The others also felt despair.
Although this willow tree was countless times smaller than before, appearing only a little over three meters tall, the aura it exuded was far more terrifying than before. They could barely suppress the willow tree previously, but now, they had no confidence whatsoever. Intense despair filled their hearts, suffocating them.
An old man roared, "Lu Jin, it's all your fault, you jinx."
"If you hadn't said Senior Nie couldn't defeat this monster before,"
"How could things have turned out this way?"
"I..." Lu Jin said angrily, "Just because I questioned Senior Nie Chu,"
"You all are forcing all the blame onto me?"
"This is too much bullying!"
"Are you even being reasonable?"
*Puff!*
Without any warning, a verdant willow branch, like a divine chain, sliced through the void and pierced Lu Jin's chest. Crimson blood instantly dyed the branch red as it flowed from the wound. Lu Jin looked at the branch in his chest with disbelief, his eyes filled with despair and fear. Wrinkles instantly appeared on his face, and his vitality rapidly waned. He looked at Nie Chu, his weak voice revealing unconcealed anger, "Nie Chu, all of this today is because of your arrogance."
"If I truly am a jinx,"
"Then I curse you to die a horrible death!"
Before he could finish speaking, his body was sent flying back dozens of meters. However, he did not lose his life.
"Do you know why I didn't kill him?" the willow tree spoke humanly, "It's because he is more clear-headed than all of you."
"Therefore, I'll let him live a little longer."
"I will fulfill his curse."
"And let you all die horribly!"
As it finished speaking, over a dozen willow branches simultaneously struck at Nie Chu and the others, their speed incredibly fast, like lightning. Lu Jiu fully activated the Fire Spirit Pearl. Nie Chu, with a grave expression, controlled the Demon Suppressing Seal. Golden light spread from the seal, enveloping the willow tree. However, this time, it only restricted the speed of the willow branches; it did not cause any substantial damage.
And at this critical juncture, a fiery red arrow appeared behind Nie Chu without warning, swift as lightning. It directly pierced his chest, splattering crimson blood mist and eliciting a heart-wrenching scream from Nie Chu. He suddenly turned to look at Chen Nan, who held a bow, his killing intent unconcealed, "Why did you attack me from behind?"
"What benefit do you gain from killing me?" He was incredibly enraged. Firstly, he hadn't expected Chen Nan's strength to be so terrifying. Secondly, he believed they should have joined forces to kill the willow tree, but contrary to his wishes, Chen Nan had launched a sneak attack from behind.
Chen Nan held his bow and said calmly, "I thought your strength was great."
"At least enough to heavily injure this mountain spirit."
"Then I could reap the rewards."
"But,"
"You've disappointed me too much!"
"Since that's the case, what use are you?"
As he spoke, he angrily drew his bow. A burning arrow quickly appeared on the bowstring. He now controlled one-fifth of the fire law, a level of fire law sufficient to kill a Heaven Ghost realm expert. Not to mention, he was using the Sun-Shooting Divine Bow.
"Stop, stop quickly!" Nie Chu let out a shrill scream, filled with terror. "Fellow Daoist Chen, I am willing to apologize to you, and I am willing to follow you, just please spare my life."
"We can actually join forces to kill this willow tree." Nie Chu had not taken Chen Nan seriously before. But now, he felt an intense suffocating sensation from the bow in Chen Nan's hand, far more potent than the willow tree's presence.
The others felt their scalps tingle. Not only had Chen Nan heavily injured Nie Chu, but more importantly, Nie Chu was actually begging Chen Nan for mercy? Was this something a Heaven Ghost realm expert would do?
"Nie Chu, Nie Chu, you truly are a traitorous beast!" Lu Jin weakly cursed. "My master treated you well, why are you betraying him?"
Nie Chu snorted, "This is called knowing when to quit while you're ahead. What betrayal is there?"
*Cough!* Lu Jin spat out a mouthful of blood, glaring at Nie Chu. "I... I have never seen someone as shameless as you!"
Just then, some late-stage Earth Ghost realm experts also spoke, "Fellow Daoist Chen, we are willing to pledge our loyalty to you, please show mercy and spare us."
"Fellow Daoist Chen, we are willing to work with you to suppress this willow tree."
Chen Nan's lips curved into a slight, disdainful smile. "I am sufficient to kill it alone, why would I need insignificant beings like you?" His words were astonishing and enraged everyone.
At the same time, the arrow in his hand shot through the air, and under everyone's incredulous gazes, it pierced Nie Chu's forehead. Nie Chu fell to the ground, engulfed in fierce flames, instantly turning to ash and disappearing into the world. The Demon Suppressing Seal in the air also lost its dazzling golden light and plummeted. However, before it could hit the ground, Di Ting flew over and swallowed it whole.
A deathly silence fell upon the scene. Everyone stared with wide eyes, their hearts churning like giant waves. That was a super expert at the third level of the Heaven Ghost realm, a top-tier powerhouse throughout the underworld. But... he was shot and killed by a fifth-level Soul Devouring realm expert? Could anyone believe this?
"Well done!" Lu Jin let out a gloating laugh. He had felt Chen Nan deserved to die before, but now he found this guy not so annoying after all.
The willow tree's voice suddenly rang out, "If you want to live, help me kill this young man!" It was displeased with Chen Nan's words, not believing this brat could kill it. Therefore, it wanted to make the humans present kill each other, thus reaping the benefits.
"Do you think they have the ability?" Chen Nan said dismissively. He drew his bow again, and a burning arrow reappeared on the string!
*Whoosh!* The arrow shot through the air, instantly piercing an old man's forehead. But it didn't disappear. Instead, it inexplicably curved and hit another old man. *Puff! Puff!* The sounds of heads exploding echoed incessantly. In an instant, except for Lu Jin, everyone else perished under the Sun-Shooting Divine Bow.
Lu Jin stared at Chen Nan, dumbfounded. Even now, he couldn't believe that Chen Nan, single-handedly, had annihilated all the Lu family's powerhouses in an instant. Before he could recover from his shock, he saw Chen Nan's smile. "Farewell!" The next moment, Chen Nan raised his hand and snapped his fingers.
*Snap!* With a crisp sound, Lu Jin's vision went black, and he completely lost consciousness.
Chen Nan turned to look at the willow tree a hundred meters away, his eyes shining with a profound light. "Next, it's your turn!"