The Soul-forgetting Tree heard Ye Ling's words, its pupils suddenly contracted, and it exclaimed in anger, "Ye Ling, did you not understand what I said? Chu Yuan deceived you!"
"Whether Chu Yuan deceived me or not is not important. What is important are the words that came out of your mouth. I don't believe a single word," Ye Ling said with a smile, grabbing the head of the phantom form of the Soul-forgetting Tree with one hand. A large amount of demonic energy surged from his palm, preparing to destroy this phantom.
"Ye Ling, you refuse a toast only to be forced to drink a forfeit!!!"
Seeing that Ye Ling was unyielding, the Soul-forgetting Tree stopped pretending and tore off its mask, shouting loudly.
Numerous branches shot out from the surrounding dark space, coiling towards Ye Ling!
Seeing the branches wrapping around him, Ye Ling mocked the Soul-forgetting Tree, "In the end, this is all you have? If that's the case, I'm a little disappointed."
"Don't get cocky! Take this!" The Soul-forgetting Tree shrieked, and the branches atomized into black mist, then invaded Ye Ling's skin.
"This is..."
Ye Ling's eyes narrowed slightly as he saw the branches transform into black mist. He immediately became serious and asked the phantom form of the Soul-forgetting Tree, "Where did you obtain these powers?"
Seeing the change in Ye Ling's expression, the Soul-forgetting Tree thought Ye Ling was frightened by its power and laughed heartily, "Ye Ling, it seems you are all talk and no substance. You're scared stiff by such little power!"
"This is merely the tip of my iceberg!"
Although the phantom form of the Soul-forgetting Tree was still held by the head by Ye Ling, it was not panicked at all. Instead, it felt it had victory in its grasp, mocking Ye Ling without reservation.
Those eroded by its power would soon be controlled by it!
However, Ye Ling was not bothered by the Soul-forgetting Tree's attitude at this moment. His entire attention was focused on the black mist.
This black mist was none other than the Spirit-devouring Qi he had just encountered!
"Huang was controlled by Spirit-devouring Qi... This Soul-forgetting Tree can also use Spirit-devouring Qi. Could it be that the Shadow Hall has infiltrated this place?"
The Hundred Thousand Nether Mountains could be considered the most remote place in the three realms. For ten thousand miles around, not a single living person could be seen, making infiltration meaningless.
Yet, even in such a place, Spirit-devouring Qi appeared... If this was truly the work of the Shadow Hall, then how many forces in the three realms were puppets of the Shadow Hall?
Ye Ling could not imagine.
Perhaps the Shadow Hall was close to completely devouring the three realms!
While Ye Ling was lost in thought, the Soul-forgetting Tree was not idle. It summoned more branches from its surroundings and attacked Ye Ling, not sparing its power at all!
And those branches, after entangling Ye Ling, also transformed into Spirit-devouring Qi, invading Ye Ling's body to seize his soul.
Seeing more and more Spirit-devouring Qi successfully infiltrating Ye Ling, the Soul-forgetting Tree laughed maniacally, "Ye Ling, you useless trash, die here for me!"
"As long as you die, then in this world... no one will be able to stop my great undertaking!"
Listening to the Soul-forgetting Tree's grand pronouncements, Ye Ling also came back to his senses. He released the Soul-forgetting Tree's head.
Then, Ye Ling used runes to force out and seal the Spirit-devouring Qi that had invaded his body. He asked the Soul-forgetting Tree, "Let me interrupt for a moment, what is your relationship with the Shadow Hall?"
The Soul-forgetting Tree, which had been laughing maniacally, suddenly saw Ye Ling force out and seal its power. Its smile froze.
It stared at Ye Ling with astonishment and asked, "You, you... why are you fine?"
*Slap!*
Ye Ling suddenly slapped the Soul-forgetting Tree and said again, "I'm asking you! What is your relationship with the Shadow Hall?"
The Soul-forgetting Tree rubbed its burning face, still somewhat dazed, completely unable to figure out what was happening.
Hadn't he just pushed Ye Ling into a desperate situation?
How did Ye Ling turn the tables so quickly?
What confused him even more was, why could Ye Ling slap him and cause pain when he was currently a phantom without a physical form?
*Slap!*
As the Soul-forgetting Tree was dazed, Ye Ling slapped it again with his backhand, turning its head to the other side.
And Ye Ling seemed to have gotten a taste for it, raising his hand to slap again!
"Stop, stop, stop! Wait a moment!"
After taking two slaps from Ye Ling, the Soul-forgetting Tree's form was on the verge of collapse. It quickly called out to Ye Ling, "I don't know what the Shadow Hall is at all! What are you talking about?"
Hearing the Soul-forgetting Tree's words, Ye Ling couldn't help but be taken aback, "You don't know the Shadow Hall?"
The Soul-forgetting Tree felt quite wronged, as if it had taken two slaps for nothing. "I've been trapped in the Hundred Thousand Nether Mountains for hundreds of thousands of years. Although my roots spread throughout the Netherworld, the information I've obtained is extremely limited. I've never even heard of the Shadow Hall, so how could I be related to them?"
Seeing that the Soul-forgetting Tree didn't seem to be lying, Ye Ling withdrew his hand and asked again, "Since you don't know the Shadow Hall, then why can you use Spirit-devouring Qi?"
"Spirit-devouring Qi?" The Soul-forgetting Tree looked surprised. "Are you referring to my innate source power?"
"Innate source power?"
Ye Ling frowned, took out the Spirit-devouring Qi sealed by the runes, and asked the Soul-forgetting Tree, "You call this thing innate source power?"
The Soul-forgetting Tree said, "These powers are derived from my innate crystal core. I call it innate source power, what's wrong with that?"
"Your innate crystal core..."
Ye Ling murmured twice, then scanned the Soul-forgetting Tree with his divine soul again. Finding no source of the Spirit-devouring Qi, he instructed the Soul-forgetting Tree, "Where is your so-called innate crystal core? Bring it out for me to see?"
At this moment, the Soul-forgetting Tree's face was completely covered in black lines, and its entire face sagged.
From Ye Ling's attitude towards it, it felt a great insult!
It said gloomily, "Ye Ling, aren't you going too far? You attacked first? And now you want to see my innate crystal core? Who do you think you are?"
Let's not forget, they were in a life-and-death battle just now. Ye Ling suddenly interrupted the rhythm of the fight and asked a series of questions, completely disregarding it!
Ye Ling saw the Soul-forgetting Tree's gloomy expression and was taken aback for a moment before reacting with a smile, "I'm truly sorry... As soon as I saw the Spirit-devouring Qi, I lost my composure and didn't consider giving you respect."
"Since you feel wronged, let's fight again. After I subdue you, you can hand over the item!"
"Ye Ling!!!"
*Boom!*
A torrent of black energy erupted from the phantom form of the Soul-forgetting Tree, its face becoming incredibly distorted as it roared, "You are too overbearing!!!"
*Slap!*
With another crisp slap, the Soul-forgetting Tree's explosive aura was instantly extinguished. Its entire face turned to the other side, its eyes filled with disbelief.
Im-impossible...
How could it be another slap?
The Soul-forgetting Tree could not accept its power being scattered by Ye Ling's slap. Its ten fingers quickly transformed into branches, preparing to unleash a powerful counter-attack, when it suddenly felt an icy, bone-chilling aura surge from the front!
Its pupils contracted sharply, and it looked at Ye Ling, who was smiling with narrowed eyes, in terror. The thought of resistance instantly vanished!
This aura...
It's so terrifying!