novelraw Chapter 569: Tree Sovereign of This Generation, All Grass and Trees as Soldiers!
Chapter 569: Tree Sovereign of This Generation, All Grass and Trees as Soldiers!
Night fell, the bright moon hung high, and the night breeze on the peak of Tree Mountain carried a hint of chill.
A girl in green held a short sword, pressing it against the back of Ning Fan, her beautiful eyes revealing a trace of struggle.
She knew that the young man in white before her was a demon, here to seize the Min Luo puppet.
She knew that with her own Void Glimpse cultivation, she had no certainty of completing the task or obtaining the Min Luo puppet, but she also didn’t wish for the puppet to fall into the hands of someone like Ning Fan.
Those puppets were made from the corpses of her clansmen, and she must retrieve them all!
Even if she couldn’t retrieve them, she could not let the puppets fall into the hands of demon practitioners!
She hated the demon practitioners, hated those countless cold-blooded, heartless demon heads!
Her hands trembled slightly. As long as she plunged this sword, she could kill Ning Fan, stop him from completing his task, and obtaining the puppet...
It was an azure crystal sword, exceptionally sharp, but its sword glow was overly cold, laden with resentful energy in its swordbone.
With a thrust, the girl in green hesitated and struggled in her heart, delaying the plunge of the sword.
She ultimately was not someone decisive in killing.
"You want to kill me but hesitate in your heart. With such temperament, it must have been extremely difficult to cultivate to the Void Glimpse Stage, right?"
Boom!
Ning Fan’s body suddenly disintegrated into strands of ink shadows, which reformed into the young man in white, standing behind the girl in green, his gaze growing deeper.
"How could..." the girl exclaimed in surprise, not expecting Ning Fan to have slipped behind her.
She quickly turned, thrusting her sword towards Ning Fan.
Ning Fan extended two fingers, effortlessly pinching the sword tip, preventing it from advancing any further.
"Your skills are rather raw, perhaps because you rarely engage in magical combat..."
Releasing his fingers, Ning Fan lightly flicked the sword tip, a vast force surged through the short sword, shaking the girl in green’s arm bones almost to breaking, forcing her back over ten steps before she could barely stabilize herself, glaring at Ning Fan in resentment.
She was completely no match for him! Even in a sneak attack or assassination, she couldn’t gain the slightest advantage!
She was originally a naive young lady, her entire cultivation achieved through the blood of her kin, unfamiliar with magical battles, with killing...
The only thing she was truly proficient in was her clan’s Wood Escape Technique.
With no chance of victory, could she only choose temporary escape...
"Wood Escape Technique, ’Ming Wood Teleportation’!"
With her right hand holding the sword, her left hand formed a seal, transforming into an extremely secretive escape light, fleeing north, covering two hundred thousand miles in one leap.
Though a Void Glimpse cultivator, her escape speed was akin to a Void Inquiry Stage.
The Ming Wood Teleportation escape light was not only faster than the same level teleportation light but also remarkably secretive, with the fleer hidden within the ocean of trees, making it difficult for most to detect the escape light’s path.
With her cultivation, even an ordinary Void Inquiry expert would struggle to spot her escape light, but alas, Ning Fan was no ordinary Void Inquiry cultivator.
"Escaping north, indeed the wood escape secret technique of the Min Luo Race..."
With thoughts stirring, Ning Fan transformed into an escape rainbow, chasing toward the north.
Noting the girl’s deep devotion to the Min Luo puppet, Ning Fan had long speculated about her identity. Now, seeing the girl using the Min Luo Race’s escape technique, he was even more certain of his suspicions.
This girl must have deep ties with the Min Luo Race!
Precisely because of this suspicion, Ning Fan refrained from being ruthless towards her for her attempted assassination.
After several teleportations, Ning Fan caught up with the girl in green millions of miles away.
Racing across the night sky, Ning Fan suddenly halted his escape light, standing upon the heavens.
His eyes gleamed with sword light, blending the ink-colored sword sense with the night, sweeping across hundreds of thousands of miles, severing all the trees within that range.
The sword sense was of Metal, Metal overcoming Wood!
Struck by the Sword Qi, the girl in green’s wood escape was disrupted, her form flickering into view amidst the devastated forest below, appearing somewhat disheveled.
"Damn it, does he intend to pursue me relentlessly! No, I cannot die; I am the Min Luo Race’s last hope, I cannot die..."
The girl in green’s eyes brimmed with despair, as if recalling scenes from a sorrowful past.
The Min Luo Race had long fallen with no emergence of Void Refinement experts, and with her innate talent, relying on her fallen clan’s cultivation resources was far from enough to reach the Void Glimpse Stage...
It was each clan member, at the cost of their soul being scattered and never entering reincarnation, refining a Cultivation Pill for her to consume, allowing her to cultivate step by step to the Void Glimpse stage...
On her shoulders, she bore the lives of a hundred thousand clan members, carried the wishes and expectations of a hundred thousand fallen souls. She cannot die, she mustn’t!
She must bring back the bodies of the ten Void Refinement ancestors who fell ten thousand years ago... to be buried within the clan!
"I absolutely cannot die at your hands! Wood Escape Technique, Ming Wood Blood Escape!"
The girl in the green dress suddenly bit her tongue, spitting out several mouthfuls of essence blood, causing a faint blood glow to float around her body.
Using the remaining concentrated wood energy here, she suddenly changed direction, transforming into a bloody escape light, swiftly heading towards Tang Gu Realm Gate.
The Ming Wood Blood Escape is a wood escape secret technique of the Ghost Wood Clan, not as stealthy as Ming Wood Teleportation, but it is faster than the teleportation escape light. However, each use requires considerable essence blood, causing significant harm to the body.
Exhibiting the Ming Wood Blood Escape, the green-dressed girl’s escape speed can reach 300,000 li in one escape, comparable to Void Refinement Realm!
The green-dressed girl understood that, although her self-harming blood escape was faster than teleports, it was ultimately slower than Ning Fan’s escape speed.
If no stratagems emerged, she had no chance to escape Ning Fan’s clutches.
Therefore, she no longer flew northward, instead turning southward to fly back.
To the south is Tang Gu Realm Gate, the territory where tree devils gather.
As long as she flies into Tang Gu Realm Gate, Ning Fan even if he pursued into Tang Gu Realm Gate, would be besieged by tree devils and certainly won’t continue to pursue her.
Of course, this was a risky move, for the green-dressed girl herself would also be besieged by tree devils upon entering Tang Gu Realm Gate.
Currently, two new Return to Origin Tree Kings have emerged in Tang Gu Realm Gate, should she encounter a Tree King, the green-dressed girl would surely perish.
"My escape speed is inferior to Lu Bei, if escaping into Tang Gu Realm Gate offers a sliver of opportunity to shake off Lu Bei, then avoidance towards Tang Gu Realm Gate will result in inevitable capture by Lu Bei leading to an untimely death... I have no choice!"
The girl gritted her teeth, spitting out several more mouthfuls of essence blood, turning pale, after several escapes, her escape light surged millions of li, charging into Tang Gu Realm Gate.
"This girl isn’t skilled at confrontation, has too soft a heart, but understands the principle of rising from certain death, it’s rare... in her eyes, there’s an unyielding obsession, an obsession to survive..."
Ning Fan, with a sense of realization, slapped his storage pouch, pulled out the Ancient Golden Sword, and pursued into Tang Gu Realm Gate.
This is a tree valley encircled by layers of towering tree mountains, covering a land of ten million li. The valley is overgrown with various ancient trees, also inhabited by countless tree devils.
As night fell, most tree devils transformed into tree forms, rooted in the soil to sleep.
At this moment, the tranquil Tang Gu Realm Gate was disturbed by the intrusion of the green-dressed girl, alarming countless tree devils, brimming with a chilling killing intent.
Numerous towering ancient trees suddenly uprooted themselves, transformed into rows of treelike giants, and chased after the green-dressed girl.
To evade Ning Fan’s pursuit, the green-dressed girl gritted her teeth, fleeing deeper into Tang Gu Realm Gate.
The further she fled into the depths, the more tree devils pursued, making her venture difficult and finally enclosing her within the depths of Tang Gu Realm Gate surrounded by several Void Glimpse tree devils.
Once Ning Fan entered Tang Gu Realm Gate, portions of the tree devils turned their attention toward Ning Fan, leaving the girl aside and drawing towards Ning Fan.
Each tree devil, half-tree half-human, the shortest measuring several tens of zhang high, the tallest several thousand zhang.
Tang Gu Realm Gate was enveloped with dense fog that had a strong isolating effect against spirit sense.
Even with Ning Fan’s Absolute Void Stage spirit sense, expanding in Tang Gu Realm Gate allowed only detecting within 100,000 li of activity.
Within 100,000 li, tens of thousands of tree devils were in hibernation, most being Golden Core and Nascent Soul Realm tree devils, eleven were Transformation God Tree Demons, and one was a Void Glimpse tree devil.
Ning Fan withdrew his spirit sense, his gaze slightly sinking.
No trace of the green-dressed girl within the 100,000 li radius, has she already fled to the depths of Tang Gu Realm Gate...
"Tang Gu Realm Gate is my kind’s tree devilling abode. Should anyone dare trespass, it’s death without reprieve!"
The 5000 zhang tall Void Glimpse tree devil roared, smiling chillingly, voice hoarse.
With his thunderous roar, myriad tree devils unleashed spells, launching assaults on Ning Fan.
Ning Fan waved a grand hand, suddenly stirring a hurricane within Tang Gu Realm Gate, dispersing the tree magic spells one by one.
His ink-colored sword sense merged, fiercely slaying, within moments sword light raged across 100,000 li, instantly forming a sea of blood!
Tens of thousands of low-level tree devils were obliterated in an instant.
Within 100,000 li remained only seven or eight Transformation God Tree Demons, along with a dumbstruck Void Glimpse tree devil.
"Void Inquiry Old Monster!"
Frightened, the Void Glimpse tree devil turned tail to flee deeper into Tang Gu Realm Gate.
Ning Fan raised his right arm, summoning the White Tiger Vambrace, and threw a punch at the Void Glimpse Tree Demon.
With just one punch, a colossal white tiger phantom emerged in the night sky, transforming into ten-thousand-zhang silver fist light, exploding on the outskirts of the Tang Valley.
The fist light spread, turning a hundred thousand miles into ruins, the Void Glimpse Tree Demon and several Divinity Transformation Tree Demons all perished beneath the fist light.
Ning Fan tapped the Ancient Golden Sword with the tip of his foot, pushing his escape speed to the utmost, fearlessly flying towards the depths of Tang Valley.
His eyes flickered with blood light, a faint blood glow enveloped him, scattering all the Evil Qi accumulated from a lifetime of slaughter!
At this moment, the night sky over Tang Valley turned completely blood-red, even the moonlight became a blood-red moon!
Along the way, countless tree demons felt Ning Fan’s terrifying Evil Qi, trembling one by one.
Most of the tree demons within Tang Valley had low spirit awareness, yet they instinctively sensed Ning Fan’s dreadfulness.
No tree demon dared to stand in Ning Fan’s path, even a few Void Glimpse and Void Inquiry Tree Demons retreated quietly, unwilling to compete with his formidable Evil Qi!
Countless tree demons looked towards Ning Fan with awe, watching the golden sword light and the blood-red moonlight!
This was a monster who committed enormous slaughter, a monster intolerable even by the Heavenly Dao!
If you don’t provoke him, he won’t kill.
If you do, death is certain!
In the depths of Tang Valley, the Qingyi Maiden repeatedly used the Wood Escape Technique, fleeing closer to the deepest abyss nest of Tang Valley.
It was a hole resembling a bottomless abyss, dark and unfathomable.
Two black giant trees grew within the hole, each nine thousand zhang tall!
As the Qingyi Maiden approached the abyss, the chasing tree demons gradually diminished.
When the Qingyi Maiden stood beside the abyss, no more tree demons pursued her.
The maiden looked down at the dark abyss at her feet, feeling a chill in her heart.
"Could this abyss be the dwelling place of the Tang Valley Tree Kings? Perhaps the tree demons didn’t dare come closer, so they stopped chasing me?"
Thinking of the possibility that two Return to Origin Tree Kings resided below the abyss, the maiden was a bit daunted and turned to flee from the abyss.
Though she wanted to kill the Tree Kings to complete her mission, she had no ability to do it alone.
Her reckless entrance into Tang Valley was merely to escape Ning Fan’s pursuit.
Now, having shaken off Ning Fan and countless tree demons, it was time to leave Tang Valley.
As the maiden turned to leave, two sinister laughs suddenly echoed from the abyss.
"Heh heh heh, another outsider seeking death in Tang Valley, and this time it’s a woman, heh heh..."
"This woman carries an unpleasant aura; if I’m not mistaken, she’s a dryad from the Ming Luo Race. Hehe, Ming Luo Race, very good... Should we absorb her essence first, or eat her first?"
As the cold laughter rang out, two extremely terrifying auras pressed down on the Qingyi Maiden like a collapsing sky.
This aura was chillingly cold, causing the Qingyi Maiden to tremble uncontrollably, as if nailed to the ground, unable to move her lotus steps away.
Her body seemed out of control... The maiden showed a look of panic, this was the oppression of the Return to Origin Grand Void Realm!
This wasn’t the aura of Jiazi magic power, but the aura of yuan magic power!
Under this yuan magic power aura, the maiden felt as insignificant as an ant, unable to calm herself to resist the two Tree Kings.
In the night sky, two black streams of light shot from the abyss, transforming into two black-armored men, standing in the void.
One man held a wooden Xun magical treasure, oval-shaped, with six holes, emitting ghostly cries in the night wind, possessing soul-stealing divine skills, evidently a treasure of demonic sound.
The other man carried a black giant axe, black runes painted on his face, he looked down at the Qingyi Maiden, licked his lips, and sneered.
"The Ming Luo Race once counted as an imperial power in the Tree World, annihilated my Ghost Wood Clan like ants. Unfortunately, since the Tree Sovereign’s disappearance, the Ming Luo Race declined. The catastrophe ten thousand years ago reduced the Ming Luo Race to a second-rate power... I’ve been considering going to the Eastern Tree Ocean soon to exterminate the lingering Ming Luo Race. Unexpectedly, tonight, a Void Refinement from the Ming Luo Race comes to die..."
The man’s sneer hadn’t stopped when he suddenly stepped forward and swung the giant axe, striking at the immobile Qingyi Maiden.
The axe’s power transformed into an exceptionally dazzling black axe light, shattering the long sky, even ordinary Absolute Void Stage experts couldn’t withstand this axe light!
The Qingyi Maiden looked at the overhead black axe light, showing a look of despair.
She was a Puppet Master, skilled only in puppet techniques. With her weak demonic power, even at her peak she couldn’t withstand a Tree King’s single axe light, let alone now being suppressed by the Tree King’s aura, unable to move.
The axe light grew closer; the wind sound was the only thing remaining near her ear, she had never felt death so imminent.
Her bright eyes were full of defiance, and she bit her lip so hard that blood trickled down. She did not wish to die here!
"Qingdai, you cannot die here, you can’t... You are the last hope of the Ming Luo Race, bearing the lives of a hundred thousand clan members. Before retrieving the remains of our ancestors, you cannot die!"
"Qingdai... you cannot die!"
The girl displayed a look of madness, and within her Dantian, an azure treasure bead was hidden.
This was the last bloodline Demon Treasure of the Ming Luo Race, containing a Void Fragmentation Realm Strike left by their ancestors, a life-saving item given to her by her clan...
This treasure must be detonated by sacrificing the bloodline power of the Ming Luo Race!
Once detonated, even a Return to Origin Grand Void Realm expert would surely suffer some injury!
At this moment, the girl decided to take out the treasure bead, burn her demon blood, and fight to the death with the two Tree Kings!
Her gaze was so resolute, so reckless, filled with an unwavering determination to die a thousand deaths rather than retreat.
In the instant when the axe light slashed down, and when the treasure bead detonated, a silent sigh suddenly echoed through the night.
Then, a cold-eyed young man in white appeared before the azure-clad girl, holding a silver treasure pagoda, which he abruptly offered up.
As soon as the pagoda ascended into the air, it immediately expanded in the wind, dispersing circle after circle of silver spirit wheels.
Above the night sky, a massive silver halo suddenly appeared.
Within the halo, broken silver light points gradually emerged, and in the next instant, countless silver rain arrows shot down from the halo, effortlessly shattering the black axe light!
This treasure was the spoils of Ning Fan’s conquest of the Vast Heaven Palace, the Rain Sealing Pagoda!
Upon shattering the axe light, Ning Fan moved like a ghost, stepping nine steps in an instant, only to mysteriously return to his original position, as if he had never moved.
After nine steps, the momentum of heaven and earth trembled, and the auras of the two Tree Kings were shattered. In this moment, the azure-clad girl regained her mobility!
"Who are you!" The two Tree Kings coldly stared at Ning Fan, both on high alert as if facing a formidable enemy.
Although Ning Fan showed only Void Inquiry Stage cultivations, his ability to shatter the axe light and break their aura in nine steps demonstrated formidable divine skills. Both Tree Kings were extremely perceptive, naturally realizing they must not underestimate Ning Fan!
"Are you here to save me? Or to kill me..." The azure-clad girl was stunned. She had failed an assassination attempt on Ning Fan and had entered Tang Gu to escape his grasp.
She couldn’t understand why Ning Fan would have any reason to save her... or perhaps he was here to kill her.
"You’re called Qingdai, aren’t you? What is your identity within the Ming Luo Race?" Ning Fan turned and asked her with a smile, without answering her questions.
"I... I am the Current High Priest of the Ming Luo Race..." Qingdai gritted her teeth, trying to calm her mind to avoid showing weakness before Ning Fan.
Yes, Ning Fan was very formidable, and the two opposing Tree Kings were also formidable. With her Void Glimpse Stage, she could not escape the clutches of these formidable foes.
But she was unwilling to submit, preferring death to submission.
She was the High Priest of the Ming Luo Race, the last hope of the Ming Luo Race...
Even knowing her own weakness, even knowing the enemy’s strength, she allowed herself no fear!
"A High Priest indeed... If that’s the case, today I will protect you, and no one can harm you. I promised a friend to look after the Ming Luo Race for him..."
Before finishing his sentence, Ning Fan suddenly patted his storage pouch, taking out a black wooden token, and displayed it to the azure-clad girl.
Upon the token’s appearance, the azure-clad girl unexpectedly felt her demon blood boil, and her bright eyes showed a look of shock.
"This, this is... You, you are..." She was too shocked to speak.
"My friend entrusted me to protect the Ming Luo Race, and he also entrusted me with another task... to accept the black wooden token and succeed as the current Tree Sovereign of the Ming Luo Tree Clan!"
"As the current Tree Sovereign of the Ming Luo Race, I am obliged to shelter the people of Ming Luo!"
Holding the black wooden token, Ning Fan stepped into the sky, instantly transforming into a black-robed figure, exuding a presence of the Absolute Void Stage.
He extended his five fingers toward the earth and the void, utilizing the Soul Extraction Technique to continuously elevate his aura, nearing the Return to Origin Grand Void Realm!
Suddenly, he opened the sword pouch, releasing five petite Sword Spirits, commanding them with unmistakable authority.
"You all, slay the Demon General blowing the xun. As for the Demon General wielding the axe, leave that to me!"
After speaking, Ning Fan fiercely activated the black wooden token, mobilizing sovereign qi!
This black wooden token was indeed a supreme treasure, to be activated with sovereign qi. Upon activation, all trees submitted, as if the Tree Sovereign himself had arrived!
"All grasses and trees are my subjects. Where my roots lie, there is my domain! Imperial Art, ’All Grass and Trees as Soldiers’!"
In the moment Ning Fan cast his spell, all towering ancient trees within a million miles uprooted, transforming into puppet tree soldiers clad in golden armor...(To be continued. If you like this work, welcome to vote for recommendations and monthly tickets at Qidian (qidian.com). Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please visit m.qidian.com for reading.)