finally enter the Foundation Establishment period.

Because they lacked the Great Samsara Disk, the advancement of demon cultivators was incredibly perilous, filled with numerous tribulations at every step, with only a small minority surviving.

Fortunately, monsters generally had longer lifespans than humans, and thousand-year-old demons were common. This is why the overseas nations boasted so many monstrous prodigies, and there was even rumor of an entire continent inhabited solely by demons.

The great demons in those regions might even possess experts at the Nascent Soul or Spirit Transformation levels, but in the Central Plains, humanity was respected; demons, ghosts, and monsters rarely amounted to much. Setting aside the difficulty of reaching Foundation Establishment, the demonic techniques they cultivated were mediocre, lacking any truly powerful divine abilities. Mostly, they could only bully mortals. A being like the White Bone Divine Lord, who achieved Foundation Establishment purely through self-cultivation, was already a regional hegemon and exceedingly rare.

"Although the cultivation of the demon on this Second Peak is also mediocre, he is utterly fearless of death. I tangled with him for quite some time before I managed to wound him severely enough to flee..."

Mo Fenghuang’s cheeks flushed slightly as she recalled that this young brother from the School of the Military was far more formidable than she was. The shocking sword strike from that day still left her unsettled; only a military practitioner could unleash a sword so ferocious, sharp, and utterly merciless.

"Rest assured."

Feng Zikang merely offered a faint utterance. A mere demon in the mid-stage of Qi Induction? Slaying him would be as easy as cutting grass!

Though he slowed his pace, flying through the air remained swift. They soon arrived at Deer Bone Mountain, the Second Peak of the Thirty-Six Linked Peaks. The entire mountain face was covered in a lush, oily green hue, but it wasn't vibrant vitality; rather, it was interwoven with a gloomy gray undertone, and a foul, putrid stench washed over them, nauseating to inhale.

Feng Zikang couldn't be bothered to linger. He expelled a puff of his heart-fire, vaporizing the surrounding miasma as he proceeded. Soon, a thunderous curse echoed from within the green, fetid haze.

"Which vile creature dares to corrupt the spiritual energy of my mountain!"

A gaunt demon, his face entirely greenish-blue, suddenly materialized from nowhere, wielding a massive scythe, looking utterly ferocious. He first froze upon seeing Mo Fenghuang in the carriage, then burst into loud laughter. "A woman! You dare show your face here again? Wasn't the lesson Lord Nine taught you last time enough? Come, come! Let's fight three hundred more rounds!"

"This demon is a spirit born from flora. We don't know its original form, Little Brother must be careful!" Mo Fenghuang leaned close to Feng Zikang and whispered near his ear.

Feng Zikang simply nodded, offering no reply. Seeing the demon charge straight at them, he simply drew his sword.

The sword rose and the head fell!

A flash of white light sliced through the empty sky. With just a slight arc, the demon's head was cleanly severed. The demon hastily reached out to catch it, but missed. He watched his green head tumble into the clouds, stamping his foot and roaring in fury.

"How powerful..."

Mo Fenghuang had already witnessed Feng Zikang’s might, but seeing him dispatch her formidable foe with a single sword strike left her even more aghast.

The demon shrieked and flailed its limbs, seething with rage. Even decapitated, it was unclear from where the sound was emanating.

"Still not dead?"

Feng Zikang was somewhat surprised by the tenacity of the demonic race. If a human were decapitated, even if they didn't die instantly, they certainly wouldn't possess the vigor to leap about like this.

The demon's body swayed, and amidst its roars, a new head actually sprouted forth!

This head was still a sickly green, though it appeared much fresher than the original. Rage burned in its triangular eyes as it raised the scythe, preparing to swing down and hack.

"You impudent junior, daring to harm this Lord's vital body? If I don't chop you into seventeen or eighteen pieces today, Lord Nine's name changes!"

The demon calling itself Lord Nine waved its scythe wildly, hacking in a chaotic, mindless frenzy.

Feng Zikang shifted his body slightly. Ten feet around him shimmered with golden light, violently repelling the demon. The surrounding foul green miasma dissolved like ice and snow under the golden radiance.

The demon felt intense pain, screaming wildly. Though clearly outmatched, it still rushed forward with reckless abandon.

Feng Zikang activated the Twentyfold Vajra Indestructible Body divine ability channeled from the Vajra Sarira. Within ten feet, evil spirits could not encroach, placing him in an unassailable position. Despite the demon’s ferocity, its skill seemed utterly commonplace to him; only the technique of regenerating its head was somewhat interesting.

"Hah!"

Feng Zikang swung his sword again. Where the white light fell, the demon’s head dropped once more in response!

"You wretched pretty boy, what demonic magic are you using to harm this Lord!"

The demon cursed loudly, reaching out to snatch, but again missed. It shook its body and another head grew, indistinguishable from the first, though its color was now even more delicate.

"The head is the seat of the Six Yangs; could this demon have obtained secret transmissions from the Mystic Sect to possess such a divine ability?"

Mo Fenghuang's expression shifted. When she had subdued this demon with her automaton previously, she had been preoccupied with searching for Mo Li and hadn't inspected it closely. However, she recalled that even after being battered senseless that day, the demon had recovered completely within a few days. If it was truly unkillable, it would be a troublesome predicament.

"I doubt it," Feng Zikang shook his head, unleashing another sword strike. The demon cursed, desperately dodging and weaving, but ultimately could not evade it in time, its head falling for the third time.

Even if the demon possessed immense power, it couldn't sustain this indefinitely. It raged and jumped, growing yet another head. Holding its scythe, it yelled threats from a distance but dared not close the gap.

Observing its countenance, its color had faded from the initial greenish-black to a pale yellow, and its skin looked significantly smoother, no longer possessing the terrifying appearance it had at first. Even the nauseating stench had dissipated considerably.

"So that's how it is!"

Feng Zikang clapped his hands and laughed aloud. "It's just a mere object that achieved sentience, trying to impersonate profound Mystic arts?"

"Little demon, if you dare resist further, my sword will show no mercy. Let's see how many heads you have left to sprout!"