"The fire oil is here!"
Some people hurried to the supply depot atop the city wall as fast as they could. Each man carried two wooden buckets, filled to the brim with fire oil!
Chen Fan and the others herded the Demonic Creatures together, then kept dousing them with fire oil. Several torches flew over, and blazing flames instantly engulfed the creatures.
Sizzle, sizzle, sizzle!
The Demonic Creatures sizzled as countless Black Willow Branches burst from their eyes, noses, mouths, and ears. Their bodies soon shriveled up!
"Who dares ruin my plans?"
"You're asking for death!"
The Black Willow Branches intertwined with one another, eventually forming a drooping willow covered in black branches. An aged face appeared on its trunk. Though the Black Willow Tree stood amid the flames, it kept stretching out, completely unaffected by the fire!
A sinister smile spread across the old face on the Black Willow Tree's trunk. The next moment, it struck without warning. Countless Black Willow Branches stretched in every direction, lashing toward Chen Fan and the others!
"Everyone, fall back! Leave this to me!"
Chen Fan roared and swung the Meteorite Iron Blade. Terrifying Blade Intent swept across the battlefield. If he were a Spirit Aperture Realm Martial Artist with true qi coursing through his body, this strike would surely carry a terrifying blade aura, condensing qi into a blade—unstoppable and peerless!
But alas, he was only a Spirit Concealment Realm Martial Artist. He could only stir the vital blood throughout his body and use it in place of true qi, unleashing a strike like a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood.
The strike swept forward without hesitation, straight for the Black Willow Tree amid the flames. Chen Fan cut through countless Black Willow Branches harder than steel and brought his blade down on the Black Willow Tree!
Boom!
The Meteorite Iron Blade struck the Black Willow Tree, sending sparks flying and carving a deep gash into its trunk, which twisted like a horned dragon. Black liquid gushed out!
Rustle, rustle, rustle!
Countless Black Willow Branches stretched out, then all snapped back. They coiled together into an enormous fist and smashed viciously toward Chen Fan!
Chen Fan raised his blade to block. The Meteorite Iron Blade and the massive black fist collided with a brutal crash. But the Black Willow Tree's roots twisted together, forming a huge black foot that kicked Chen Fan flying!
The Black Willow Tree wanted to tear after Chen Fan, but it had moved only a few inches before it ground to a halt!
Then countless Black Willow Branches shot out from its body like a rain of arrows, piercing toward Chen Fan as he flew backward!
"Chen Fan, watch out!"
Lu Xuenning spun her sword in a flourish and unleashed an immensely profound sword technique. For a moment, sword shadows filled the sky, clashing again and again with the Black Willow Branches.
Chen Fan landed, sprang back to his feet, and pulled Lu Xuenning along as they retreated!
"It can't move easily. The farther we get from it, the weaker its attacks become!"
Chen Fan called out.
"You've got a sharp eye, but not sharp enough!"
The old face on the Black Willow Tree's trunk sneered. In an instant, the tree broke apart and became four enormous spheres made of countless tangled black branches. They rose into the air and landed before the four gates of Ping'an County!
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!
The four black spheres took root as soon as they hit the ground. A Black Willow Tree sprang up at each of Ping'an County's gates. Their branches kept spreading, stretching toward the county and covering it.
"Fall back!"
"Get inside the city!"
Chen Fan shouted. Everyone scrambled to retreat inside, while the Black Willow Trees behind them sent out countless black branches, pursuing them like a vast black sea of trees!
Once everyone had escaped inside, Chen Fan and Lu Xuenning each pushed one of the enormous gates shut. With a thunderous crash, the gates closed, and Huang Chengyue immediately dropped three heavy crossbars into place!
Chen Fan and the others returned to the gate tower and saw that the entire city of Ping'an County was surrounded by a black forest. Its branches were climbing the city walls. It might not be long before they swallowed the walls whole, then advanced toward the inner city and shrouded all of Ping'an County in that black sea of trees.
"It wants to slaughter everyone in Ping'an County!"
"What in the world is this Black Willow Tree? It can raise three great Demonic Creatures of the Spirit Aperture Realm, and now it's covering all of Ping'an County by itself!"
As Chen Fan spoke, he turned his gaze to Lu Xuenning.
Lu Xuenning had come from Longyuan Prefecture, after all, and had seen more of the world.
"This Black Willow Tree is incredibly bizarre. It resembles the legendary Ghost Willow, but Ghost Willows are best at devouring and controlling souls."
"It also has the traits of a Bloodsucking Vine and can consume blood. Just now, I saw the brothers who died outside the city gate get wrapped up in its branches and sucked into dried corpses. But Bloodsucking Vines are climbing plants, not willow trees."
"Besides, it can shape its tendrils into all kinds of forms. That makes it seem like a Cloud-Climbing Vine, too."
"Its branches and leaves are as hard as steel, with a hardness comparable to Cloud Iron Trees."
"And now it can spread its branches and leaves over all of Ping'an County. I've never heard or seen anything like it. Usually, only the top-tier demon vines of legend can do that."
"It's like a hodgepodge, possessing the abilities of all kinds of plant Demonic Creatures, but none of their weaknesses. It's terrifying!"
"So far, it's only shown the power of the Spirit Aperture Realm. If it grows to a higher realm and pushes its strengths to the limit, it could become one of the most powerful Demon King–level plants."
"It dares to cover all of Ping'an County now, treating everyone here as nourishment. If it grows into a top-tier Demon King one day, it'll dare to use everyone in Longyuan Prefecture—or even all of Yun Prefecture—as nourishment."
Lu Xuenning spoke with a troubled expression.
She truly couldn't understand how such a terrifying Demonic Creature had appeared in a tiny place like Ping'an County. It didn't seem all that powerful yet, but its potential for growth was astonishing.
Once it devoured everyone in Ping'an County, its strength might surge for a brief period. If it then kept causing trouble, the experts of Longyuan Prefecture would surely discover the tragedy in Ping'an County and recognize how terrifying the Black Willow Tree was.
But if it was clever enough to lie low after devouring the whole county, slowly digesting its meal and secretly growing stronger, then the next time it showed itself, no one in all of Longyuan Prefecture might be able to keep it in check!
Looking back at the Demonic Creature disaster in Ping'an County, the Black Willow Tree had almost certainly been controlling everything from behind the scenes.
It had not only raised three Spirit Aperture Realm enforcers, but had also used the Demonic Creatures to seize control of all Ping'an County. It wanted to devour the entire county without anyone noticing.
And it had even planted seeds in the Demonic Creatures of Black Mountain. With a single thought, it could turn every Demonic Creature there into nourishment.
A Demonic Creature with that kind of cunning would surely leave the area after pulling off a scheme like this. It wouldn't just leave Ping'an County—it would likely slip beyond Longyuan Prefecture's jurisdiction and secretly plot at its next destination!
If that was really the case, then the danger was beyond measure.
"This might not be its true body."
"Its true body should still be on Black Mountain."
"That Jinyiwei brother wasn't mistaken back then. There really is a Black Willow Tree atop Black Mountain, so tall it blocks out the sky."
"Back then, many people thought the Demonic Creatures on Black Mountain had scared him witless and made him see things."
"But now, it seems he wasn't mistaken at all. That Black Willow Tree had been perched atop Black Mountain more than twenty years ago."
Huang Chengyue spoke with a grave expression.
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