"You damn humans, do you think a mere formation can suppress me?!"
"Once I break free, I'll turn this place into my Demon Spirit Demon Realm!"
The ear-piercing voice echoed through the pit.
Zhao Ting let out a cold snort.
The power of his qi and blood erupted, pressing down on the disturbance below.
"Damn tree demon! You're still acting so arrogant after being suppressed here?! If you have the guts, come out right now!"
"Let's see if I don't capture you!!"
Before he had even finished speaking, Zhou Yunxuan and the others all turned to look at him.
"Ahem... I was just boosting our morale!!"
Zhao Ting's face immediately turned awkward.
He had been caught bragging by acquaintances.
"Rumble!"
The entire pit shook once more, as if Zhao Ting's words had provoked the tree demon suppressed below.
Moreover, as the formation's suppressive power began to weaken, the entire area around the Demon Suppressing Division started to tremble.
"Er..."
Zhao Ting gave two dry laughs.
"Don't just stand there. Quickly stabilize the formation—we can't let it run wild."
Everyone immediately came to their senses and focused even harder on maintaining the sealing formation.
Old Taoist Songhe rapidly formed hand seals with both hands.
The Fire Spirit Gourd in his hands slowly began to expand.
It soon grew taller than a person, then rapidly flew above the Demon Suppressing Division.
"Sanniang!"
After finishing, Old Taoist Songhe called out to Du Sanniang.
She immediately understood.
She followed by tossing the Soul Refining Banner in her hand into the air.
As she rapidly chanted the incantation, the originally limp banner cloth began to stretch. It then flew into the sky and circled around the gourd.
"Refine!"
At Du Sanniang's command,
the Soul Refining Banner began to emit a hazy radiance.
It then radiated toward the entirety of Yunzhou City.
All the martial artists and cultivators raised their heads and looked toward the Demon Suppressing Division.
Wherever the radiance passed, everyone felt the qi and blood within their bodies surge, as if it were being drawn along by some mysterious force.
"The sealing formation has begun."
After taking a look, everyone stopped paying attention. Clearly, they understood how the formation operated.
Qin Bo also felt some of the power of qi and blood within his body being drawn away.
"What an incredible formation. It can actually draw out the power of qi and blood from thin air. It takes the qi and blood of tens of thousands of people throughout the city to suppress this great evil creature. It truly is extraordinary."
"I'm becoming more and more eager to see how many years of life you can provide me."
Qin Bo secretly marveled at the sealing formation's wondrous yet domineering power.
Above the sealing formation,
an endless amount of qi and blood was drawn in by the Soul Refining Banner!
Then it was completely swallowed by the Fire Spirit Gourd.
After swallowing the power of qi and blood, the Fire Spirit Gourd grew larger and larger.
A dazzling red radiance outshone the moon's chilly glow. The entire Yunzhou City was enveloped in this eerie red light.
"Condense!"
As Old Taoist Songhe's voice fell,
the qi and blood within the gourd condensed into a massive sphere of energy.
Chen Song and the other man moved.
The blood sword in his hand was offered up.
After receiving the infusion of qi-and-blood energy, the Evil Slaying Sword lit up with a blood-colored radiance.
"Go. With my power, eradicate all evil!"
The Evil Slaying Sword transformed into a blood-red streak of light and shot toward the bottom of the sealed pit.
The blood-colored radiance on the sword seemed almost tangible. Wherever it passed, the air rippled faintly.
When the Evil Slaying Sword neared the place where the tree demon was suppressed, the tree demon seemed to sense the fatal threat and let out a series of mournful roars.
However, its power was now firmly suppressed by the sealing formation, leaving it completely unable to evade this fierce strike.
"Boom!"
The Evil Slaying Sword plunged viciously into the tree stump where the tree demon's core lay. Blood-colored light erupted instantly, illuminating the area around the stump crimson.
The tree demon's body trembled violently.
Countless strands of black smoke rose from its body, as though its life force were being rapidly drained away.
Under the Evil Slaying Sword's assault, the tree demon's resistance grew increasingly feeble.
The sealing formation also became even more stable from the infusion of this powerful force. As the light circulated, the runes flashed with ever-greater brilliance.
The final middle-aged man watched this scene, light shifting in the depths of his eyes. The stone tablet in his hands also began to radiate a hazy glow.
"Quickly! The Spirit Suppressing Stone Tablet, Jiang Tao!"
Zhou Yunxuan issued a decisive order.
At this critical moment, Zhou Yunxuan failed to notice the change in Jiang Tao's eyes.
At his words, Jiang Tao raised the Spirit Suppressing Stone Tablet high with both hands and let out a furious roar before smashing the tablet viciously toward the tree demon.
As the stone tablet descended, it continuously absorbed the power of qi and blood and spiritual power permeating the surroundings. It grew increasingly enormous, and its radiance grew increasingly intense.
"Boom!"
With a thunderous explosion, the stone tablet slammed heavily into the tree stump containing the tree demon's core.
But who could have expected what happened next?
The Spirit Suppressing Stone Tablet actually exploded outright.
It even blasted Chen Song's Evil Slaying Sword away with it.
A terrifying shockwave surged outward, spreading through the entire pit from the place where the tree demon was sealed.
Caught completely off guard, everyone was blasted backward through the air by the force.
"Ahem... What's going on?!"
Chen Song suffered the backlash and spat out a mouthful of blood, staring at the scene before him in utter shock.
"Jiang Tao?!"
"What's going on!?"
Zhao Ting roared furiously as he looked toward Jiang Tao.
Unexpectedly, Jiang Tao split his mouth into a grin.
"Heh heh..."
"What's going on?! Of course I'm rescuing My Lord!"
A woman's voice emerged from his mouth.
"Not good. He isn't Jiang Tao."
Zhou Yunxuan's expression changed, and he immediately realized that the Jiang Tao before them had probably been controlled long ago.
"Who are you, exactly?!"
Old Taoist Songhe stared warily at Jiang Tao, gripping the Fire Spirit Gourd tightly in his hands as he prepared to attack at any moment.
Jiang Tao's body began to twist and deform. His skin gradually turned pitch-black, while a strange, ghostly light flickered in his eyes.
"I am the Tree Demon Matriarch's guardian protector. Today, I have come to help My Lord break free. You ants, prepare to die!"
With that, Jiang Tao spread his hands.
A black mist instantly flew out of his body.
It formed a black, monstrous shadow.
Jiang Tao's body, meanwhile, slowly went limp and collapsed to the ground.
"Fox Demon!!"
Zhou Yunxuan was enraged.
He flipped his hand and struck out,
sending a gigantic palmprint crashing down toward the black shadow.
Facing Zhou Yunxuan's attack, the black monstrous shadow neither dodged nor evaded. Instead, it let out a sharp peal of laughter.
The shadow's form flickered, instantly transforming into countless wisps of black mist that spread through the air.
Zhou Yunxuan's palm strike hit nothing.
"Heh heh heh... City Lord Zhou truly possesses formidable strength."
"But you'd better take care of yourselves first!"
The black mist had no shape or shadow, drifting away without a trace.
"Brother Zhou, this is the Fox Demon's innate divine ability. Her true body isn't here."
"Don't waste your strength. Now that something has happened to the sealing formation, what should we do?"
Below the pit, the Fox Demon's methods had caused the destruction of two treasures.
Soon, with the Evil Slaying Sword gone, the suppression vanished.
The tree demon became active once more.
"Hahahaha... You humans calculated everything, yet still fell one move short."
"Today, I shall break free of my seal and return to the mortal world!"
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