It sounds a bit eerie, but Lu Xuan was telling the truth. He wasn't just here to exorcise demons. From the very beginning, his target was the top-grade spiritual wood represented by this thousand-year-old tree spirit.
Lu Xuan had never refined a magical artifact that could communicate with his mind because he disliked the lack of suitable materials, fearing that anything he created would be useless. By his standards, a tree demon with a thousand years of cultivation barely qualified.
The tree spirit was furious. It had always been the one who preyed on others, but one day it had become the prey of others.
Without a word, they started fighting. This time, it was in its lair, and the tree demon was able to unleash its full power. Naturally, its attack was incredibly imposing.
In an instant, demonic energy surged into the sky, and the androgynous tree demon transformed into a gigantic tree-man. With a wave of its hand, countless roots swept up half a mountain and crashed down on Lu Xuan.
This kind of move shouldn't be taken lightly. Lu Xuan activated his Shrinking Earth technique, disappearing from his original spot.
A dark cloud drifted in from the sky, blocking out the sunlight. This emboldened the so-called Two Heavenly Demon Ancestors, who were locked in combat with Yan Chixia. These two were highly trained zombies, capable of operating in sunlight, but that didn't mean they were truly immune to it. Under the sunlight, they couldn't even unleash half their power. With the sunlight blocked, the two immediately launched their counterattack.
Based on their level, these two were already at the Silver Armor Corpse level, and they had even gained sentience. Their thinking was no different from that of a normal person. Yan Chixia usually had to be extremely cautious when facing just one of them, but now, facing two at once, he immediately felt immense pressure.
Fortunately, Lu Xuan's lightning technique and Yan Chixia's palm lightning were still effective. The two silver-armored corpses were also in a weakened state, and therefore were still being suppressed by Yan Chixia.
With a loud crash, a massive mudslide nearly buried Yan Chixia. Looking back, he saw that Lu Xuan's battle with the tree demon had reached a fever pitch.
Around the tree demon, all the trees transformed into various small demons. Fearless, they relentlessly attacked Lu Xuan. Although they couldn't even break through Lu Xuan's protective aura, they still caused him considerable trouble.
That wasn't all. The tree demon's lair suddenly exploded, and countless skeletons flew out. These were all crafted from the skulls of mortals who had died at its hands. While individually they weren't particularly powerful, they certainly posed no threat to a cultivator of Lu Xuan's level.
But thousands of skeletons flew through the sky, eventually forming a giant skull. A strange, ghostly fire ignited in the skull's eyes.
This scene caused Lu Xuan's expression to change slightly. The tree demon's move reminded him of the tree demon's backer, the Black Mountain Demon. This kind of technique, which was half magic weapon and half magic spell, made from the bones of wronged souls, was even more compatible with the Black Mountain Demon.
This thought made Lu Xuan ponder it a few more times. At first, Lu Xuan thought the two zombies fighting Yan Chixia were Granny's subordinates. But now, their auras seemed somewhat familiar...
The tree demon's attack had already begun, and Lu Xuan had no time to think. The Five Elements Mirror above his head emitted a crimson light.
Endless flames instantly enveloped the giant skull.
The skeleton suddenly opened its mouth, letting out a piercing ghostly howl. The flames created by the Five Elements Mirror were instantly shattered. Even Lu Xuan nearly fell headfirst from the sky.
The Five Elements Mirror flashed again, this time with a golden light. A dozen laser-like golden beams swept across the sky. The skeleton opposite also transformed, instantly becoming thousands of individual skeletons, dodging most of the golden beams and merging into one in a flash. It opened its mouth and spewed a cloud of black mist at Lu Xuan.
This old demon is quite different from those monsters who rely on instinct to cultivate and fight using only their innate supernatural abilities.
This time, it went all out, every move carrying its own set of origins. Neither the ever-changing black skeleton before it nor this black mist technique had anything to do with its innate abilities. Especially the later black mist—a tactic commonly used by evil cultivators in the cultivation world.
They are crafted using unique methods, imbued with resentment, malevolent energy, yin energy, poisons, and various curses. These artifacts are specifically designed to corrupt righteous spiritual entities; if a cultivator comes into contact with them, their spiritual energy will be further tainted. Unless one is a powerful cultivator with overwhelming cultivation, they must sacrifice a portion of their own cultivation to completely eradicate them. They are among the most abhorrent methods of evil cultivation used by righteous individuals.
Upon seeing this thing, Lu Xuan's expression turned grim. Even he wouldn't dare let it get close. He used the Shrinking Earth Technique repeatedly, taking advantage of the tree demon's slow ground-based escape techniques.
The tree spirit roared in anger upon seeing this. It opened its mouth and spat out something else. Lu Xuan looked closely and saw it was a jet-black bead. It emanated a strange, even somewhat terrifying, aura.
Lu Xuan's expression changed slightly, and the Five Elements Mirror above his head emitted a yellowish-brown light, shining on the bead in an attempt to freeze it.
But in the very instant of their clash, Lu Xuan heard a low, eerie bell tolling in his ears. In a daze, he seemed to see a phantom of a monk radiating Buddhist light, but with eyes as black as ink.
Why is the tree demon always entangled with Lanruo Temple? Lu Xuan felt he had found the answer to this question! Perhaps a high-ranking monk from Lanruo Temple once suppressed this tree demon. Later, it harbored resentment and specifically targeted Lanruo Temple to kill people, just to humiliate the Buddhist sect that had suppressed it.
That black bead must be the relic of a high-ranking Buddhist monk, refined by demonic energy. Lu Xuan didn't have a good impression of Buddhism. However, he also admitted that some high-ranking Buddhist monks were still worthy of respect. Those who obtained the relics of high-ranking monks after their death were even more precious treasures. After being corrupted by this tree demon, it had clearly become a powerful magical artifact.
The bracelet on his left hand shone brightly. Lu Xuan activated the Five Elements Mirror to its limit, barely managing to suppress the black relic.
At the same time, Lu Xuan used the Shrinking Earth Technique, appearing several times under the tree demon's feet, seemingly intending to strike at its heart.
The tree demon snorted coldly, its massive body overturning the ground within a hundred meters, forcing Lu Xuan to dodge left and right. At the same time, the giant skeleton in the sky was recalled, and the black mist once again rushed towards Lu Xuan's main body.
Lu Xuan's body flickered back and forth beneath the tree demon's massive form, his Thunder Spear leaving wound after wound on the tree demon's body. However, these wounds were utterly insignificant to the tree demon's enormous magical body.
However, Lu Xuan acted as if he hadn't seen it and continued with what he was doing.
The tree spirit suddenly understood something.
"Haha, you stinky Taoist priest, you think you can find my true form? With your meager skills, you think you can fight against Grandma? Go to hell!" Grandma's smug voice made Lu Xuan's lips curl up slightly.
The Five Elements Mirror finally gave way, shattering into fragments after being pierced by the black relic. But Lu Xuan didn't even flinch. To him, the Five Elements Mirror was nothing more than a high-performance military drone; its destruction was no problem, affecting him entirely.
"I'm certain that this physical body of yours is not closely related to your original body. So, burning it shouldn't be a problem, right?"
After a long and drawn-out struggle, Lu Xuan still hadn't used his trump card, the True Fire of the Sun. It wasn't that he didn't have the opportunity, but rather that he dared not use it. Why dared he not? He was afraid that he might accidentally burn Grandma's true form. Wouldn't that mean the body he craved be gone?
Lu Xuan's goal was never to find Grandma's true form in one fell swoop; he just wanted to confirm where it was possible to burn things.
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Chapter 353 The Mysterious Master
To preserve the tree spirit's body, Lu Xuan went to great lengths. He spent half a day trying to find its true form, but to no avail. He had no choice but to risk approaching and probe to determine that this physical body was unrelated to his original form. So he simply started burning it.
Seeing Lu Xuan summon the flame the size of a ping-pong ball, the tree demon was about to utter a few sarcastic remarks when it saw its own skull-shaped magical artifact turn to ashes without even a sound after being lightly touched by the flame.
Lu Xuan had long noticed that while cultivators in this world knew about the True Fire of the Sun, it seemed that no one had been able to truly control it for a long time. Therefore, most demons wouldn't recognize it at first glance.
The tree demon was stunned for a moment when it saw its magical artifact destroyed. Then it let out a piercing scream.
"The sun is truly fiery! You actually possess the sun's true fire!!!"
"Surprised?" Lu Xuan casually waved his hand, and the flames landed directly on the tree demon's massive body. In that instant, Lu Xuan keenly noticed that one of the countless vines and roots on the tree demon's body suddenly snapped off on its own.
Upon closer inspection, it was discovered that the broken half had remained hidden underground all along.