Huaiyin Mountain (Part 2)

The Death Spirit Locust Tree was one of the primary objectives of Ning Ye's journey.

The specimen before him had not existed for long, likely only about a decade, but it was sufficient to meet his needs.

Seeing the object, Ning Ye did not hesitate, stepping forward cautiously toward the Death Spirit Locust Tree.

The Death Spirit Locust Tree seemed to sense something; its branches swayed, and a hideous, evil ghost face manifested on its trunk, spitting a breath of malevolent energy at Ning Ye.

Even the slightest contact with this energy would be enough to make Ning Ye's flesh rot and his bones dissolve, leading to death.

Furthermore, the Death Spirit Locust Tree did not rely on sight to detect enemies, rendering illusions and similar methods useless against it.

Just as the ghost energy surged out, a talisman appeared on Ning Ye's body.

Golden Light Talisman.

The ghost energy slammed into the Golden Light Talisman but was blocked by the golden glow. Ning Ye stopped advancing, choosing instead to stand at the very edge of the ghost energy's reach—the exact distance where the tree could attack him, but where the energy was at its weakest.

The Death Spirit Locust Tree spat out breath after breath, and Ning Ye simply stood there, letting it attack, replacing his Golden Light Talisman the moment one was exhausted.

A moment later, the Death Spirit Locust Tree suddenly shuddered and collapsed with a boom. A Ground Rat Puppet scurried out from beneath it; it had been gnawing at the roots of the tree the entire time.

It was not that the Death Spirit Locust Tree was unaware of the Ground Rat Puppet gnawing at it, but the plant lacked intelligence. To it, both Ning Ye and the Ground Rat Puppet were enemies, and its senses told it that Ning Ye was the greater threat and within range, so it had focused all its efforts on attacking him, ignoring the puppet entirely.

The result was that it had been gnawed until all its roots were severed.

Only then did Ning Ye walk over, unleashing a Wind Blade Art to split the Death Spirit Locust Tree in two, revealing a wooden core inside.

This was the essence of the Death Spirit Locust Tree.

The core was not large, but it was enough to craft what Ning Ye needed.

Having prepared well in advance, Ning Ye processed it on the spot, and soon, a fierce ghost mask appeared in his hands.

Death Soul Mask.

The most important function of the Death Soul Mask was to conceal one's aura.

The effect of a Stealth Talisman was still too weak, and Ning Ye's current goal was to improve his ability to hide himself. The concealment effect of the Death Soul Mask was excellent, and when combined with a human-grade Stealth Talisman, he could basically deceive any average Hualun Realm cultivator, unless they were specifically tasked with insight. It was equally effective against demons.

However, this was a standard product of the Heavenly Mechanism Sect and was not suitable to be seen by others.

After finishing this, Ning Ye put on the mask and continued forward.

With the help of the Kunlun Mirror, Ning Ye quickly found his second target.

It was a flower.

The flower was black with three petals, and the area around it was withered, with not a single blade of grass growing.

Three-Wither Flower.

This flower was highly toxic; poison refined from it would be fatal to anyone below the Cang Xiang Realm, and even those in the Hualun Realm would struggle to avoid severe injury.

On this trip into the mountains, Ning Ye had two main objectives: the Death Spirit Locust Tree and this Three-Wither Flower.

The Three-Wither Flower had no offensive capabilities; its potent toxicity was its best defense.

But for Ning Ye, who had come prepared, this was clearly meaningless.

"Go!" Ning Ye waved his hand, and the Ground Rat Puppet charged out.

The toxicity of the Three-Wither Flower was undeniably strong; even the inanimate Ground Rat Puppet was quickly covered in a layer of withered blackness upon reaching the flower. However, this was clearly of no consequence. The Ground Rat Puppet quickly bit through the Three-Wither Flower and returned with it in its mouth.

"Stop." Ning Ye dared not let it get too close, ordering the Ground Rat Puppet to stop three meters in front of him.

Ning Ye used his Object Manipulation Art to make the Three-Wither Flower float, beginning to refine the medicine from a distance.

Ning Ye did not follow the path of alchemy, and his refining techniques were average. Fortunately, poison was different from spiritual medicine, and destruction was always easier than creation. As long as he could preserve the medicinal properties of the Three-Wither Flower, he would succeed.

As Ning Ye continued to condense it, the Three-Wither Flower gradually withered, eventually turning into a black powder.

Ning Ye had been prepared; a jade bottle flew out, catching the powder.

Capping the bottle, Ning Ye let out a sigh of relief. The task was complete.

Just as he was about to leave, he suddenly heard human voices approaching from afar.

Someone was coming.

At this moment, it was too late for Ning Ye to leave—the newcomers were clearly powerful, moving at high speed, and it appeared they were heading straight for him.

Ning Ye hurriedly removed the Death Soul Mask and retreated into a cluster of small trees. He struck out with several palms, and the trees, obeying his command, pulled up their roots, walked a few steps, and replanted themselves.

This was the Wood Wheel Armor Dance and the Yi Wood Formation of the Heavenly Mechanism Sect, though his current cultivation was insufficient to perfect it. Fortunately, he still had talismans.

Ning Ye threw out several talismans, sticking them onto the surrounding trees, and the Yi Wood Formation was complete.

After doing this, Ning Ye waited in silence.

This formation was difficult to detect when not activated; as long as the others were not specifically looking for trouble with him, there was nothing to worry about.

At this moment, a group of people rushed over from the distance.

The leader was a man carrying a sword, dressed in the robes of a Black and White Divine Palace cultivator, followed by four others.

These five individuals all had their internal energy cultivated to the fourth or fifth level, officially stepping into the middle stage of the Cang Xiang Realm.

Seeing Ning Ye at this moment, the sword-backed man in the lead went from joy to shock, then spat, "Damn it, I thought we had reinforcements, but it's just a rookie."

Following his words, Ning Ye saw a demon suddenly appear behind the five of them.

The demon stood about three zhang tall, covered in black scales with four arms, and possessed bone blades at its joints, looking incredibly ferocious and sinister.

Blade-Bone Demon!

Ning Ye recognized it immediately.

This was a Blade-Bone Demon with strength roughly at the peak of the Cang Xiang Realm; it was no wonder these five were fleeing in such a panic.

Ning Ye's alchemy had caused a fluctuation in mana, which they must have sensed, leading them to run over looking for help, only to find a disciple at the early stage of the Cang Xiang Realm.

But just then, one of them shouted, "Use him as bait!"

The five were overjoyed; this was indeed a solution, and they immediately charged toward Ning Ye together.

Ning Ye was not angry—he had long known the true nature of these sect disciples. Standing in the middle of the Yi Wood Formation, he watched them coldly with a sneer on his face.

The five rushed over simultaneously, and one of them attacked Ning Ye.

Even though he clearly saw Ning Ye right beside him, his claw strike felt like it had grabbed nothing but air, meeting no resistance at all.

What was going on?

The cultivator was stunned, and the cultivator beside him shouted, "It's a Refraction Art! Don't use your eyes, use your senses!"

The five of them simultaneously tried to sense Ning Ye's presence.

Just as they released their senses, Ning Ye put on the Death Soul Mask.

The five were shocked to discover that they couldn't sense him at all.

Instead of sensing Ning Ye, they found that the Blade-Bone Demon had already charged over.

Terrified, the five no longer cared about Ning Ye and opened their eyes to rush away, only to find giant trees blocking their path in every direction, making it impossible to escape.

"A formation?" The five were shocked.

The Blade-Bone Demon charged into the formation and attacked the five.

The five resisted together, shouting, "We know we were wrong, let us go!"

Ning Ye ignored them, simply standing to the side to watch the battle. Not to mention that these people wanted to kill him, the fact that they had seen the Death Soul Mask meant they had to die.

As for now, Ning Ye was considering whether he could use the strength of these five to finish off the Blade-Bone Demon as well.

If he used the Three-Wither Pollen, the Blade-Bone Demon would surely die, but he had a major use for the Three-Wither Pollen and wouldn't waste it like this.

Furthermore, the value of a Blade-Bone Demon lay not in its bone blades, but in the Demon Pearl Essence within its body; it would be bad if that were contaminated by the Three-Wither Pollen.

Under the fierce assault of the Blade-Bone Demon, the five were gradually failing. Seeing that Ning Ye ignored all their cries, hatred surged in their hearts, and just as they were about to kill Ning Ye at any cost, Ning Ye suddenly said, "Occupy the Kun position, attack the lower body."

The five were stunned, but one of them instinctively followed his instruction, occupied the Kun position, and attacked the Blade-Bone Demon's lower body. The Blade-Bone Demon had thick skin and strong defenses, but under this sword strike, its leg actually faltered.

The five were overjoyed, and Ning Ye added, "Xun position, use a wind blade to attack its chest."

A wind blade slashed into the Blade-Bone Demon's chest, spraying out a fountain of black blood.