Chapter 495 Searching for the Spirit Fruit
Chen Yang stood his ground, circulating his internal energy, desperately resisting the black aura emanating from the bronze cauldron.
Ma Baogeng, lying on the ground, was resting rapidly, clearly having expended all his strength and vital essence in his previous strike.
He sneered, waiting for Chen Yang to freeze into an ice block.
Just then, the ground began to tremble. The mist in the distance dissipated, and a hundred-meter-tall tree slowly revealed its true form.
Its branches thrashed wildly.
This colossal tree, hundreds of meters high, had a diameter of over fifty meters!
It furiously shook its branches, lashing out towards the village, clearly intending to deal with Gangmu Hechuan and his companions.
However, despite its immense power and size, the tree's movements were clumsy, and it was obviously incapable of truly fending off Gangmu Hechuan and his group.
In an instant, a figure leaped directly towards the tree's crown. It was Gangmu Hechuan.
Gangmu Hechuan sprinted rapidly up the trunk, his objective clear: to reach the center of the tree and pluck the spirit fruit.
Ma Baogeng, seeing this from the ground, let out a cold chuckle and said triumphantly, "I knew it, the matter of the spirit fruit would eventually leak out."
"You see? These brats arrived too late! Hahaha, I've already picked all the remaining eleven spirit fruits, let them cry! Let this village be destroyed!"
"As long as I obtain the Demon Transformation Technique and this bronze cauldron, where in this world can I not go?"
"I will use my own vitality to recreate the Ma clan, I will take a hundred wives, have thousands of children, and build a village even larger than Misty Fog Village. Hahahahaha..."
The old man stood up, immensely pleased with himself.
It was evident that despite his advanced age, having consumed eight spirit fruits, his Demon Transformation Technique had reached an extraordinary level. His physical functions had returned to their peak, making concepts like marriage and procreation not difficult for him.
Ma Baogeng glanced at Chen Yang and sneered, muttering, "Not bad, you've held on for this long without turning into an ice block. Your strength is indeed formidable, but what's the use of being strong? You'll still die by my hand!"
At this moment, the black demonic energy within Chen Yang's body wantonly invaded his internal organs, freezing his blood.
His Heavenly Physician Art internal energy was utterly incapable of dispelling this bone-chilling cold.
In his moment of crisis, the ball of flame in Chen Yang's heart suddenly erupted, causing his heart to beat furiously!
"Thump-thump-thump-thump..."
Seven to eight hundred beats per minute.
The next moment, the golden flame surrounding his heart roared, coursing through Chen Yang's veins and twelve meridians, spreading throughout his body.
Wherever the flame went, the cold black malevolent energy rapidly receded. Within mere breaths, the icy demonic energy was completely incinerated and vanished.
"Hoo!"
Chen Yang exhaled a breath of stale air and his eyes snapped open.
He inwardly rejoiced, feeling fortunate that he had previously acquired a bronze cauldron. Otherwise, he would have truly perished at the hands of this insignificant Ma Baogeng today.
This bronze cauldron was truly terrifying. If he hadn't absorbed the first bronze cauldron and gained the ability of the heart flame, his Heavenly Physician Art internal energy would have been utterly unable to resist this chilling cold.
Chen Yang swallowed, his gaze falling on Ma Baogeng.
Ma Baogeng was now walking towards Chen Yang, holding the bronze cauldron.
He intended to kill Chen Yang directly, to eliminate any future trouble.
Just then, Chen Yang suddenly moved. With a swift "swish," Chen Yang snatched the bronze cauldron from his grasp.
He nodded, saying, "Indeed, this cauldron is extraordinary. Although it might not truly be the cauldron crafted by Da Yu as rumored, it is undoubtedly remarkable!"
Ma Baogeng froze, utterly stunned. He had never expected Chen Yang to be free to move!
How was this possible?!
Ma Baogeng pointed at Chen Yang, his voice trembling, "This... this is impossible! You... how could you not have been frozen to death?"
The next moment, Chen Yang's scalpel flashed. With a "boom," Ma Baogeng's head fell to the ground.
At that very moment, an enraged roar echoed from the giant tree in the distance: "Bastard, where are the spirit fruits? Where are they? Search for them! If you can't find them, kill everyone in the village and uproot this tree, then burn it!"
Gangmu Hechuan's voice was filled with fury. He leaped down from a great height, and with a swing of his curved saber, he cleaved a massive branch, over ten meters in diameter, into two pieces.
Soon, a raging inferno ignited in the distance.
The giant tree thrashed wildly in the flames, clearly terrified and in pain.
After all, no matter how long this tree spirit had lived, it was merely wood. It had no means of escape or movement and possessed an innate fear of fire.
Chen Yang mused for a moment, then hid the cauldron in his bag. With a flash, he swiftly moved towards the area where Gangmu Hechuan and his group were located.
Chen Yang hadn't expected to encounter members of the Black Dragon Pavilion here. More importantly, the Gangmu Hechuan he was facing this time was the Deputy Pavilion Master of the Black Dragon Pavilion.
No wonder Chen Yang had sensed such immense power from this individual!
Previously, the protectors and elders Chen Yang had encountered were only at the level of ordinary Grandmasters.
But this Deputy Pavilion Master was a Great Grandmaster, and his strength far surpassed that of an ordinary Great Grandmaster.
In the past, Chen Yang would have found it challenging to deal with Gangmu Hechuan. However, after absorbing the pure spiritual energy from the cauldron, his strength had already improved.
Coupled with obtaining the Heavenly Witch Secret Technique, Heavenly Travel, and the strange flame power he had previously absorbed,
Even with Gangmu Hechuan and the two Grandmasters by his side, Chen Yang no longer feared them.
Chen Yang's speed was remarkable. In a blink of an eye, he returned to the village.
At this moment, all the Ma clan members were kneeling on the ground, trembling, murmuring prayers to the Earth Mother for protection.
But they were unaware that their so-called Earth Mother was now struggling to protect herself.
The Earth Mother they had pleaded with was the giant ancient tree, and now, its branches were engulfed in flames.
Gasoline had been doused across half of the tree.
The tree thrashed wildly, begging for mercy, its ability to struggle completely gone.
As for the ten ancestors of the Ma clan, although they had merged with the tree, becoming like ten zombies, immune to pain and death, and each possessing Grandmaster-level strength to protect their kin and the tree, and capable of rising to defend against enemies after absorbing the blood of their descendants,
They were now shattered into pieces, their remains scattered on the ground, utterly dead.
After all, this time, their opponent was Gangmu Hechuan, a super expert far exceeding ordinary Great Grandmasters, the Deputy Pavilion Master of the Black Dragon Pavilion.
It could be said that within the entire Black Dragon Pavilion, he was a super expert second only to the mysterious Pavilion Master, invincible throughout Japan!
Gangmu Hechuan roared in anger. His purpose in coming here was for the spirit fruit. He had employed stratagems previously to prevent the tree from being discovered prematurely and to stop the Ma clan from moving the spirit fruit away.
Yet now, after all his painstaking efforts to enter the village, he still hadn't obtained the spirit fruit.
Naturally, he was furious.
He roared, pointing at the more than one hundred kneeling Ma clan members, and angrily commanded, "Kill them! Kill them all until the spirit fruit is found."