"Found you!" Lu Xuan roared. His Thunder Spear pierced the ground. The black Buddha relic blocked his path, then self-destructed without a word.
Lu Xuan dared not confront it head-on and could only retreat. He watched as a large hole opened in the ground. A wooden ball, two meters in diameter and entangled by countless roots, detached from the ground and fled rapidly. There was no other way; the surrounding ground was sealed off. The tree demon had to escape this area from above ground to use its earth-遁 (earth-遁 is a type of escape technique) to leave.
It was unclear what forbidden technique it had used. Its speed increased dramatically, and in the blink of an eye, it had flown hundreds of meters. Lu Xuan snorted coldly, used the Shrinking Earth Technique, and closed in on the tree demon in a few flashes.
"You stinking Taoist priest, are you really determined to fight to the death?"
The tree demon was furious and roared at Lu Xuan.
"For you, I've sacrificed a handy tool. If I can't recoup some interest, this deal will be a disaster. I, Lu Xuan, never do a losing business."
"Hmph, I admit I've been outmaneuvered today. But don't push your luck, kid. Do you even know who my master is?"
"I have heard of that. Are you trying to intimidate me with the Black Mountain Demon? I admit that being able to reign supreme in the underworld is indeed a powerful figure in the demonic path. I'm afraid I can't handle him now. However, this is the human world, not his City of the Wrongfully Dead. That alone won't scare me. So, you have one last chance to persuade me."
While rambling, Lu Xuan secretly gathered his strength. He knew the tree demon opposite him had the same idea. Both had been locked in combat for so long, and both were exhausted. The tree demon was unwilling to die like this and would inevitably fight back desperately. Lu Xuan, on the other hand, wanted to obtain the tree demon's body intact. Each with their own thoughts, they didn't stop talking.
The tree spirit paused for a moment, then spoke.
"If it were before today, I could only use the Black Mountain Demon to intimidate you. But do you know whose people the two Heavenly Demon Ancestors who fought Yan Chixia were?"
Lu Xuan's expression finally turned serious. Those two zombies who had attained enlightenment were indeed a thorn in his side.
"They're not your people?"
"Hmph, for a zombie to achieve enlightenment, it needs to be nourished by countless amounts of flesh and blood, and also requires an extremely yin place to aid its cultivation. To fully awaken its mind, it needs the assistance of a great supernatural being. Only in this way can a zombie cultivator be created who is no different from an ordinary person."
Grandma doesn't even have enough blood food for herself, let alone time to cultivate such things. They are subordinates of some powerful demon hiding in the human world. For years, they've been trying to recruit evil cultivators and powerful demons like myself who have achieved some level of cultivation.
"What does it want to do?" Lu Xuan asked in a deep voice.
"How would I know? I've only been in contact with them twice."
Lu Xuan frowned slightly. The phrase "feeding with countless blood sacrifices" reminded him of the Lu Family Village incident six years ago. What would have happened if that zombie hadn't been destroyed by him, but instead had devoured everyone in Lu Family Village? A sense of unease crept over Lu Xuan; he felt as if he had touched upon some enormous, hidden secret.
In that instant of his momentary daze, the tree demon opposite him suddenly attacked. The sphere, entwined and enveloped by countless roots, suddenly exploded. Countless roots, like spears and whips, some soft, some hard, swept towards Lu Xuan in a devastating attack.
Lu Xuan snorted coldly, and golden light shone brightly from his body. His close-fitting armor automatically activated, forming a protective light shield around him. At the same time, he swept his Thunder Spear horizontally, the attack, imbued with the power of lightning, directly severing dozens of roots.
From the moment Grandma made her move to Lu Xuan's defense and counterattack, everything happened in the blink of an eye. Grandma seemed unconcerned about the depletion of those roots. She forcefully activated countless roots, binding Lu Xuan in place. The force was so strong that Lu Xuan was unable to completely break free for a time.
After all the roots had been released, Lu Xuan could vaguely see through the gaps in the roots a small wooden child-like figure that was snorting coldly and turning to run away.
However, at this moment, the cyan bracelet on Lu Xuan's left hand suddenly shot out. It swelled in the wind and instantly transformed into a huge cyan python, which coiled around the wooden man before he could react. At the same time, a burst of cold air erupted, freezing the tree demon's true form, which had revealed all its trump cards, firmly in place.
It took Lu Xuan more than a dozen breaths to break free from all the roots. These roots were completely different from those temporarily activated by the tree demon using its demonic power. In a sense, these were actually part of the tree demon's true form.
However, at the last moment, the tree demon sacrificed part of its body in an attempt to hold off Lu Xuan. Unexpectedly, Lu Xuan still had the Green Serpent as a trump card. The tree demon, having exhausted its demonic power and lost most of its original form, was unable to defend against the Green Serpent's surprise attack at the last moment and was struck down in one blow.
Seeing his grandmother's unwilling face sealed by pale blue ice, Lu Xuan breathed a slight sigh of relief. Then he turned his gaze to Yan Chixia and the two Heavenly Demon Ancestors not far away.
They were initially brutally beaten by Lu Xuan's lightning, and then by Yan Chixia's palm lightning. After that, they were forced to fight top-tier masters like Yan Chixia. The so-called Two Ancestors of the Heavenly Demons were already on the verge of collapse.
Seeing that there was no more movement from Grandma's side, the two zombies knew they were doomed. Fortunately, they stopped lingering and turned to run away.
"You fiend, don't you dare escape!" Yan Chixia roared, throwing his longsword.
"Form and spirit enter the sword, Prajna Paramita!" The long sword flew in mid-air, emitting a crimson light, and pinned the tall zombie to the ground with a single strike.
Immediately afterward, Yan Chixia lifted his shirt and pulled out three long silver nails. He threw them, aiming directly at the short zombie. But unexpectedly, the tall zombie, who had been pinned to the ground by the magic sword, suddenly stood up and blocked the silver nails.
"Go back and report to the master!" it shouted, then self-destructed, blocking Yan Chixia's three silver nails. By the time Yan Chixia came to his senses, the short zombie had vanished.
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Chapter 354 A Bountiful Harvest
"Damn it!" Yan Chixia exclaimed in annoyance. He turned back and looked apologetically at Lu Xuan.
"My skills are lacking, please excuse my poor performance."
"Brother Yan, don't take it to heart. Who would have thought that these scheming and despicable people could actually cooperate sincerely? Not to mention you, I was also taken aback."
"Oh, don't even mention it. How about you? Did you succeed?"
"I have successfully captured the tree demon."
"Very well, this trip wasn't in vain. But Brother Lu, I must remind you. This tree demon has killed countless people and its malevolent aura is extremely strong. If you want to refine it, you'll need to think about it carefully."
"That's natural. I do have some experience in weapon crafting. So I won't rush things. Starting today, I will use moonlight and lightning magic to cleanse the tree demon's body every day. Only after its soul is completely obliterated and its malevolent energy is completely refined will I consider taking action. This may take almost a year, so there's no rush."
"Indeed. Brother Lu, your magical artifacts are all unique. Your crafting skills are far superior to mine, so I won't say more. By the way, let's go see what's in this old monster's lair."
Lu Xuan readily agreed. The two then entered the tree demon's lair. However, the entire lair had been thoroughly ravaged by Lu Xuan's lightning magic, leaving it in ruins. Virtually nothing intact remained.
As far as the eye could see, there were only countless bones, covering the entire underground palace.
"You fiends, trying to escape?" Yan Chixia suddenly shouted. He flicked his silver needles, pinning the two alluring figures to the spot.
It was Nie Xiaoqian, and another female ghost named Xiaolan (her original name was Xiaoqing, but Xiaoqing was the name chosen by the Green Snake, so...).
"Master, spare our lives!" The two female ghosts knelt down in panic. They had no choice; they had witnessed Grandma and the two Heavenly Demon Ancestors perish right before their eyes.
Normally, Grandma's high level of cultivation made her an insurmountable mountain in their eyes. They didn't even dare to entertain the slightest thought of resistance. But today, Grandma had actually been captured alive!
These two had followed Grandma the longest. They had seen many cultivators and knew what these cultivators did after capturing demons. Serving them as slaves was considered good; skinning them, dismembering them, and extracting their souls were the usual practices. The thought of Grandma, a powerful being, being treated this way stirred a complex mix of fear, excitement, and confusion within the two female ghosts.