The Tree Demon, who had gone completely mad, kept waving the vines on his body, paying no attention to the tiny sphere of light floating beside him.
Then a tremendous explosion rang out...
A hole was blasted clean through his massive body, as though a person had lost a foot. But he did not die. He slowly toppled over, the vines on his body still thrashing, though they were growing weaker.
The devastating damage had indeed threatened him, but as a tree, his life force was exceptionally tenacious.
Standing nearby, Li Chen curled his lip. He had already guessed the outcome, but the blast's power still left him a little disappointed. "Still not enough. If I could keep compressing it a little longer, perhaps..."
Suddenly, Di Li opened her mouth in shock. "You've got to be kidding! Someone at the Dripping Water Realm can deal that much damage?"
She knew full well how powerful the Tree Demon was. After all, she had been bound to him, though their connection had just been severed. Otherwise, the Tree Demon could never have gone mad.
Li Chen gave her a cold look and said nothing.
The Tree Demon probably would not last much longer. After rampaging for so long, even an ox would be exhausted, let alone a Tree Demon who had already been crippled.
Di Li naturally noticed Li Chen's cold gaze as well and did not dare speak again.
If the man before her had not saved her earlier, she might have been thrown from the Tree Demon's head and mercilessly crushed to death. Though they were opponents, she was still reasonable.
A moment later, the Tree Demon seemed to run out of strength. The vines that had still been lashing the ground went completely limp. Li Chen gave him one last look, then left Di Li behind.
The battle apparently was not over yet. He still needed to go help his teammates.
Blade light flashed, blood-red sword qi scattered everywhere, and plants grew wildly across the ground.
There was no telling how many sets of plant armor Lin Hua had gone through. He had quite a few gashes on his body, but no fresh blood flowed from them; he had covered them with plants.
"Hahahaha, come on, keep going!!" Lin Hua held his spear and stared madly at the man opposite him, who gripped a red sword.
Jianping's expression was cold, and his hand trembled slightly. A trace of blood-red seemed to have appeared in his eyes as he gently waved his hand.
Slash after slash sped toward Lin Hua, but the plants that suddenly sprouted soon blocked them. Their power had begun to weaken after all.
Lin Hua seized the opening and charged. As he rushed forward, the spear in his hand slid toward the ground, and plants clung to it, forming a massive hammer.
He knew that a spear formed from plants was still too weak, but he could use mass to gain power. That was another way his ability could change.
Jianping held his sword as the red in his eyes grew more pronounced, and even his face began to turn pale. He slowly raised both hands and gripped the hilt.
"Slash!"
A current of black-and-red energy coiled around the red blade.
The massive plant hammer in Lin Hua's hands met it head-on.
Both had used their full strength, hoping to finish the other in a single blow. They both knew that the longer the fight dragged on, the worse it would be for them. Their battle instincts were the same.
They simply did not understand each other.
Gripping the hammer, Lin Hua's expression grew more ferocious. Plant after plant kept winding around it, adding to its hardness and thickness.
Jianping's blade cut through it like tofu, but the moment it struck the plant hammer, the tremendous force began pushing him back. The hammer, however, was being steadily cut apart; it was only made of plants, after all.
Lin Hua naturally noticed as well. A plant spear began to form in his hand, ready to thrust it in and catch Jianping by surprise.
But suddenly, red energy began pouring wildly from beneath the hammer.
For some reason, Jianping now seemed to radiate waves of baleful energy, and his black hair had turned blood-red. His expression seemed a little pained as he muttered, "Get lost!!"
Then his tone abruptly changed. "Oh! I finally got a chance to come out and see you while you were weak, and this is how you treat me, Little Pingping?"
"I'm even controlling you to block the attack!"
Jianping's expression kept changing. He seemed extremely unwilling. "Get lost!! Isn't the blood I feed you every month enough?"
While he was still arguing, the blood-red blade cut through the plant hammer, but a plant spear suddenly thrust out. Even Jianping failed to react.
The red blade instantly slipped from his hand and cut the spear in two.
Even Lin Hua was a little dumbfounded. The madness on his face froze.
What was going on? The sword could strike on its own without anyone controlling it? Was that Jianping's ability?
But if he had that ability, wouldn't he have used it earlier?
He retreated at top speed, putting reason first.
By now, however, red lines covered Jianping's face, making him look extremely strange. Like a woman, he gently stroked his own face, his expression growing even stranger. He seemed a little excited.
"I've waited so long. It's been ten years, hasn't it? I finally got a chance when those old fellows weren't around."
He lightly gripped the blood-red longsword in his hand, seemingly paying Lin Hua no attention at all.
His black eyes had also turned blood-red.
Lin Hua was completely stunned. Was this a split personality?
He could not worry about that now. He formed another spear in his hand and attacked Jianping, using the same move again.
But Jianping merely glanced at him and murmured, "A feeble ant, to be slain with one slash."
Blood-red energy coiled around the longsword in his hand, making it look several times larger.
He slashed at Lin Hua in an instant. The enormous blood-red slash bore down with the might of a red skull, making the advancing Lin Hua feel extreme danger and the breath of death.
It was already too late to evade. He could not even dodge; the slash was too fast.
The massive hammer in his hand was instantly cut in two, and the hand gripping it was severed as well. A trace of despair slowly appeared in his eyes.
How am I supposed to fight this? Even my life isn't enough!
Just as the red slash was about to cut him in half, a towering figure appeared before him.
Like a mighty mountain range, the figure completely neutralized the slash.
Faluo had descended from the sky. He had actually noticed Jianping's condition long ago, and he even seemed to have done it deliberately, wanting to see just how terrifying the forbidden object in Jianping's hand was.
But he had not expected a single strike to nearly kill Lin Hua.
Lin Hua's eyes were vacant. His hand had been completely ruined, and blood kept flowing.
But there was still hope for him. Faluo took a green pill-like object from his small pocket.
He tossed it accurately into Lin Hua's mouth and said, "Swallow it. It'll keep you alive."
Lin Hua instantly felt an ache throughout his body, and his arm stopped bleeding.
Black light instantly enveloped his entire body. Faluo had forcibly teleported him out with a talisman.
"Now then, let me see just how bizarre the Demon Blade, ranked thirty-second among forbidden objects, really is!!" Faluo grinned, his aura surging outward like the sea.