Inside the Soul-Abolishing Tree, Ye Ling easily passed through the spirit-devouring seal with runes and reached the center.
Wu Xue, still in the form of an infant, had already been largely consumed by the spirit-devouring energy. However, the branches of the Soul-Abolishing Tree no longer entangled Wu Xue; they had all been severed by the spirit-devouring energy and withered completely.
Within the Soul-Abolishing Tree, Ye Ling could no longer sense the presence of the tree itself. It seemed the spirit-devouring energy had dealt with it.
Indeed, the consciousness of the Soul-Abolishing Tree and the goal of the spirit-devouring energy were the same: to possess Wu Xue's body. The Soul-Abolishing Tree was merely a minor figure with only Saint cultivation. Its ability to even generate consciousness was largely due to the spirit-devouring energy, and it was in no position to contend with it!
Under such circumstances, the outcome for the Soul-Abolishing Tree's attempt to claim Wu Xue was predictable.
After quickly scanning the interior of the Soul-Abolishing Tree and confirming that its consciousness was utterly extinguished, Ye Ling promptly put the Soul-Abolishing Tree's consciousness out of his mind and focused his attention on Wu Xue, who was being eroded by the spirit-devouring energy.
"This spirit-devouring energy wants to devour Wu Xue, but it has conveniently solved the problem of the Soul-Abolishing Tree for me. Now, I just need to rescue Wu Xue, and it will be mostly done..."
Understanding the current situation, Ye Ling did not hesitate and rushed directly towards Wu Xue.
"Ye Ling! You will not succeed!"
At this moment, the illusory figure of the spirit-devouring energy also pursued Ye Ling into the Soul-Abolishing Tree, roaring fiercely. The spirit-devouring energy surged around it, making it appear utterly enraged.
The spirit-devouring energy, which had been relatively calm within the Soul-Abolishing Tree, became restless due to the entry of its illusory figure.
Instantly, a large amount of spirit-devouring energy surged towards Ye Ling!
"You want to stop me?" Seeing a large amount of spirit-devouring energy surging towards him, a hint of a smile flashed in Ye Ling's eyes. He immediately condensed a long sword from runes in his hand and slashed fiercely at the spirit-devouring energy!
*Ching!*
The rune sword slashed down, and the spirit-devouring energy, capable of devouring everything, was actually split in two by Ye Ling!
Ye Ling passed through the defensive line constructed by the spirit-devouring energy without any obstruction and arrived before Wu Xue.
Wu Xue was still asleep, but the pained expression on her face had disappeared. Clearly, compared to being entangled by the branches of the Soul-Abolishing Tree, she preferred being enveloped by the spirit-devouring energy.
"As expected of someone from the Wu clan, to actually like spirit-devouring energy..."
Seeing Wu Xue's expression, Ye Ling muttered a low complaint. He condensed runes around his palm and reached out to Wu Xue.
"Runes again?" The illusory figure of the spirit-devouring energy, which was closely pursuing Ye Ling, saw the runes imprinted on Ye Ling's palm, and its expression immediately turned extremely grim, as if it had seen something extremely detestable.
However, the illusory figure of the spirit-devouring energy could no longer afford to speculate where Ye Ling had learned runes from...
Now that Ye Ling had approached Wu Xue, if Ye Ling managed to break the seal with runes, it would mean he had lost!
"Heavenly Void Myriad Phenomena, Spirit Devours Sight!"
The illusory figure of the spirit-devouring energy roared, once again activating the spirit-devouring energy surrounding Wu Xue, causing it to erupt.
Ye Ling's gaze slightly narrowed as the spirit-devouring energy around Wu Xue erupted. Just as he was preparing to dispel the attacking spirit-devouring energy, he unexpectedly found that the rampaging spirit-devouring energy did not attack him. Instead, it completely enveloped Wu Xue and made her disappear from her original spot!
"Disappeared?"
Seeing Wu Xue being whisked away by the spirit-devouring energy, a hint of confusion flashed in Ye Ling's eyes. He scanned his divine soul around, searching for Wu Xue, who had been hidden by the spirit-devouring energy.
Unfortunately, Wu Xue's aura was too weak compared to the spirit-devouring energy, and the interior of the Soul-Abolishing Tree was filled with a large amount of restless spirit-devouring energy. Ye Ling's divine soul swept through the interior of the Soul-Abolishing Tree several times but could not find Wu Xue.
He found nothing!
After successfully hiding Wu Xue, the illusory figure of the spirit-devouring energy breathed a sigh of relief. A confident smile reappeared on its face, and it said to Ye Ling, "Ye Ling, even though you possess runes, you still do not understand the power of spirit-devouring energy."
"Wu Xue has been hidden by me. Even if you have another hundred years, you will never find her. You have missed the only chance to save Wu Xue!"
"Give up... Stop thinking about these crooked ways and fight me properly."
Ye Ling's lips curved upwards. "Is that so?"
The illusory figure of the spirit-devouring energy, which had been provoking Ye Ling, was taken aback by Ye Ling's reaction and felt a bad premonition.
Ye Ling stopped searching for Wu Xue, withdrew his divine soul, turned to face the illusory figure of the spirit-devouring energy, and asked, "You just said Wu Xue was hidden by you?"
"So, you're afraid of me finding Wu Xue..."
Seeing Ye Ling's aura suddenly change, the illusory figure of the spirit-devouring energy felt a bit uncomfortable and instinctively took a step back. "What... do you want to say?"
Ye Ling looked at the illusory figure of the spirit-devouring energy and chuckled, "Actually, I wasn't entirely confident about rescuing Wu Xue. I was just making an attempt to save her; success depends on fate."
"However, judging by your reaction, you seem to be certain that I can rescue Wu Xue. It seems..." As he spoke, Ye Ling opened his palm, and a rune slowly condensed in his palm, emitting an unusually powerful force.
The illusory figure of the spirit-devouring energy stared intently at the rune floating in Ye Ling's palm and asked in a deep voice, "What exactly do you want to say?"
Ye Ling smiled and said to the illusory figure of the spirit-devouring energy, "You seem to fear these runes. Is this power your natural enemy?"
"Putting on a show!" The illusory figure of the spirit-devouring energy forced itself to calm down and suddenly charged towards Ye Ling. "Even if you know rune techniques, with your cultivation, you cannot possibly comprehend the profundity of runes!"
"You are a half-baked practitioner. I only need one palm strike to..."
The illusory figure of the spirit-devouring energy spoke rapidly and struck Ye Ling's chest with a palm. However, before his palm could touch Ye Ling, a large amount of runes rapidly condensed around his arm, firmly immobilizing it!
Under the suppression of the runes, the illusory figure of the spirit-devouring energy's arm could no longer move!
"This is impossible!"
Seeing Ye Ling's ability to use runes so proficiently, the illusory figure of the spirit-devouring energy's pupils constricted sharply, and it was filled with immense shock. "This is the power of the Creation God! How can you master runes so skillfully with your current cultivation?"
This illusory figure of the spirit-devouring energy clearly knew what power Ye Ling was using. Its eyes were filled with shock, as if it had witnessed something impossible!
It refused to believe that Ye Ling's mastery of runes had reached such a level!
After immobilizing the illusory figure of the spirit-devouring energy's arm, Ye Ling then condensed a cage with runes in front of it and trapped it.
A large amount of runes suppressed the illusory figure of the spirit-devouring energy, rendering it unable to move!
After easily suppressing the illusory figure of the spirit-devouring energy with runes, Ye Ling chuckled, "Indeed, the path of runes is profound and obscure. If it were solely up to me, I would never be able to use this power so proficiently in such a short time..."
"However... I have reference materials!"
After obtaining the "Ancient Spirit Scroll," Ye Ling studied this secret manual whenever he had free time. He even devoted a portion of his attention to reading the contents of the "Ancient Spirit Scroll" while traveling or even during battles...
Driven by a powerful thirst for knowledge, Ye Ling had now finished reading more than half of the contents of the "Ancient Spirit Scroll."
Although Ye Ling could not fully comprehend the "Ancient Spirit Scroll," he was still able to utilize one-tenth of the power recorded in it.
For Ye Ling, even if runes were profound and obscure, as long as he had the "Ancient Spirit Scroll," it was as if he were learning runes from the shoulders of a giant.
His comprehension speed was astonishing!
"Reference materials?"
Upon hearing Ye Ling's words, the illusory figure of the spirit-devouring energy was first stunned, then realized something and exclaimed, "Are you saying you have the 'Ancient Spirit Scroll'?"
"The 'Ancient Spirit Scroll' is with you?"
The illusory figure of the spirit-devouring energy seemed to have discovered something incredibly significant, and its emotions became extremely agitated!