At the same time, Chu Feng's expression shifted as well. He noticed that his formation had begun penetrating the Sacred Artifact much faster.
It was the core power of his formation — the curse power from Liwu — that had grown stronger.
"Lady Liwu, hold on a bit longer."
Chu Feng understood that it had to be Liwu making her move.
Meanwhile, in a stretch of starry sky beyond the Immortal Star Domain, a concealed warship drifted through the void.
Inside the warship were Bai Yunqing, Liwu, and Wen Xue.
Liwu and Bai Yunqing sat cross-legged. Liwu was channeling her power while Bai Yunqing used the formation's energy to provide support.
Once Liwu's power surged, the curse energy didn't just intensify on Chu Feng's end — it permeated every corner of the warship as well.
Wen Xue stood leaning against a corner, extending her hand. A wisp of curse energy spiraled into her palm.
Because Liwu maintained careful control, this curse energy posed absolutely no harm to Wen Xue.
"Such powerful curse energy."
Glancing at the curse energy swirling in her palm, Wen Xue then shifted her gaze toward Liwu.
"To possess such power... just what kind of existence are you?"
A strange, faint smile tugged at the corner of her lips as suspicion churned within her.
And the look in those beautiful eyes was completely at odds with her innocent face.
Deep, shrewd, sinister, covetous.
But Bai Yunqing and Liwu, fully absorbed in strengthening Chu Feng's formation, didn't notice a thing.
...
Chu Feng's side.
After Jie Tianran's threat, his effort to strip Chu Feng's formation hadn't stopped — but neither had it intensified.
Chu Feng, in order to counter Jie Tianran's attempt to sever his formation, focused on strengthening the bond between their two formations.
With Jie Tianran's stripping force remaining unchanged, the binding between Chu Feng and Jie Tianran's formations actually grew even tighter.
"So that's how it is."
"That old geezer really is devious."
Soon, Chu Feng arrived at a guess.
Jie Tianran had sensed that Liwu's power could penetrate the Sacred Artifact more effectively.
And Chu Feng's formation was bound to his own. While the two couldn't maintain perfect synchronization in their control over the formations, as long as Jie Tianran played his cards right, the faster Chu Feng's penetration became, the faster his own could accelerate as well.
He had originally tried to strip Chu Feng's formation from his own because he didn't want Chu Feng leeching off him.
But now, upon discovering that Chu Feng's formation-controlling power could yield such results, he'd reversed course — wanting to leech off Chu Feng instead.
His continued attempt to strip Chu Feng's formation was nothing more than a smokescreen.
He'd realized that Chu Feng didn't want the formations separated and was working to strengthen their bond.
As long as Jie Tianran didn't increase the intensity of his stripping, the binding between the two formations would only grow stronger.
He planned to take advantage of Chu Feng without anyone being the wiser.
"You old geezer, you think you're getting the better of me?"
"Little do you know, this is exactly what I want."
Chu Feng was none too pleased with Jie Tianran's scheming.
But what Chu Feng feared most was Jie Tianran interfering with his work.
This current situation was actually exactly what Chu Feng had been hoping for.
After all, Chu Feng's true goal wasn't to control this Sacred Artifact — he only wanted to borrow it to activate the Suppression Talisman.
On Jie Tianran's side, that talisman paper he had produced earlier continued to float beside him.
He still hadn't used it.
"Jie Tianran, are you reluctant to part with your precious treasure?"
Cang Li called out from high above, his voice sharp.
After all, it had been obvious to everyone earlier that Jie Tianran intended to use that talisman to reinforce his formation against Chu Feng.
Yet now Jie Tianran still hadn't deployed it.
The only reason Cang Li could think of was that Jie Tianran was too attached to it.
"Mind your own business. What does a Spirit World Master's affair have to do with you?"
"I have my own plans."