Two silhouettes flashed next to each other above barren mountains. The silhouettes belonged to two young men.
One of them was standing on the shoulder of a huge stone golem. His appearance was unkempt, he was dressed in a long azure robe. His hair fluttered all over the place since the headband holding his hair up had broken. With just a glance, one could tell the man resembled Duan Ling Tian. Devil Qi continued to surge out of the stone golem he stood on, but cracks could be seen on it. It was obvious it had taken a lot of damage. It seemed as though it was going to collapse soon. If there were Devils around, they would be able to tell the stone golem was a Saint Devil Puppet.
The other person, on the other hand, was dressed in a black robe. Similar to his companion, his appearance was unkempt as well. His hair was flying everywhere, and he seemed to be injured.
The black-clad man tossed a seal to the azure-clad man who was standing on the shoulder of the stone golem.
There were many exquisite and tiny hills carved on top of the seal. People in the know would recognize it immediately. It was the 10,000 Mountains Seal, one of the Super Saint Weapons on the Ten Great Saint Weapons Ranking in the Dao Martial Saint Land.
Both of them had been traveling at their fastest speed for the longest time. They did not dare to slow down.
"Dugu.-.I'm afraid that I won't be able to escape even if I want to!" Duan Ru Feng said when he noticed the sound behind them began to get closer and closer. He said with a bitter smile on his face, "That person is the Palace Master of the Great Spirit Palace Master from the Human-Devil clan. He has broken through to the Ninth Form of the Saint Celestial Stage a long time ago. Based on our current states, we're no match for him at all. It's impossible for us to escape him! We've been too careless. We should've moved places earlier so he wouldn't be able to find us." Regret could be heard in his tone.
Since the Ox-Devil clan from the Land of Exile invaded the Lower Province of Dao Martial Saint Land, Dua Ru Feng had been preparing for it. He even joined forces with Dugu, his long-time rival, to deal with the Devil Clans. They began to kill the invading armies from the Devil Clans and devoured their vital essence and blood essence to further strengthen themselves. They had to get stronger. It was the only way to guarantee their survival and to protect the people around them.
Dugu had abandoned the Mountainshade Black Market and led the elites from the Mountainshade Black Market to Duan Ru Feng's Azure Cloud Mansion.
After that, one of the most powerful Devil Clans, the Human-Devil clan, set their sights on the Azure Cloud Mansion, but their vanguard was defeated by the combined forces of Dugu and Duan Ru Feng. However, once the main forces from the Human-Devil clan arrived, both of them thought it was impossible to continue their resistance. For this reason, they left the Azure Cloud Mansion's estate with the members of Azure Cloud Mansion and the Mountainshade Black Market.
Should we return to Cloud Continent?' This thought briefly appeared in Duan Ru Feng's mind when he left the Azure Cloud Mansion estate. However, he quickly dismissed the idea. Although it might be safer on Cloud Continent since there would not be many strong Devils there, it meant they could not increase their strength as well. During a critical time like this, it was imperative for them to get stronger. The second Human-Devil era had arrived, they needed to get stronger in the shortest time possible.
After discussing with Dugu, Duan Ru Feng and Dugu led the members of Mountainshade Black Market and Azure Cloud Mansion away from the Azure Cloud Mansion to the eastern region of the Lower Province of the Dao Martial Saint Land so they could look for an isolated place to settle down.
At the same time, Dugu and Duan Ru Feng would frequently hunt for Devils to increase their strength. Unfortunately, they met with calamity today. They had encountered the Palace Master of Great Spirit Palace.
It was worth mentioning that when the vanguard from the Human-Devil clan invaded, Duan Ru Feng and Dugu had killed the favorite and youngest disciple of the Palace Master of Great Spirit Palace. The disciple was a talented young genius among the Devils. Ever since then, the Palace Master of Great Spirit Palace had been looking for them to seek revenge for his disciple.
"It's useless to say anything now..." Dugu shook his head and said with a solemn expression, "Duan Ru Feng, although I view you as a rival for the longest time, I've always felt we have a special connection. Both of us received the orthodox Devil Clan's inheritance, and we also became leaders of the strongest factions in the Lower Province of the Dao Martial Saint Land. Although we often fought, we appreciated each other as well. I've no regrets being your rival and your friend. I hope you'll look after the people from Mountainshade Black Market after you blood-escape. Moreover, you have to avenge me!" A rare smile appeared on Dugu's usually cold countenance.
"Blood-escape?" Duan Ru Feng had a bitter smile on his face as he said, "The Palace Master of the Great Spirit Palace had locked onto us with his Divine Consciousness. He would be able to find us no matter where we go. It's pointless to use blood-escape! I'm afraid we'll both die together today." Duan Ru Feng sighed. He thought about his wife, his son, his grandson, and the granddaughter he had yet to meet. A hint of unwillingness could be seen in his eyes. He really did not want to die! However, he did not think there was any hope for him to survive.
"If I say you will live, then, you will live... I, Dugu, am a man of my words!" Dugu said decisively, "Remember my words! You have to avenge me and find a good master for the 10,000 Mountains Seal!" His tone turned flat when he reached the second part of his sentence.
An ominous feeling rose in Duan Ru Feng's heart when he heard it.
You... What are you planning?!" Duan Ru Feng asked when he detected the change in Dugu's tone.
Before Dugu could reply, he threw up a mouthful of blood. The blood did not splatter. Curiously, it began to twist and turn in the air and formed paintings of complex symbols in the air. It caused the space to tremble violently.
Wind continued to blow and howl as Dugu controlled his blood to paint the complex symbols.
Although Duan Ru Feng had no idea what Dugu was painting, the oppressive and ancient aura from it gave him the chills.
"This is..." Duan Ru Feng was shocked when he noticed that Dugu's youthful face began to age suddenly. Wrinkles began to appear on his face, and his hair began to turn silver. His once fit body shrank into an emaciated figure. Moreover, he noticed Dugu was shaking violently and sweating profusely as he clenched his teeth. Blood was constantly flowing out of his mouth. After a while, his teeth began to fall out as well because he was clenching them so hard.
It was obvious Dugu was in agony, a kind of agony that was hard to imagine.
"This is....this is..."
Based on the blood symbols and Dugu's sudden change as he endured the oppressive and ancient aura, Duan Ru Feng suddenly recalled he had read something similar in a record. There was a technique in the inheritance he obtained from the Devil Clan.
"Age...Age Soul Devouring Blood Formation!!" Duan Ru Feng cried out in shock. His eyes widened in disbelief. "Dugu, you... you....." He did not expect that Dugu knew how to set up this forbidden Formation from the Devil Clans!
The Age Soul Devouring Blood Formation was an ancient and cruel teleporting Formation. It was cruel because, in order to set up this Formation, one had to burn their life energy. Moreover, one also had to endure the agony of one's soul being devoured. It was said that having one's soul devoured was akin to having millions of ants biting on one's soul. The process was excruciatingly painful. Very few people, or Devils, could endure this pain.
If the person setting up the Formation could not endure the pain of having their soul devoured, the Soul Devouring Blood Formation would fail.
In the history of the Devil Clans, only very few Devils had successfully set up the Age Soul Devouring Blood Formation. Those who succeeded had extreme willpower. Not many people dared to set this Formation.
Duan Ru Feng's emotions were turmoil as he looked at Dugu's elderly face, his body that was twitching non-stop, and the blood that was constantly flowing out from his mouth. His former rival chose to sacrifice his own life and endure the pain of having his soul devoured to set up the Age Soul Devouring Blood Formation so that he could live!
"Dugu..." Duan Ru Feng's eyes turned red, but there was nothing he could do. He knew Dugu would die instantly if he stopped. Once the process of setting up the Age Soul Devouring Blood Formation began, there was no turning back.