The Skill Didn't Work

Following the tree demon, they stared at each other wide-eyed for quite a while before a rustling sound came from the forest.

A tree root curled around a thick stack of bark and slid out, tossing the bark before Qin Yang.

Qin Yang's eyes lit up. Not caring what the tree demon was thinking, he crouched down and gently stroked the pieces of bark.

Ordinary talisman paper could be used to make talismans, but for higher-grade spirit talismans, ordinary paper was useless. Better talisman paper required materials, processes, and difficulty that all rose in a straight line, and high-grade talisman paper was exceedingly scarce.

Thus, spirit talismans actually used other materials as substitutes. Tree bark and Beast Hide were both excellent materials.

Logically speaking, banyan bark was not suitable for directly serving as talisman paper. High-aged banyan bark was only suitable as raw material for making talisman paper.

Yet every piece of bark before him was a zhang wide. A spiritual gleam coated its surface, and its texture was fine. It felt faintly rough to the touch, yet was incomparably flat overall. Moreover, layer upon layer of naturally formed Dao Patterns covered its surface, brimming with spiritual charm.

Top-grade tree bark—absolutely superb material!

There were more than a dozen pieces, each one a full zhang long. With a little cutting, they would be enough to make thousands of talismans.

"Are these for me?"

The tree demon nodded expressionlessly.

"Senior Tree, it isn't that I refuse to make them for you. This bark really can be used to make Small Cloud Rain Talismans, though that would be extravagantly wasteful. But have you considered this? Your true body already stretches across dozens of li, yet you have always struggled to take human form. This enormous true body has become a burden. If lightning tribulation truly descends, what will you do?" Qin Yang spoke with utter sincerity...

For plants to become demons was most difficult of all. Especially before surviving lightning tribulation and taking human form, their true bodies could barely move. This Banyan Tree Demon's true body had grown this vast; it should have long since reached the stage of undergoing lightning tribulation, yet it remained as it was.

It could only continuously expand the range of its true body and accumulate power, until that massive body became a burden and it could do nothing but fall into slumber.

This only proved one thing: this secret realm simply could not draw down lightning tribulation.

The tree demon remained silent. Qin Yang struck while the iron was hot. "This secret realm simply cannot draw down lightning tribulation for you to take human form. You know that, Senior Tree. Small Cloud Rain Talismans can only buy you a moment of relief; fundamentally, they are useless. How about this? If I can leave alive this time, I'll take you out with me. Then you can trigger lightning tribulation and take human form. It's just that before then, with such an enormous true body, you'll only be struck to death by lightning..."

The tree demon did not move. Only after a long while did an aged voice ring out in Qin Yang's mind.

"Fine."

Just that one word...

The human face on the tree trunk vanished, and the thick tree roots blocking the path beside them also sank into the ground.

Qin Yang was slightly startled. After thinking for a moment, his expression became somewhat strange.

Was I fucking played?

They had been waiting here for me all along! Though that was what he thought, a smile appeared on his face as he happily put away all the bark. If nothing unexpected happened, this bark had most likely fallen from the tree demon itself. It was absolutely high-grade material.

When he looked back at the Demon Tiger, its fur had lost its luster, and its bones looked as though they had decayed for a thousand years. It no longer had any value as material.

The Demon Tiger's blood, vitality, essence, and flesh had all been purified and devoured clean.

With the tree demon no longer making any moves, Qin Yang hurried to find Little Fatty, not knowing whether Little Fatty was dead...

When he returned to the previous spot, Little Fatty was still leaning against the tree trunk without moving, devoid of even the faintest breath.

Qin Yang's heart skipped a beat. He stepped forward to check and found no breath. Even the corpse had gone cold...

"Ah..." Qin Yang laid Little Fatty's body flat, took out his tools, and cleaned the blood from Little Fatty's face, his feelings complicated.

Whether Little Fatty had played tricks or tried to set people up, Qin Yang had never cared much. In the year or so since coming here, the person he had become closest to was actually this Little Fatty.

The other reasons for bringing Little Fatty along this time were secondary. The main reason was that, back in the Three Mountains Gang, if Little Fatty had not helped him out, he would not have pulled off Golden Cicada Sheds its Shell so smoothly. Given his circumstances back then—only at the sixth level of Qi Nourishing, with no secret arts to rely on and no Magical Artifacts—if Golden Cicada Sheds its Shell had failed, the chance of death would have been absolute.

Intentional or not, Little Fatty had helped him in the end.

And now he had died just like this...

"Junior Brother Zhang, the world of immortals is full of so many unforeseen events. In your next life, remember this: if your strength is insufficient, don't go charging around blindly. When you encounter a forest, do not enter. The wisdom of our ancestors is not without reason.

"We knew each other, after all, and you helped me greatly. I can't just let you lie exposed in the wilderness. Don't worry. Since you called me Senior Brother, I'll definitely let you rest in peace."

Qin Yang carefully cleaned the blood from Little Fatty, changed him into a clean set of clothes, and arranged everything properly. Only then did he slowly extend a hand and place it over Little Fatty's chest.

"Junior Brother Zhang, since you're gone, you probably won't mind leaving something behind. And you certainly wouldn't want your corpse to transform into a mindless zombie, would you..."

Qin Yang muttered under his breath as he silently activated his Corpse Touching skill.

However...

After activating the skill, there was not the slightest response.

Qin Yang froze, then activated the skill again.

Still no response...

"Heh..." Qin Yang's expression was strange as he examined Little Fatty from top to bottom again. Little Fatty was dead beyond doubt. His heart had stopped, his blood no longer flowed, his body had gone cold, and it was even beginning to stiffen.

He was truly dead, so why was the Corpse Touching skill not responding?

Little Fatty knew all sorts of miscellaneous tricks and had hidden quite a few treasures on him. It could not be that there was nothing to touch, right? Even a cook could yield a secret recipe for barbecue seasonings, let alone Little Fatty.

After thinking it over, Qin Yang lightly patted Little Fatty's cheek.

"Wake up? Wake up? I got the Purple Firmament Dao Scripture. Do you want to see it?"

"Junior Brother Zhang, I found the treasure vault. Get up quickly and split the loot..."

"Little Fatty? If you don't wake up, I'll cremate you!"

Still no response...

Qin Yang was puzzled and rather uncertain.

No matter how he looked at it, Little Fatty was dead...

But if the skill did not respond, there was only one possibility.

It was ineffective against the living.

If he was not dead, how could he touch a corpse?

Qin Yang was torn between doubt and belief, not knowing whether to trust the skill or what he saw before him...

After considering it for a long time, Qin Yang took out a Golden Phoebe coffin, placed Little Fatty inside, dug a pit in the Banyan Forest, and buried him.

As he buried him, still unwilling to give up, Qin Yang placed a note in Little Fatty's hand.

"Junior Brother Zhang, I'm leaving first. Take care of yourself."

After burying Little Fatty, Qin Yang turned and headed out. Just as he was about to leave, he halted, turned back, and shouted toward the Banyan Forest.

"Senior, Little Fatty is my junior brother. Don't turn him into flower fertilizer."