Ghost Willow

Having left the waterfall and pool, Xu Yuan walked alone through the misty, eerie forest.

Looking at the forest surrounding him, glowing with an eerie red light, Xu Yuan inexplicably recalled his experience of accompanying a girlfriend to a large haunted house during his university years in his previous life.

Because his girlfriend was timid, he dragged her along, and afterwards everything fell into place naturally.

Thinking of this, Xu Yuan glanced back in the direction he had come from and gently shook his head.

It's a pity, the women in this world are all incredibly bold.

He still really hoped that the "washboard saintess" would throw herself into his arms and whine.

With a soft chuckle, Xu Yuan extinguished this unrealistic thought.

In the past, supernatural novels were most terrifying when people were powerless to resist. Now that they could twist the heads off the Yingui, they naturally felt no fear.

Lost in thought, Xu Yuan suddenly realized that he had unconsciously walked to the foot of a towering willow tree. He subconsciously looked up and his dark pupils flashed with a hint of bloodlust.

The ancient willows before us reach for the sky, with a rough estimate showing a diameter of over five zhang and a height of sixty or seventy zhang, making them at least a generation taller than the surrounding towering trees.

Amidst the hazy mist, countless corpses hung from its branches.

It contains both humans and animals, including some living creatures, which it probably used as food reserves.

Thousand-Thorn Ghost Willow,

It is said to possess the supernatural Divine Ability to bewitch people's minds without their knowledge, causing them to unwittingly walk under it, be trapped by thorny willow branches, and ultimately die from having their Essence Blood drained.

Xu Yuan was thinking about this.

A sudden change occurred in the quiet forest.

Without any warning,

Countless vines suddenly burst forth from the ground all around him and shot towards him!

Seeing this, Xu Yuan was not alarmed. He gently raised his finger, and the powerful Source Qi in his meridians instantly began to circulate rapidly.

A gentle breeze began to swirl around his feet, and in less than a breath, it transformed into a fierce, blood-red gale that swirled around him!

This is a little trick that Xu Yuan has learned over the past seven years.

A defensive technique combining the Jing He's Pure Yang Art and the Blood Origin Heart-Fall Technique.

It consumes very little energy but has extremely strong defensive capabilities, especially against physical attacks like the one in front of it.

"Swish, swish, swish!"

The resilient willow vines were instantly pulverized by the strong wind the moment they came into contact with it.

In this world, being big doesn't necessarily mean being strong.

With the palm-thick vines hanging over him, Xu Yuan walked unhurriedly toward the roots of the willow tree.

The reason he traveled so far was to find suitable building materials for constructing his small nest, and the ghost willow tree in front of him was clearly a suitable one.

Only a dozen or so breaths had passed when I approached it, and half of the branches of this enormous ghost willow had already disappeared.

To Xu Yuan's bewilderment, the ghost willow continued to attack the crimson gale surrounding him with its vines.

Was it because he sensed his intention to cut it down to build a house?

Thinking of this, a hint of doubt unconsciously flashed in Xu Yuan's eyes.

He remembered that Tianyan had said before,

The Thousand-Thorn Ghost Willow is a type of spirit or monster, possessing a certain level of intelligence, and will not attack anything it perceives as a threat.

after all,

Animals can run away if they can't win a fight, but a tree like the willow can't just crawl out of the ground, can it?

And just now, the other party actually dared to lure him to its vicinity while he was distracted.

Why?

Thinking to himself, Xu Yuan took out a three-foot-long sword from his Sumeru Ring and casually swung it at his opponent.

"Thump!"

A willow tree trunk with a diameter of several meters fell to the ground, kicking up a cloud of dust.

When Xu Yuan carried the giant log back to the lakeside, Tianyan was idly swinging his bare, delicate white feet in the lake, creating ripples.

Hearing the noise behind him, Tianyan concealed the joy in his eyes, glanced back, and calmly asked the wooden figure:

"Is this the Thousand-Thorn Ghost Willow?"

"Um."

Xu Yuan nodded, using his Sword Qi to work on the massive tree, large enough to serve as the keel of a large ocean-going ship. "This thing contains ghostly energy; it's very effective at concealing one's presence."

Tianyan scoffed, "Is building a wooden hut really necessary? Running this far, aren't you afraid something might happen?"

"Huh? You're worried about me?"

"If you die, won't I die anyway?"

"Hehe, it's all the same, you're just worried about me."

"You're so shameless."

Tianyan got up barefoot and walked over, hovering to the side. "Hey, need any help?"

Xu Yuan had already used his Sword Qi to carve the Ghost Willow tree trunk into a flat rectangular shape. Upon hearing Tianyan's words, he hesitated for a moment.

Xu Yuan did indeed know a little about building wooden houses, or rather, building shelters.

In my previous life, I learned from wilderness survival masters during my university adventures, and also from a certain blocky game.

Although I can only remember a small amount of things today, it's enough for my needs.

After all, there was no such thing as Source Qi in the previous life.

If he couldn't build the house, he could use his immense strength to mold the ghost willow into whatever shape he wanted.

With these thoughts in mind, Xu Yuan used his Source Qi while softly recounting his earlier encounter.

Tianyan crossed his arms over his chest, watching his movements intently, listening carefully, and then frowned slightly:

"Are you saying that this Ghost Willow is willing to risk its life to absorb your Essence Blood?"

Xu Yuan didn't expect Tianyan to say that:

"Well, I guess so."

Tianyan looked Xu Yuan up and down, then suddenly said softly:

"Perhaps it's because of your Pure Yang Body."

"Pure Yang Body?"

Xu Yuan looked slightly surprised, and after a moment's hesitation, he smiled and said, "Could it be that my constitution has too much yang energy, attracting Yingui? If that's the case, we've indeed encountered quite a few yin entities in the past half month."

Although the Pure Yang Body is not as good as his own Innate Dao Body, it is still quite useful.

When Fire Element spells are performed by someone with Pure Yang Body, their power is several times greater than that of an ordinary person.

Tianyan shook his head and said in a low voice:

"Perhaps, but I'm not sure about this matter. In any case, try to go out as little as possible in the future, and leave everything to me."

Xu Yuan was taken aback by these words, then smiled and turned to look at the girl who was floating in mid-air at the same height as him:

"Aren't you being a little too protective?"

Tianyan's lips also curled up, and he raised his chin:

"Well, what can I do? I'm the older sister. What happened to protecting my little brother?"

After saying that, she raised her hand and gently patted Xu Yuan's head.

Xu Yuan didn't speak.

He first glanced at her flat chest,

Then,

"Puff."

"What are you laughing at?" Tianyan clenched his fist.

Xu Yuan blinked and sighed, "It's nothing, I just feel that my child might go hungry in the future."

Tianyan was taken aback upon hearing this, and frowned slightly:

"I'm asking you what you were laughing about just now. You said... yes... yes."

Halfway through her sentence, the girl's clear and melodious voice suddenly became stammering, her face flushed red as she shut her mouth, then immediately raised her hand and slapped Xu Yuan across the face:

"You lecherous scoundrel, you should just die!"

The slap was swift as lightning, accompanied by a deafening whooshing sound.

Smack

Xu Yuan raised his hand and directly grasped the tender hand that Tianyan had sent in his palm.

Although he was indeed no match for his opponent, he was at least using his Cultivation Method, while she was not.

He can withstand that attack.

Xu Yuan gently caressed the delicate texture of her fingertips, a smile playing on his lips.

"Tianyan, what does it have to do with you that I said my child is starving?"

A blush crept onto Tianyan's fair face, and his rosy lips parted slightly:

"You and me. You just now. Not..."

She wanted to speak, but didn't know what to say. Her breathing became rapid, her chest heaving, and she felt a surge of shame and anger as she choked on her words.

Xu Yuan, however, had no intention of letting Tianyan off the hook. He tilted his head and mimicked her tone:

"What... what happened just now?"

"."

Seeing the intense smile in the other person's eyes, a sense of panic unconsciously crept into her heart.

After staring at each other for a few breaths, Tianyan bit her red lips hard, intending to pull her hand away and turn away in a huff.

Unexpectedly, Xu Yuan pulled him back directly.

Xu Yuan inherited Jing He's cultivation level in real time. Judging from his physical qualities and the amount of Source Qi he possessed, he was slightly stronger than her.

"Alright, alright."

Xu Yuan changed the subject and chuckled softly, "I'm not joking anymore."

Tianyan kept a cold expression on her face and didn't look at him.

Xu Yuan leaned closer to her face and asked in a low voice:

"You always say you're the older sister, but how old are you actually this year?"