"Godfather, are you saying that everything we see now is merely its offshoots, while its true body remains atop Black Mountain?"
"So even if we destroy all these branches and leaves, as long as its true body remains alive, it will rise again?"
Lu Xuening asked, her heart trembling with fear.
A few offshoots of this Black Willow already possessed such methods. Just how powerful must its true body be?
"I understand now."
"The so-called demonkin invasion was all a smokescreen!"
"The true mastermind behind everything is this Black Willow!"
"These demonkin were merely responsible for bringing the offshoots within their bodies into Ping An County, so that the Black Willow could turn every living creature in the entire county into its nourishment!"
"Even the demonkin calamity in Ping An County cannot be separated from this Black Willow."
"From beginning to end, whether it was the Three Demons of Black Mountain or the other demonkin of Black Mountain, they were all its pawns. Once they completed the Black Willow's task, they too would be unable to escape death!"
"And judging by how the Three Demons of Black Mountain and the many demonkin behaved before their deaths, they had no idea of the Black Willow's scheme. They had been kept in the dark all along."
"How vicious! It not only wanted to slaughter the city and make tens of thousands of Ping An County's people perish with it, it also intended to devour all the demonkin of Black Mountain and turn them into its nourishment!"
"This Black Willow is even more demonic than demonkin!"
Chen Fan said coldly.
This was an exceptionally sinister and venomous tree demon, one possessed of tremendous intelligence, utterly unlike the wooden-headed tree demonkin of other kinds!
"Hahaha!"
"You are all correct!"
"But so what?"
"I have plotted for thirty years. Now that the overall situation has been decided, all the humans of Ping An County are destined to become my nourishment—and so are you!"
"Stop struggling. Let me devour you obediently. From then on, you will become one with me and together we shall seek the sacred path, our lives as long as heaven itself. Would that not be wonderful?"
At that moment, countless black branches crawled over the city walls. Tangling together, they formed a humanoid monster made of willow branches, which spoke in a deep voice.
"Keep dreaming!"
Chen Fan slashed out with his blade, instantly cutting the humanoid willow-branch monster apart.
"Leave this place. Before long, these black willow branches will completely cover it."
Lu Xuening said solemnly.
Everyone nodded with grave expressions.
No one had expected to end up like this.
They had thought that tonight, they would perish together with the demonkin invading Ping An County. Yet they had never imagined that they would become nourishment for a Black Willow.
"Notify everyone immediately. Gather at the center of the county town. Everyone must gather there. That way, we can hold out a little longer."
Chen Fan said solemnly.
Upon hearing this, everyone hurried off to pass along the message.
Chen Fan sat atop the county yamen roof, gazing at the black willow branches closing in on the county town from every direction. A profound sense of helplessness welled up within him.
"Perhaps the only way now is for me to break through to the Divine Aperture Realm, fight my way out of the encirclement, and head to Black Mountain to destroy this tree demon's true body. Only then can Ping An County's crisis be resolved."
"Godfather, I want to shatter my Innate Sword Heart, open my Heart Aperture, and enter the Divine Aperture Realm. If I do that, perhaps the people of Ping An County will still have a sliver of hope!"
Lu Xuening said.
She had been born with an Innate Sword Heart and was a natural sword cultivator. It was precisely because of this that she had been able to take a renowned master as her teacher and reach the peak Divine Treasury Realm at such a young age.
By rights, she could have broken through to the Divine Aperture Realm three years ago.
But her master had wanted her to comprehend the state of Swordheart Clarity before entering the Divine Aperture Realm.
At that point, she would be able to use peerless Sword Qi to open the acupoints throughout her body.
This accumulation appeared slow, but once achieved, she could instantly open thirty-six acupoints. Her cultivation would then overtake those who had gone before her.
It would also lay a solid foundation for opening all one hundred and eight acupoints throughout her body. She could even transform her acupoints into sword apertures, use them to nurture Sword Qi and evolve sword intent, causing the acupoints throughout her body to mutate. This was a great road leading to heaven!
"No!"
"Absolutely not!"
"If you destroy your Sword Heart, all your future cultivation will be ruined."
"Besides, even if you shatter your Sword Heart to open your Heart Aperture, you would merely open one rather special acupoint. The increase in your strength would be limited. You might not even be able to defeat Chen Fan as he is now, so it would be utterly useless in saving Ping An County."
"Didn't you send a letter to Dragon Abyss Prefecture to request aid long ago? Perhaps Dragon Abyss Prefecture has already received it. Once they learn that you are in danger, perhaps your senior brothers and sisters will be rushing here already. Your master himself may even come personally."
"Your master has a golden eagle mount. It only takes a few hours to travel from Dragon Abyss Prefecture to Ping An County. We can still wait!"
"Promise me that even if you die, you must never destroy your Sword Heart. That is your path of cultivation. We cultivators may die, but we must never destroy our own Dao Path to heaven!"
Huang Chengyue said gravely.
"But..."
"No buts!"
"There is no room for discussion. Let this old man be selfish for once. I can die in your place, but I will never allow you to destroy your Dao Path."
"I built a secret chamber in the Household. The entrance is behind the bookshelf in my bedroom. If we truly cannot stop this tree demon, take Chen Fan back to our Household and hide in that secret chamber. Perhaps it can hold off the tree demon for a while."
"Perhaps after this tree demon has killed enough people, it will retreat on its own. You may yet survive."
After speaking, Huang Chengyue laughed bitterly at himself. Perhaps he had made this tree demon seem too simple, but this was his beautiful wish.
He had not even told his wife and children about the secret chamber, yet he had told Lu Xuening, his goddaughter. He owed this to Lu Fang, because Lu Fang had died saving him all those years ago.
He had buried this matter in his heart for more than ten years. He had wronged Lu Fang!
"Looks like I still have to use the Blood Fiend Art to enter the Divine Aperture Realm!"
"I have the Golden Finger. As long as I have enough Demonkin Lifespan, I can continuously deduce the Blood Fiend Art and evolve it into a Divine Aperture Realm cultivation method that suits me best. At that time, the negative effects of the Blood Fiend Art can be ignored for me!"
"It is just that the Blood Fiend Art can only open thirty-six acupoints in the human body. Profound Divine Aperture Realm cultivation methods can open seventy-two acupoints, one hundred and eight acupoints, or even more."
"To reach completion in the Divine Aperture Realm, one must open the one hundred and eight most important acupoints in the human body. These are the primary acupoints and cannot be bypassed."
"If the Blood Fiend Art cannot be further deduced, then if I want to open one hundred and eight acupoints, I will have to cultivate other Divine Aperture Realm methods that share the same origin as the Blood Fiend Art. But there is no helping it."
"Still, finding cultivation methods that share the same origin as the Blood Fiend Art will truly be far too difficult!"
"But Dragon Abyss Prefecture's reinforcements have yet to arrive. The people of Ping An County, including myself, are hanging by a thread. It is time to make a decision!"
Chen Fan leaped down from the county yamen roof and landed steadily beside Lu Xuening and Huang Chengyue, startling them both.
"You scared me to death! When did you get up on the roof?"
"You heard what I was just saying to my godfather...?"
Lu Xuening patted her flat chest, then glanced at Chen Fan and spoke.
"I heard some of it."
"But even if you break through, you still will not be a match for this Black Willow. Let me do it!"
"I just studied the Blood Fiend Art in Cao De's possession, and I gained quite a bit from it. I can use the Blood Fiend Art to break through to the Divine Aperture Realm."
"If I break through to the Divine Aperture Realm, my strength will surely increase greatly. Then I can fight my way out of the encirclement, head to Black Mountain, and destroy this Black Willow. Ping An County's crisis will naturally be resolved."
Chen Fan spoke with an utterly calm expression.
Before you continue