Chapter 303: Chapter 290: Old Tree with Entwined Roots [Subscription Request]
"Ying’Er, are your injuries really not serious?"
In a misty valley, Zhouyang looked at his Dao companion sitting cross-legged healing with cultivation, worry written all over his face.
It’s been two months since they entered the Broken Cloud Mountain Range, and due to carrying someone, plus the fact that the speed of his sword flight is much slower than Cao Wenjin’s pace when soaring through the clouds, he and his wife are still in the mountain range and haven’t come out yet.
Moreover, a few days ago, when Zhouyang killed a Tier Three Flying Demon Beast that accidentally exposed his presence, the scent of blood caught the attention of a Tier Four Demon Wolf hundreds of miles below, which ultimately tracked them by the smell.
Thus, during his fierce battle with the Tier Four Demon Wolf, the disturbance attracted quite a number of Tier Three Demon Beasts.
Those Tier Three Demon Beasts didn’t dare confront him, instead, they attacked his Dao companion Xiao Ying.
As a result, though Xiao Ying had several high-quality defensive spiritual artifacts and many defensive spirit talismans that he provided, she was still outnumbered and suffered internal injuries from attacks by many Tier Three Demon Beasts.
Seeing his Dao companion injured, he was enraged and unleashed every means without restraint, quickly killing the Tier Four Demon Wolf with a Qianyang Divine Thunder.
Though killing the Demon Wolf was gratifying, the wolf’s distressing howl before death was like stirring a hornet’s nest, attracting seven or eight Tier Four Demon Beasts and hundreds of Tier Three Demon Beasts to conduct a thorough search in the surrounding area.
Under the net-like search of these demon beasts, Zhouyang dared not linger for even a moment. He decisively activated a Tier Four Wind Spirit Talisman which enhanced flight speed, hurriedly fleeing the scene with his Dao companion.
They escaped for several days, and only yesterday did they confirm there were no demon beasts pursuing them, allowing them to find this valley to heal and rest.
Due to the continuous escape for several days, Xiao Ying only took a healing spirit pill to suppress her injuries, with no time to sit down and heal with cultivation, resulting in her face remaining pallid and devoid of blood after more than a day.
"Don’t worry, Zhou Lang, my injuries are really not a concern. Have you forgotten that the Qinghua Calamity Crossing Scripture I practice excels in healing and recovery? These injuries, as long as I have two more days to recuperate, will definitely recover to perfection."
Xiao Ying’s pale face broke into a smile, eyes brimming with confidence.
Just as she said herself, while the Qinghua Calamity Crossing Scripture she practices has no particular excellence in magical combat, it is extremely formidable in healing and recovery.
Especially now, since they are in the Broken Cloud Mountain Range where the Spiritual Qi is rich and life force abundant, it is most suitable for Xiao Ying, who practices Wood Element techniques, to cultivate and heal.
Zhouyang, being concerned, now relaxed after hearing Xiao Ying’s words. He thought for a moment, then his expression eased as he lightly nodded and said, "Alright, then we’ll rest here for three days before setting out again."
Three days later, as predicted by Xiao Ying, her injuries were fully healed, and her face returned to its former rosiness.
Seeing this, Zhouyang was reassured and continued the journey with his Dao companion.
After flying for nearly a month, with intermittent stops, Zhouyang and Xiao Ying finally flew out of the misty region and reached the outer area of the Broken Cloud Mountain Range.
In this outer region, although there are still Tier Four Demon Beasts present, it no longer requires Zhouyang to be constantly cautious about exposing his presence and attracting Tier Five Demon Beasts as he did in the misty region.
Therefore, upon reaching this area, he didn’t repeat the previous method of walking after landing from Sword Light, and instead continued sword flight towards the Tier Four Spirit Mountain where he had previously discovered the Yuan Condensing Fruit.
This ostentatious sword flight naturally incited hatred, drawing many flying demon beasts that regard the sky as their territory to attack.
But as long as he didn’t encounter simultaneous attacks from several Tier Four Demon Beasts, with his skills, he could safely kill or repel the attacking demon beasts.
After several days of flying like this, Zhouyang finally saw that towering cyan ancient pine again, reaching over a hundred zhang.
The cyan ancient pine took root between the mountain-top greenstone and soil, with several roots extending hundreds of zhang into the mountain body, absorbing the entire Spirit Mountain’s nutrients to nourish itself.
This resulted in the vast mountain top, apart from the cyan ancient pine and the emerald fruit tree beneath it resembling a grapefruit tree, not a single blade of grass had grown!
The world of plants is much more brutal than the animal world.
Tall and lush plants, to sustain their growth, will spare no effort to occupy the soil where other plants survive, appropriating nutrients from the soil for themselves.
The cyan ancient pine has become a demon, its nature fierce, executing this more absolutely and thoroughly than those unconscious peers.
Its roots penetrate the Spirit Mountain, not only deriving Spiritual Qi from the mountain’s spirit vein to support its cultivation but also extracting nutrients from the soil hundreds of zhang below the mountaintop onto itself, preventing any other plants from growing in this area.
Zhouyang saw this scene and couldn’t help but mutter to himself, "Plundering the heavens and earth to nourish itself, this path of the Tree Demon is even more evil than the Demon Dao. No wonder no birds or beasts dare to inhabit this Spirit Mountain; those that do must have been used as fertilizer by this Tree Demon, buried into the mountain to be absorbed!"
Cultivators also plunder Spiritual Qi to cultivate, but they wouldn’t act as domineering and evil as the Tree Demon by engaging in destructive plundering.
Any Spirit Mountain inhabited by cultivators is brimming with vitality and abundant Spiritual Qi.
Unity with heaven and coexistence with nature—these are the doctrines of the righteous path advocated and practiced by orthodox cultivators.
Even most demon beasts practice this path.
The behavior of the Tree Demon right now, if placed in the human world, would be considered Demon Dao behavior, an evil to be eradicated by all.
However, in the survival-of-the-fittest world of demon beasts, while the Tree Demon’s actions are disliked by many, no high-tier demon beast would bother climbing the mountain to trouble the Tree Demon.
After all, the Tree Demon’s physical form is mostly immobile—even if it follows a path of plunder, it can only harm the Spirit Mountain it grows on and can’t affect other demon beast territories.
"Plundering the heavens and earth, you are not tolerated by the heavens. Today, let me, Zhouyang, execute the righteousness of heaven and eliminate this Tree Demon that afflicts the land!"
Zhouyang opened his "Separation Fire Golden Eye" and scanned the Tree Demon before justly declaring a thunderous shout at it.
As soon as he finished his shout, he asked his Dao Companion, Xiao Ying, to retreat to a safe zone thousands of meters behind his back, while he raised his hand, revealing a crimson feather fan—the Tier Four Upper Grade Magical Artifact "True Yang Fan" which he had previously seized from Luo Yunqing.
Grasping the "True Yang Fan," he gave a vigorous wave towards the Tree Demon on the mountain, transforming surging crimson flames into a massive firebird that charged directly at the Tree Demon.
The Tree Demon, possessing the ability to share perceptions with other plants and trees, had long noticed Zhouyang hovering in the sky. Before Zhouyang acted, the Tree Demon, aware of its own strengths and weaknesses, dared not launch a rash attack.
Now, seeing Zhouyang express hostility and act directly against it, the Tree Demon, although angry, quickly mobilized its methods for a counterattack.
The ancient cyan pine atop the mountain swayed, releasing thousands of pine needles in an instant like falling rain, forming a gigantic Pine Needle Shield in front of the flaming firebird.
Simultaneously, several branches of the ancient cyan pine suddenly broke off and fell, then a cyan light sprinkled from the trunk onto these branches, instantly transforming them into sharp spears gleaming with edges, shooting toward Zhouyang.
These cyan spears, transformed from the branches of the Tree Demon’s physical form, possess the characteristics of Flying Swords of cultivators until the Tree Demon’s Magical Power, imbued within them, runs out. They can be continuously manipulated by the Tree Demon’s will for attacks, far more powerful than the casual Cyan Wood Long Spear formed with Magical Power during its original attack on Zhouyang.
Back then, Zhouyang had a wide disparity in strength against this Tree Demon, and since it hadn’t used its full power, he wasn’t clear about its actual realm and strength.
But now, with the Tree Demon using its full power, he immediately assessed from the Magical Power fluctuations triggered by its actions that this Tree Demon is astonishingly a Tier Four Top Grade demon.
Furthermore, although Tree Demons born from ancient trees cannot move freely like other flying or walking demon beasts, they have their own advantages—being resilient with strong Magical Power and astonishing recovery speed.
Also a Tier Four Top Grade demon beast, the Tree Demon possesses at least three to four times the Magical Power of beasts of the same tier, allowing it to continuously unleash powerful moves without sparing its Magical Power.
Noticing this, Zhouyang naturally wouldn’t foolishly try to exhaust his Magical Power in direct confrontation with the Tree Demon.
With another wave of his "True Yang Fan," he transformed rolling flames into countless fireballs that bombarded the branches everywhere on the ancient cyan pine.
Then he waved his hand, and the "Thousand Blade Disc" instantly flew out from the Storage Ring, blossoming like flowers in the sky, chopping all the incoming ancient tree spears into pieces.
Meanwhile, he used the countless blades of the "Thousand Blade Disc" to protectively whirl around him for defense while quickly forming incantations with both hands and casting the "Qianyang Divine Thunder" divine technique on the spot.
To deal with grass and wood monsters like the Tree Demon with abundant life force, nothing is more effective than the "Qianyang Divine Thunder," which contains Golden Killing Qi.
Using fire against the Tree Demon would only be resisted unless its roots are damaged; its robust life force allows it to endure. But the Golden Killing Qi embedded in the "Qianyang Divine Thunder" can directly sever the vitality at its roots upon impact!
Yet, the Tree Demon obviously has no idea what it’s about to face. Seeing Zhouyang’s offensive slowing, it thought Zhouyang was intimidated by its previous strong counterattack and was preparing to retreat.
Therefore, instead of holding back to defend, it intensified its attack, intending to leave Zhouyang with a deep impression to deter him from returning to offend it in the future.
This is typical demon beast thinking; when guarding territory against strong enemies, demon beasts often choose this approach to intimidate their opponents if unable to kill them.
It soon realized how foolish its decision was.