Certain Victory, Dragon Ascent... Wrong Channel

The bamboo leaves shooting toward him collided with the burst of force. Their speed dropped sharply, their trajectories shifted, and they skimmed past Zhou Qiubai's clothes before embedding themselves in the ground behind him.

"Thud, thud, thud—"

The bamboo leaves sank three inches into the soil.

Zhou Qiubai's gaze narrowed slightly.

Pretty sharp.

But this was only the beginning.

As if enraged by his intrusion, the entire bamboo grove came "alive."

Dozens of Spirit Bamboos swayed at once, countless transparent bamboo leaves breaking free from their branches and spiraling through the air.

Zhou Qiubai moved.

His figure became elusive and unpredictable.

Every step he took landed precisely in the gaps between the flying leaves.

Every turn of his body barely evaded the shredding assault of several leaves.

More and more bamboo leaves filled the air, growing denser by the second.

Zhou Qiubai moved faster as well. The scabbard in his hand became a blurred streak of light, knocking aside each incoming bamboo leaf.

But this could not continue.

The leaves were endless, while his Soul Power and stamina were limited.

He had to find the core.

As Zhou Qiubai evaded, he extended his senses toward the Bamboo King deep within the grove.

That Bamboo King was still swaying slowly. The silver light around its joints was clearly flowing faster, as though it were gathering strength.

To capture bandits, capture their leader first.

Zhou Qiubai took a deep breath, and his footwork suddenly changed.

The scabbard spun rapidly before him, sweeping away wave after wave of bamboo leaves and forcibly tearing open a path through the grove.

Thirty yards, fifteen yards, nine yards...

He was getting closer.

The Bamboo King seemed to sense the danger and shuddered violently.

The next instant, the leaves of every surrounding Spirit Bamboo abruptly changed direction. No longer attacking chaotically, they converged into a torrent and swept toward Zhou Qiubai.

The force of this strike far surpassed anything before it.

Zhou Qiubai's eyes turned sharp.

Now.

He no longer held back. The Four Seasons Manor Cultivation Method within him operated at full force, Soul Power rushing like a surging river. His right hand finally gripped the hilt.

Draw!

Slash!

"Clang!"

The sword cry rang clear, like a dragon roaring through the nine heavens.

The moment the iron sword left its sheath, Zhou Qiubai's entire aura changed.

If he had been drifting clouds before, he was now a drawn blade, his edge fully exposed.

There was no flourish in this strike, only the purest downward slash.

The sword light collided with the torrent of bamboo leaves.

A grating sound rang out as something was forcibly torn apart.

Transparent bamboo leaves shattered one after another within the sword light, turning into glittering dust that filled the air. Under the faint blue glow of the moss, it gave off a bleak yet dazzling beauty.

The sword light did not slow, slicing straight toward the Bamboo King.

A shriek like clashing metal rang from the Bamboo King's surface.

The silver light around its joints suddenly burst forth, forming a thin membrane of light around its body, like a shield constructed from Soul Power.

The sword light struck the shield.

"Crack—"

The shield shattered at once.

But most of the sword light's power had also been offset. In the end, it only severed one of the Bamboo King's side branches.

The branch hit the ground and instantly withered, turning into a handful of drifting ash.

Meanwhile, the Bamboo King's main body trembled violently. The silver light on its stalk dimmed considerably; it had clearly suffered serious damage.

Zhou Qiubai sheathed his sword and breathed lightly.

That strike had cost him quite a bit.

It could not be helped. A Soul Master fighting a millennium-old Spirit Beast was still quite difficult, even if it stood still.

But he knew the battle was not over.

Sure enough, after a brief period of weakness, the Bamboo King suddenly let out a string of even sharper shrieks.

With those shrieks, the Spirit Bamboos throughout the grove began swaying madly, fine silver patterns appearing across their surfaces.

The patterns seemed alive, spreading from the bamboo roots to the tips before finally gathering at the points of the leaves.

The next moment, every bamboo leaf fell free at once.

They did not shoot out. They floated.

Thousands upon thousands of transparent bamboo leaves hovered in midair, their tips all pointed at Zhou Qiubai.

At the tip of every leaf, a silver glint the size of a needlepoint condensed.

A chillingly sharp aura spread through the air.

This was... a desperate gamble.

He tightened his grip on the sword hilt as Soul Power surged through his body once more.

But this time, he did not attack immediately. Instead, he closed his eyes.

All sounds around him vanished, leaving only the faint hum of hovering bamboo leaves, the rage within the Bamboo King's shrieks, and...

A more concealed pulse deep beneath the bamboo grove.

Zhou Qiubai suddenly understood.

This bamboo grove was a single whole.

It was somewhat like the Blue Silver Emperor and Blue Silver Grass.

The Millennium Bamboo King was the core, but what truly drove the grove's attacks was the vast network formed by the countless Spirit Bamboo roots intertwined beneath the earth.

But this was bamboo, not fungus. It somehow felt like everything was connected.

To break this deadlock, he had to sever that energy cycle.

And the weakest point in the energy cycle was not the Bamboo King, but...

Zhou Qiubai opened his eyes and looked toward the ground at the very center of the bamboo grove.

The fallen leaves were thickest there, and it looked completely ordinary.

He moved.

But instead of rushing at the Bamboo King, he charged toward that node.

The Bamboo King seemed to realize his intention. Its shriek abruptly rose in pitch. The hovering bamboo leaves all shuddered, transforming into silver streams of light that poured down like a violent rainstorm!

This attack was denser and deadlier than any before it.

Bamboo leaves grazed his clothes, sliced open his sleeves, and even left a shallow bloody cut across his cheek.

But he did not slow down.

One step, two steps...

Now, the chance is here. Xiao Du, certain victory, Dragon Ascent Sword.

Pah, wrong channel.

Zhou Qiubai gripped the sword with both hands, pointed its tip downward, and viciously thrust it into the node.

"Psh—"

The instant the blade entered the soil, a violent burst of energy surged back from underground.

But he did not let go.

Instead, he poured all of his Soul Power and Bloodline Power into this strike.

The white radiance on the blade flared brightly, clashing madly with the silver energy surging from beneath the ground before both ultimately faded into nothingness.

The entire bamboo grove began shaking violently, the silver patterns on the bamboo stalks flickering unsteadily.

The silver light around the Millennium Bamboo King's joints rapidly dimmed.

Three breaths later.

Boom!

A muffled sound came from underground, as if something had shattered.

The next instant, all the hovering bamboo leaves lost their luster and fell like rain.

The silver patterns on the Spirit Bamboos completely went out. Their stalks returned to their ordinary translucent texture, no longer carrying that razor-sharp aura.

The energy cycle had been severed.

Zhou Qiubai pulled out his sword, then sheathed it.

His clothes had been cut in seven or eight places, and his cheeks and arms were covered in tiny cuts.

He looked toward the Millennium Bamboo King.

The Bamboo King had stopped swaying. Its stalk leaned slightly to one side, its leaves hung low, and only a faint remnant of silver light remained at its joints, ready to go out at any moment.

Zhou Qiubai rose to his feet and walked before the Bamboo King.

He did not immediately strike the killing blow. Instead, he reached out and gently stroked the bamboo stalk.

It felt cold and smooth as jade.

"Born in a deadly place, cultivating for a thousand years—it was not easy," he said softly. "Unfortunately, I am stronger."

He was not a hypocrite like Tang San, who would slap a "wicked Spirit Beast" label on something just to take its Soul Ring.

The strong devoured the weak. That was the law of the jungle.

If it had been stronger, then if he died here today, it would only mean he deserved it.

The Bamboo King's final trace of silver light flickered once.

Zhou Qiubai did not hesitate any longer and raised his sword.

The Bamboo King's stalk broke cleanly in half, its cross-section smooth as a mirror.

A Bamboo Heart the size of a fist, crystal-clear as glass, rolled out and released a rich, crisp fragrance.

And where the Bamboo King had fallen, a deep purple Soul Ring slowly rose.

Purple. Millennium-old.

Zhou Qiubai looked at the Soul Ring, and a satisfied smile finally appeared on his lips.

His second Soul Ring was his.

And he had finally reached level 20.