A Step Too Late

With a wave, he swept up the second-tier low-grade Spirit Source Ore with a stream of mana. This was not the time to study it. Though the Spirit Demon Wolf King had been slain, there were still over a hundred Qi Refining-stage Spirit Demon Wolves.

Though these spirit demons existed in the forms of wolf demons, there were still some differences between them and true wolf demons. After Liang Zhaohuang killed the Wolf King, the remaining pack not only failed to be frightened into retreating or scattering, but instead grew even more frenzied, surrounding them in a savage assault.

If he did not act, his second sister and Liang Ruizhao's group would likely have trouble even protecting themselves.

"Roar!"

The black tiger was ferocious and battle-hungry. Seeing the wolf pack closing in from all around, it roared and tried to pounce out.

Liang Zhaohuang hurriedly raised a hand and beckoned. The black tiger's form immediately dispersed, transforming back into the Black Tiger Sword's true body. He recalled it and put it into his sleeve.

Those few exchanges just now had already consumed more than half his mana. The little mana he had left could not withstand the heavy expenditure of the Black Tiger Sword's transformed attacks.

Not only was the Black Tiger Sword recalled, even the mid-grade spiritual weapon, Crimson Essence Peak, was taken back.

Against the remaining Qi Refining-stage Spirit Demon Wolf Pack, there was no need to use mana-guzzlers like spiritual weapons. With a thought, the illusory Red Lotus and Golden Lotus appeared, transforming into crashing flames and a storm of golden blades that thundered into the wolf pack.

The innate spirit art, Five-Colored Lotus Flower, not only activated with a single thought and was extremely fast, but also consumed far less mana than other spirit arts. This was precisely where the advantage of an innate spirit art lay.

Although the Five-Colored Lotus Flower was only characterized by balance, and was not considered strong in either attack or defense, that was only relative to Foundation Establishment cultivators and to certain exceptionally powerful spirit arts. Using the illusory Red Lotus and Golden Lotus against these Qi Refining-stage spirit demon Gray Wolves, however, gave them more than enough killing power.

The Red Lotus crashed down, flames exploding, directly blasting seven or eight Qi Refining spirit demon Gray Wolves to death. The Golden Lotus bloomed, its lotus petals turning into golden blades, whipping up a blade storm that charged into the wolf pack; wherever it passed, spirit demon Gray Wolves were cut down one after another.

Though there were many spirit demons in the wolf pack, most were only at the middle stage of Qi Refining, or even the early stage. Those at the late stage of Qi Refining made up less than one-tenth.

So under Liang Zhaohuang's two innate spirit arts, it was like using an ox-cleaver to kill chickens. These middle- and early-stage Qi Refining spirit demon Gray Wolves had no power to resist at all, and were basically killed in a single strike.

One Spirit Source Ore after another rolled onto the ground, but they were all first-tier mid-grade or even low-grade Spirit Source Ores. The largest was no more than six inches across, like stubborn chunks of stone.

If he had not known long ago that these were Spirit Source Ores, he might truly have mistaken them for stones and missed them by the roadside.

"Kill!" "Counterattack!" "Move!"

Earlier, second sister Liang Zhaoyu and the others had basically only been able to defend, doing all they could to withstand the siege of those wolf demons. Now that Liang Zhaohuang had made his move, the pressure on them immediately lessened greatly, and they began to counterattack.

Giant logs, giant stones, giant hammers... all kinds of heavy ritual implements came crashing down, smashing wolf demons to death one after another.

There were also talismans scattered out one after another, like a heavenly maiden scattering blossoms. Flames exploded, the ground split apart, thorns entangled, golden cones slaughtered, and frost froze everything through!

The Liang Family had risen through talismans, and the clan had the most Qi Refining-stage talismans in its collection. The family's younger generation also basically had a few tricks for controlling talismans.

Especially people like Liang Zhaoyu, who often traveled and fought outside, had brought the use of talismans to its peak. At this moment, handfuls of talismans were scattered out, landing in specific positions before exploding. All kinds of spells generated and promoted one another, and the killing power they created was even better than the slaughter caused by the various heavy ritual implements they controlled.

By comparison, the five fourth-generation disciples of the Rui character generation on the other side, including Liang Ruizhao, were clearly much worse. They had always cultivated within the family, lacking tempering and possessing little battle experience. At this moment, they could only each hold a formation flag, the five of them forming a Small Five Elements Formation. Relying on the strength of all five, they could barely protect themselves, but they had little power to kill the Spirit Demon Wolf Pack.

Even though all of them were at the late stage of Qi Refining, while most of the Spirit Demon Wolf Pack attacking them had only the strength of the middle stage of Qi Refining, or even the early stage.

As a Foundation Establishment cultivator, Liang Zhaohuang naturally had plenty of strength to spare when killing these Qi Refining spirit demons, and still had the attention to observe the battle situation of second sister Liang Zhaoyu as well as Liang Ruizhao and the others.

Because of this, he saw things clearly. As for the family disciples' lack of battle experience, he had already recognized a bit of it during the Black Wind Bandits' attack before, and now it became even clearer.

The battle experience of the family disciples must be increased. Otherwise, when the spirit demon riot comes ten years from now, even that trial may be hard to pass.

As Liang Zhaohuang thought this, he waved his hand, and a Golden Lotus unfolded, cutting down the final two late-stage Qi Refining spirit demon Gray Wolves.

By now, the Spirit Demon Wolf Pack surrounding and attacking them had fewer than thirty wolves left, and all were spirit demons at the middle or early stage of Qi Refining.

Liang Zhaohuang no longer hesitated and directly called out, "Ruizhao, Ruiqin, Ruixin, Ruijie, Ruijian, scatter the formation. Turn defense into offense!"

Bringing the five Rui-generation members into the secret realm this time had itself carried the intention of training their battle experience. At this moment, the wolf pack barely had much killing power left. If they did not move now, when would they?

Hearing Liang Zhaohuang's instructions, the five Rui-generation members froze slightly, then immediately reacted. Without hesitation, they dispersed the Small Five Elements Formation, each taking up ritual implements and talismans as they charged toward the remaining wolf pack.

Liang Zhaoyu, Liang Zhaokun, Liang Zhaosong, Liang Zhaobai, and Liang Zhaoyuan also had their own tacit understanding. At this moment, they spread out, each following behind one Rui-generation junior to provide a little protection.

Liang Zhaohuang also stopped attacking. Instead, he took out a Spirit Ginseng Pill and swallowed it, beginning to recover his mana.

There were fewer than thirty spirit demon Gray Wolves left, all with the strength of the middle or early stage of Qi Refining. Liang Ruizhao and the others went from being somewhat flustered at first, even making mistakes that required Liang Zhaoyu and the others to step in and rescue them, to gradually growing familiar with battle later on. In less than half an hour, the remaining Spirit Demon Wolf Pack was completely slain, leaving over a hundred Spirit Source Ores on the ground.

With the Spirit Demon Wolf Pack wiped out, some of the group recovered their mana, some treated their injuries, and others gathered up the Spirit Source Ores on the ground. After a rough count, they had obtained one second-tier low-grade Spirit Source Ore, fourteen first-tier high-grade Spirit Source Ores, while the rest were first-tier mid-grade and low-grade Spirit Source Ores, numbering over ninety in all, with low-grade making up the majority.

"The court only wants first-tier high-grade Spirit Source Ore, and two thousand pieces at that!"

Liang Zhaohuang looked at the Spirit Source Ore they had obtained, his brows slightly furrowing.

"This won't work. How many spirit demons can we kill in one month? Not to mention there are other things to do!"

"We still need to secure a stronghold first!"

"Move out. Keep going." After calculating things in his mind, Liang Zhaohuang raised his voice and instructed, "This time, head straight for the Sun Family Stronghold. Don't stir up any more trouble on the road!"

"Yes!"

Liang Zhaoyu, Liang Ruizhao, and the others all answered in agreement.

After that, as they advanced, Liang Zhaohuang kept circulating the Five Elements Dharma Eye, observing the signs of spiritual energy in all directions. Whenever he saw places where it gathered abnormally, he avoided them; those were often places where spirit demons gathered.

Three days later, Liang Zhaohuang and the others finally found the stronghold the Sun Family had opened in the Spirit Cauldron Secret Realm according to the recorded information, only to suddenly discover they were one step too late!