Chapter 304: Chapter 291: Divine Thunder Slays Demons [Request Full Subscription]
Boom!
A clap of thunder exploded, and a golden divine thunder as thick as an arm descended from the sky, striking the trunk of the ancient green pine at the mountain peak.
In an instant, golden light burst wildly, and sparks flew.
The enormous ancient green pine trembled violently like an electrocuted human, shedding countless pine needles and branches, even shaking off much of its dragon-skin-like tough bark.
"Hmm? Still not dead?"
Zhouyang frowned, observing the ancient green pine whose needles had turned yellow in the blink of an eye, a hint of astonishment flashing in his eyes.
According to his original plan, after being hit by his "Qianyang Divine Thunder," the ancient green pine should be at least half-dead, if not entirely so.
But the situation he saw now was merely a severe depletion of vitality, with no critical damage.
This situation was undoubtedly abnormal, forcing him to pause his assault, concentrating to ponder the underlying reasons.
A moment later, as if he realized something, he suddenly shouted:
"I understand!"
"It’s some sort of injury transfer divine technique. This tree demon seems to have mastered such a divine technique, transferring part of the power of [Qianyang Divine Thunder] onto its branches and leaves, thus preserving its most crucial root system!"
Injury transfer divine techniques belong to high-tier secret techniques among cultivators, typically difficult for most cultivators to access.
However, among the demonic secret techniques Zhouyang had found from the Blood Nether Storage Ring, there were quite a few such secret divine techniques, which allowed cultivators to transfer fatal damage to their arms or legs and survive by sacrificing limbs if necessary.
The "Substitute Blood Puppet" used by the Blood Mo Luo at the time was actually a treasure created by Golden Core cultivators from the Blood Slaughter Demon Sect using demon beast materials that had the same injury transfer divine technique, alongside various rare materials.
Such injury transfer divine techniques are indeed commonly found in grass and wood monsters and some soft-bodied demon beasts.
For the tree demon to possess such a divine technique and survive the attack of "Qianyang Divine Thunder" is thus not surprising.
"Hmph, even injury transfer has its limits. While you could transfer the damage to your branches and leaves just now, let’s see where else you can transfer it!"
Having guessed the truth, Zhouyang snorted coldly, his eyes flashing with a chill, and immediately cast the "Qianyang Divine Thunder" divine technique once more.
After all, the tree demon couldn’t move, even if it knew the technique he was going to use, it couldn’t dodge.
Sure enough, when Zhouyang started his ritual to summon divine thunder again, the ancient green pine at the mountain top began to shake furiously.
That previous "Qianyang Divine Thunder" nearly killed it; if Zhouyang hit it again, it wasn’t sure if it could survive.
Therefore, it absolutely could not let Zhouyang succeed in casting his spell again.
Suddenly, a grotesquely contorted human face appeared on the thick trunk of the tree demon, staring venomously at Zhouyang while opening its mouth in a prolonged hiss, though no sound was heard, but a strange force violently assaulted Zhouyang’s Purple Mansion Daoist Palace.
Roar!
The White Tiger, one of the Four Celestial Spirits within the "Four Spirits Guardian Daoist Palace" in Zhouyang’s consciousness sea, suddenly let out a heaven-shaking roar.
The bizarre force invading Zhouyang’s sea of consciousness was instantly dissipated by the roar, unable to shake Zhouyang’s Purple Mansion Daoist Palace in the slightest.
The reflection in reality was that the human face condensed on the tree demon’s trunk vanished after only managing to muster an expression of extreme fear.
All this, though lengthy in words, actually happened within a few fleeting moments; Zhouyang didn’t even pause his spellcasting.
He had always been confident in his own divine sense, and for a peer to attempt harming him using spiritual attack techniques was simply impossible.
Thus, despite suffering a spiritual attack from the tree demon, he did not allocate any attention to dealing with it, fully sustaining his magic without any wavering.
Then, after a while, he completed his spellcasting, raised a hand, and another golden divine thunder crashed towards the tree demon atop the mountain.
Unwilling to sit back and wait for destruction, at the moment the golden divine thunder descended, the tree demon directly transformed the Wood Essence Qi condensed in its demon core into a green canopy to shield itself.
This Wood Essence Qi had been painstakingly condensed bit by bit over years by the tree demon, equivalent to a cultivator’s Life Essence; unleashing it all at once meant that its centuries of arduous cultivation were destroyed, representing a loss of immeasurable magnitude.
Even so, faced with the pure strength of "Qianyang Divine Thunder," the canopy formed by the Wood Essence Qi was quickly pierced and dispersed, with the remaining nearly half of the golden divine thunder’s power striking directly onto the tree demon.
Crack! Crack!
In Zhouyang’s eyes, he saw the Tree Demon’s trunk, towering a hundred feet and nearly two feet thick, shatter into countless cracks like a vase hit by a strong force.
He realized that the Tree Demon was using its old trick of transferring damage onto its trunk again with its injury transfer divine technique.
"You won’t succeed!"
With a cold smile flashing across his face, he waved his hand, and the silver blades surrounding him transformed into a blade storm, sweeping towards the root where the Tree Demon’s trunk connected with the ground.
Previously, when the Tree Demon’s strength was intact, he couldn’t directly fell the Tree Demon’s true body this way.
But now, in order to save its life, the Tree Demon had transferred a large amount of Golden Killing Qi into the trunk, causing it to be as hollow as a diseased tree infested with worms, unable to withstand the Tier Four High-grade Spiritual Artifact "Thousand Blade Disc" attack anymore.
Sure enough, although the Tree Demon desperately conjured various wooden spears and shields to ward off the silver blade attacks upon discovering Zhouyang’s action, it ultimately failed to save itself and was directly cut down by the chaotic blades.
Having felled the Tree Demon’s trunk, the remaining few roots were naturally easy to eliminate, quickly severed by Zhouyang’s mastery of the "Thousand Blade Disc," eradicating all vitality.
Thus, this Tier Four Top Grade Tree Demon fell completely under Zhouyang’s blade.
Because Zhouyang was careful, the massive trunk of the Tree Demon did not damage the nearby "Yuan Condensing Fruit" tree.
So after killing the Tree Demon, Zhouyang’s first move was not to retrieve the demon pill left behind by the fallen Tree Demon but rather to land beneath the "Yuan Condensing Fruit" tree.
On the "Yuan Condensing Fruit" tree, five human-head-sized white spirit fruits hung quietly, waiting to be picked.
Zhouyang’s gaze sparkled as he sized up the five spirit fruits, then with a wave of his sleeve, he sent forth several streaks of magical power to pick all five fruits, placing them in a jade box.
At this moment, Xiao Ying noticed the Tree Demon’s demise, and she maneuvered her sword light to approach, landing behind Zhouyang.
Seeing Zhouyang picking the "Yuan Condensing Fruit," she gently parted her cherry lips and softly spoke: "Zhou Lang, this [Yuan Condensing Fruit] tree is a Tier Four Spirit Wood. With my current level of Spirit Plant Technique, the success rate of transplanting is less than thirty percent. Even if we succeed, we can’t bring the fruit tree back to the Boundless Sea of Sand Cultivation Realm now!"
"Ying’Er, you’ve overthought it. I have no intention of transplanting this tree now. It’s so precious, of course, it should be considered for transplantation only after you ascend to Purple Mansion!"
Zhouyang turned back and gently shook his head with a smile, giving his Dao Companion a look of calm reassurance.
Then he gazed at the lush "Yuan Condensing Fruit" tree and murmured to himself: "After the Tree Demon’s fall, this spirit mountain will inevitably be occupied by another demon beast. The top of the mountain, due to the Tree Demon’s predatory destruction, has already caused the spirit vein’s spiritual eye to migrate to the mid-mountain area. Without decades of recovery, it’s impossible to resurrect the mountaintop’s vitality. No demon beast will choose to reside here."
"Given that, if we set up an illusion array here to hide the [Yuan Condensing Fruit] tree, even though cultivators might explore the Broken Cloud Mountain Range in search of treasures, the chance of discovering the [Yuan Condensing Fruit] tree is rather low."
Honestly, this isn’t entirely foolproof, but it’s the best method Zhouyang can think of.
After all, he can’t let the concern of the "Yuan Condensing Fruit" tree being discovered prevent him from picking the "Yuan Condensing Fruit."
Xiao Ying always follows Zhouyang’s lead. Hearing his words, she immediately nodded slightly, refraining from saying anything more.
And once Zhouyang finished stating his decision, he began to deal with the large corpse left behind by the Tree Demon.
If the towering hundred-foot Tree Demon could be felled with a swung sword, its trunk would be the best material for refining puppets and crafting blank spirit talismans.
However, after being twice struck by Zhouyang’s "Qianyang Divine Thunder," and with the Tree Demon transferring damage using its injury transfer divine technique to transfer Golden Killing Qi into the trunk for survival, the massive trunk has been completely destroyed by Golden Sharpness and only less than one percent of it remains usable.
Fortunately, the Tree Demon’s most valuable demon core remained largely undamaged and was perfectly preserved.
Generally, demon beasts like the Tree Demon, born from grass and wood, do not condense demon pills like birds and beasts, but rather demon cores serving the same function.
The Tree Demon’s demon core, from appearance, resembles a cylindrical object, around two feet long and half a foot thick, in a bluish-green color.
This bluish-green cylinder condenses all of the Tree Demon’s essence, being its source of power.
This item isn’t used for refining Foundation Establishment Pill or similar spirit pills, but it’s wonderful material for crafting certain special magical artifacts. Moreover, for cultivators practicing wood element techniques, merely keeping this item nearby and slowly absorbing the contained Wood Essence Qi can increase cultivation speed by at least tenfold!
Zhouyang took out the Tree Demon’s demon core, weighing it in his hand a few times, then casually tossed it to his Dao Companion Xiao Ying: "Ying’Er, I’ll leave this Tree Demon’s demon core to you. Your ’Qinghua Calamity Crossing Scripture,’ after opening the Purple Mansion, if you want to quickly master those divine techniques, requires absorbing and refining a large amount of Wood Essence Qi, and you can gradually absorb and cultivate this Wood Essence Qi daily."
Almost reflexively, Xiao Ying extended her hands to catch the demon core thrown by Zhouyang. Her eyes flashed with a hint of delight, and she pursed her lips, smiling prettily: "Then I won’t stand on ceremony with my husband."
The two are married, truly one, and polite thanks would only create distance.
Indeed, upon hearing her words, Zhouyang’s face also broke into a smile.