Guardian Wood Spirit

Long ago, when he was studying at Northern Azure Spiritual Academy and had just obtained the Yan Tian Scripture, Bai Ye had taken on a mission to explore a relic.

Though it had only been a modest spiritual trove, Bai Ye had keenly discovered another miraculous use of the Yan Tian Scripture.

Treasure hunting.

The treasure might not be the most valuable one in the entire relic, but it would definitely be the one best suited to you.

Karma Threads did not lie. What they connected to was surely the treasure fated for you. During that mission, Bai Ye had found a Snow Seal Lotus within that small spiritual trove. For a long time, he had planted it in the Small Courtyard on Spiritual Mountain. Thanks to it, even when he went fishing during that period, the spiritual energy around him felt much more refreshing.

To Bai Ye, this was practically a priceless treasure.

However, Bai Ye himself did not particularly enjoy taking part in such spiritual trove missions, so he rarely explored spiritual troves when carrying out missions afterward.

But today, this function could finally see the light of day again.

Following the most conspicuous Karma Thread, Bai Ye sped toward its destination. As he advanced, he continued to delve deeper into the forest.

The deeper he went, the fewer light clusters there were around him. In contrast, however, the auras emanating from those light clusters grew increasingly powerful.

The more powerful they were, the rarer they were.

"We're here."

At that moment, Bai Ye stopped.

His silver-white eyes fixed on the light cluster ahead. The other end of the Karma Thread was wrapped around it. This was his target.

"It's a Great Perfection Divine Art."

Bai Ye made his judgment by sensing the aura within the light cluster.

Activating the Ice Void Art, his entire body transformed into a cluster of ice crystals and flashed forward. In the blink of an eye, he appeared before the light cluster.

A Great Perfection Divine Art suited to him.

What exactly could it be?

He reached out to grab the light cluster, but at the same instant, a fragment flashed through his mind. His body immediately turned incorporeal on the spot, and a withered wooden vine pierced straight through his chest. He lowered his head to glance at the deadwood, then followed it back toward its source.

It had shot out from within the light cluster.

Calculating how long he could maintain the Ice Void Art, Bai Ye flashed away and appeared beside the withered vine in the form of ice crystals. He stretched out his right hand, seized the vine, and clenched his fingers.

"Pfft."

Before the vine could struggle, Bai Ye's right hand crushed it cleanly in two.

Bai Ye watched as the severed vine rapidly turned black, then decayed and vanished into the air.

Then he turned to look at the light cluster containing the Great Perfection Divine Art.

Within it, a powerful aura was slowly awakening.

This was a spatial technique.

Immediately afterward, a thick, massive leg formed of deadwood stepped out from the light cluster.

Then, as a second leg emerged, a towering, muscular figure appeared before Bai Ye.

It wore a complete suit of armor, its eyes flashing with red light brimming with battle intent. From head to toe, its entire body was made of deadwood.

It had no flesh or blood. It was merely a tree man.

This seemed to be a Guardian Wood Spirit.

Si Qingyu's inherited memories contained records of this thing. It was a unique technique of the Wood Spirit Clan, a Wooden Man puppet refined through a special secret art.

Although the materials used for this one differed somewhat from the Wood Spirit Clan's traditional craftsmanship, the result was the same.

During Five Spirits Slaying Heaven, the Wood Spirit Clan's Guardian Wood Spirits had made tremendous contributions on the battlefield. These puppets had no consciousness and felt no pain, making them extremely troublesome opponents.

He had not expected Desert Wood Venerable to place such a thing in the Scripture Pavilion to guard a precious Divine Art.

"Do I have to defeat it to obtain this Great Perfection Divine Art?"

Bai Ye flexed his fingers slightly. He realized that as long as he did not step into the area occupied by the light cluster, this Wooden Man would not attack him.

It merely stared at him fixedly, as though guarding against his every movement.

Those dead old men always liked leaving troublesome trials for their descendants, as if testing whether they were qualified enough.

The aura emanating from this Guardian Wood Spirit was at the Seventh Grade Supreme level, four full grades above Bai Ye.

Unlike Old Man Green Snake, whom he had shot dead from a thousand miles away over the Demon Sand Sea, the Guardian Wood Spirit was far more formidable than ordinary cultivators of the same realm.

If he wanted to deal with it quickly, he would truly have to put in some effort.

"Let's end this quickly."

Bai Ye lowered his hands after flexing his fingers and took a step forward, openly crossing into the domain of the light cluster containing the Great Perfection Divine Art.

The Guardian Wood Spirit reacted instantly. It abruptly raised its head toward Bai Ye, and the power throughout its body surged.

The moment Bai Ye stepped in, its figure hurtled toward him at blinding speed.

"Pretty fast."

Bai Ye, who had been watching the Guardian Wood Spirit's movements all along, tilted his head and spoke. Then he clenched his fist and, without dodging or evading, threw a punch straight ahead.

Boom—

The Guardian Wood Spirit's fist slammed viciously into Bai Ye's fist, and a massive blast of air rapidly spread in all directions.

Bai Ye adjusted his strength, tensing his thigh muscles. At the instant their fists collided, his right leg lashed out in a sweeping kick toward the Guardian Wood Spirit's head.

"Bang."

The Guardian Wood Spirit swiftly raised its other arm and blocked the kick.

Yet its body still trembled slightly under the impact.

Everything happened in a flash. The two separated at the first exchange. Bai Ye withdrew his fist and leg, while the Supreme Sea behind him surged, ice-blue spiritual energy coursing rapidly through his body.

Seizing that instant, the Guardian Wood Spirit grabbed with one hand, and a Withered Wood Spear appeared in its grasp.

Bai Ye lightly stamped his foot. Frost instantly coated the surrounding trees, the temperature plummeted, and a massive cold current pressed mercilessly toward the Guardian Wood Spirit.

Facing the freezing current, the Guardian Wood Spirit did not retreat in the slightest. It swung its spear in a single strike.

This strike contained the force of ten thousand pounds, as heavy as Mount Tai. With one sweep, the cold current instantly scattered.

Bai Ye lightly tapped the air with his finger, and countless Ice Wheels appeared overhead. As his finger descended, those Ice Wheels came crushing down toward the Guardian Wood Spirit.

The Ice Wheels ground through the air, causing cracks to appear throughout the surrounding space.

The Guardian Wood Spirit gripped the spear with both hands. Massive spiritual energy surged from its body and covered the spear.

The Wood Spirit Spear Momentum was astonishing. Even without the support of any Divine Art or spiritual technique, this strike still crashed down with tremendous force, shattering every Ice Wheel in the sky.

One move broke ten thousand techniques.

With such a strike alone, it could shatter every variation of Bai Ye's ice arts.

Perhaps this was what it meant to overcome ten techniques with one force.

Bai Ye did not panic. The Supreme Sea behind him surged wildly, and boundless spiritual energy poured into him.

Watching the Guardian Wood Spirit before him, Bai Ye made a grasping motion with his palm. Countless sharp Ice Prisms shot directly toward the Guardian Wood Spirit.

Red light flashed in the Guardian Wood Spirit's eyes. The Withered Wood Spear in its hand changed, transforming directly into numerous Wood Vines that lashed viciously toward the Ice Prisms.

An equal number of Wood Vines faced an equal number of Ice Prisms.

The Ice Prisms condensed from Bai Ye's spiritual energy were so fragile that they shattered with a single blow.

Bai Ye's brows furrowed slightly, as though he had realized something.

But at that moment, the Guardian Wood Spirit had already charged forward in a single step, smashing directly toward Bai Ye.

Bai Ye spread his fingers, and a Spiritual Energy Barrier instantly rose before him. Facing the countless sharp vines rushing at him, he continuously reinforced the barrier with spiritual energy.

One layer, two layers, three layers, four layers.

He reinforced it all the way to fifteen layers before stopping.

It was not that he did not want to add more layers, but that the Guardian Wood Spirit had already reached the barrier.

The Guardian Wood Spirit made no movement at all. It simply gathered its entire body and rammed straight into the barrier.

Crack.

The Spiritual Energy Barrier that Bai Ye had reinforced fifteen times was smashed into fragments by the Guardian Wood Spirit with astonishing ease. The Guardian Wood Spirit appeared directly before him.

Bai Ye raised both arms to shield his chest as the Wood Vines transformed into a giant hammer and smashed viciously into him.

Boom!

A tremendous impact exploded, and Bai Ye's body flew backward at tremendous speed. Only when his back slammed heavily into a tree did his momentum finally stop.

Likewise, he had now been knocked out of the domain of the light cluster containing the Great Perfection Divine Art. Thus, the Guardian Wood Spirit stood motionless where it was, merely staring at him with its small red eyes without relaxing for even a moment.

"So that's how it is."

Leaning against the tree and sitting on the ground, Bai Ye paid no attention to the damage to his clothes.

His physical body was powerful. An impact like this could not injure him at all.

He had discovered something.

The reason all his attacks had been so easily neutralized by this Wood Spirit.

Bai Ye looked at the armor worn by the Guardian Wood Spirit. He recognized what it was.

Spirit Restriction Armor.

It was a special top-grade divine artifact.

The armor currently worn by the Guardian Wood Spirit—its gauntlets, greaves, breastplate, and helmet—each individual component was actually a separate top-grade divine artifact.

If they had merely been top-grade divine artifacts, Bai Ye would not have cared at all.

When he had exchanged for the Nirvana Finger before, he had casually thrown out more than a dozen top-grade divine artifacts. Spiritual artifacts of that level had long ceased to catch his eye.

But the Spirit Restriction Armor was different.

What made it special was that although each part was an individual divine artifact, once they were combined, they activated a special array.

The Spirit Restriction Array.

With the support of this array, a complete set of Spirit Restriction Armor possessed a special ability.

It could negate all spiritual energy that came into contact with it.

That was why Bai Ye's Ice Wheels, Ice Prisms, and Spiritual Energy Barrier had been so easily shattered by the Guardian Wood Spirit.

It was not because the Guardian Wood Spirit was strong, but because this Spirit Restriction Armor was simply too effective at countering spiritual energy techniques.

If Bai Ye's Spiritual Power Realm had surpassed that of the Guardian Wood Spirit, perhaps the Spirit Restriction Armor's effect would have been greatly diminished. But unfortunately, there was a full four-realm gap between him and this Wood Puppet.

"Spirit Restriction Armor... now that's the real good stuff."

Bai Ye stood from the ground and stretched his body, his gaze sharpening as he stared at the Guardian Wood Spirit.

Seriously, if spiritual energy techniques were useless, then it seemed there was only one path left.

A physical battle, wasn't it?

He lightly licked his lips.

His physical body was strong too.

Bang!

With a heavy stomp, Bai Ye shot toward the Guardian Wood Spirit like a sharp arrow, the fierce aura around him impossible to resist.

The moment he stepped into the domain, Bai Ye clenched his right hand and threw a punch.

This punch flew straight toward the Guardian Wood Spirit's brow. Wood Vines moved to intercept it, but Bai Ye showed no mercy and directly increased his strength.

Boom—

The intercepting Wood Vines were shattered by the punch. Bai Ye withdrew his fist, his long fingers curling slightly as he clawed toward the Guardian Wood Spirit's throat.

The Guardian Wood Spirit retreated a step, but it still failed to evade the swift, ferocious strike.

Bai Ye's claw landed directly on the Guardian Wood Spirit's breastplate. With only a light touch, a shallow five-fingered claw mark was left on the heavy armor.

Bai Ye pressed the attack. His fingers swept past, then clenched into a fist once more. He turned and threw another punch!

This punch struck the Guardian Wood Spirit squarely in the face.

The Guardian Wood Spirit's cheek instantly caved in, and dozens of the Wood Vines surrounding it were blasted apart by the blow.

Bai Ye rolled his shoulders, a smile spreading across his lips.

He raised his chin and provocatively gestured at the Guardian Wood Spirit. Whether it understood or not did not matter. He was genuinely feeling extremely good right now.

The sensation of every punch landing on solid flesh made him somewhat exhilarated.

The slight frustration from having his techniques shattered earlier had now been completely vented.

His eyes blazed as he watched the Guardian Wood Spirit. He did not take the initiative to attack, instead waiting for the other side to come at him.

With this brief respite, the Guardian Wood Spirit, which had been steadily driven back and beaten somewhat senseless, finally regained its bearings. The spear reappeared in its hand.

Ice-blue spiritual energy condensed over Bai Ye's palms, and a thick layer of ice covered both hands. A pair of exquisitely shaped ice gloves appeared over them.

The spear shot directly toward him. Bai Ye grabbed it with both hands, firmly catching the sharp spearhead. He looked at the Guardian Wood Spirit, his lips curling wildly upward, his gaze burning and bordering on madness.

With a fierce twist, he snapped the spear in two.

Then he kicked the Guardian Wood Spirit squarely in the breastplate, and the enormous impact sent it flying backward.

Ice crystals flashed over Bai Ye's body, and he instantly vanished from where he stood.

The next second, he slowly appeared behind the Guardian Wood Spirit and tapped a finger against its back.

Immediately afterward, the Guardian Wood Spirit's chest was pierced through.

Bai Ye drove a knee into it, both hands grabbing the Guardian Wood Spirit's arms.

Bang!

The Guardian Wood Spirit dropped directly to its knees. Bai Ye sat atop it, pinning it down so it could not move.

Then he formed his hand into a blade and slashed down with a single stroke.

Pfft.

Its head separated from its body, and the Guardian Wood Spirit lost all ability to resist.

Bai Ye lightly tapped his toes against the Guardian Wood Spirit's back and leaped upward, catching its head in midair before landing on the ground.

Standing on the grass, Bai Ye crouched down and tilted his head as he examined the Guardian Wood Spirit before him. He smiled faintly. Frost erupted, and the Guardian Wood Spirit's body was instantly frozen into a block of ice.

The Mustard Seed Bracelet flashed, storing both the head and the half-frozen ice sculpture inside.

Obtaining this Guardian Wood Spirit meant that he had found a way to investigate the Wood Spirit Clan's secret arts.

It really was excellent research material.

But at this moment, what he wanted to see more was this...

Turning around, he grabbed the light cluster containing the Great Perfection Divine Art, tore it from the tree, and crushed it directly.

A scroll appeared before Bai Ye.

A Great Perfection Divine Art.