Luring, Severely Wounded

Dealing with the Locust Tree Spirit required a nighttime strike, so Zhou Yan originally planned to return home and come back once night fell.

However, the middle-aged butler had already prepared a guest room for Zhou Yan and asked what preparations were needed, promising that everything could be quickly procured.

Zhou Yan shook his head; a tree that had attained sentience was not like an ordinary ghost, and common items would be useless against it.

These spirits were difficult to cultivate, but they were also notoriously hard to deal with, rendering standard methods ineffective.

For Zhou Yan, this was also a significant test.

If not for his trump card, and if this weren't the private estate of a wealthy patron, he would have considered using explosives to deal with the Locust Tree Spirit.

But if he did that, his reputation would be ruined.

If someone hired him to deal with a spirit and he used explosives, what would be the point of him being a mage? It would be better to just send in the army or the police.

Given the status of this family, doing that would certainly not be difficult.

There was no help for it; since he had taken their money, he had to do the job as well as possible, and do it with finesse.

In his line of work, doing a job with finesse meant eliminating the evil entity as quietly and unobtrusively as possible.

After all, the reputation of being haunted was unpleasant.

Even just encountering such a thing could lead to gossip.

Therefore, eliminating the evil entity in silence, without any rumors spreading, was the best outcome for the host family.

The more prominent the household, the more they cared about their reputation.

With a plan in mind, Zhou Yan went straight to bed.

He needed to conserve his energy for the battle tonight, to face the Locust Tree Spirit in peak condition.

Night fell.

Zhou Yan sat cross-legged outside the garden, a Peach Wood Sword resting across his knees, a Cinnabar Rope placed to his side, and two Corpse Controlling puppets standing guard.

As for the others in the estate, they had all been ordered by Zhou Yan to stay far away and were not to approach the garden under any circumstances.

Dealing with the Locust Tree Spirit was troublesome enough; Zhou Yan did not want anyone influenced or controlled by the spirit to appear at a critical moment and ruin things.

Seeing the yin energy growing heavier, Zhou Yan rose slowly, took the Cinnabar Rope, and walked to the locust tree.

He bound the tree with the Cinnabar Rope and then used Peach Wood Sword nails soaked in Rooster Blood to pin the other end of the rope into the ground.

His purpose was simple: to prevent the demon soul of the Locust Tree Spirit from escaping into other trees.

Following Zhou Yan's actions, the locust tree began to sway without wind, its branches and trunk trembling incessantly.

Gradually, the tree stirred, and its branches began to lash out at Zhou Yan.

Compared to the daytime, the power the Locust Tree Spirit unleashed at night was far greater, the lashing branches accompanied by biting gusts of wind.

Just as a branch was about to strike Zhou Yan, the two Corpse Controlling puppets suddenly stepped forward, blocking the blow and viciously swatting at the branches, shattering them to pieces.

Yin energy was heavy at night, and while the Locust Tree Spirit's strength had increased, the same was true for the zombies, only more so.

During the day, a zombie could barely unleash a tenth of its power and was further weakened by the yang energy.

Only at night could a zombie's power be fully unleashed.

This was one of the reasons Zhou Yan chose to strike at night.

As the zombies and the Locust Tree Spirit clashed, Zhou Yan, having secured the Cinnabar Rope, carefully observed the spirit's movements.

Up to this point, the demon soul of the Locust Tree Spirit had not appeared; it relied solely on the massive size of the tree and its countless branches, seemingly intent on dragging the fight out.

Suddenly, a multitude of tree roots erupted from the ground like countless sharp pillars, aiming to pierce Zhou Yan's body.

"I've been waiting for this."

Zhou Yan seemed to have anticipated it; he leaped into the air, smoothly evading the attack from below.

At the same time, the Peach Wood Sword in his hand emitted a soft glow as he struck down heavily at a specific root.

"Aaaah..."

As the root was severed, the Locust Tree Spirit let out a shrill, ear-piercing shriek.

It turned out that the root Zhou Yan had just severed was one of the spirit's main roots; it was akin to having an arm chopped off, which explained the violent reaction.

Having finally found an opening, Zhou Yan would not let it slip away.

He raised his hand and thrust the Peach Wood Sword, imbued with the Evil-Expelling Incantation, fiercely into the tree trunk, the blade piercing deep with unstoppable force.

The Locust Tree Spirit let out another scream.

Zhou Yan realized that having a powerful soul truly had many benefits.

Not only did it improve his control over his magic and his body, but it also allowed him to perceive things invisible to the naked eye.

Just like the main root hidden among the many others—if not for his powerful soul detecting the situation, he likely would never have been able to locate the main root amidst such a dense tangle.

Even this strike was only able to pierce through so smoothly because he had discovered the Locust Tree Spirit's hidden weakness.

The Locust Tree Spirit was like a giant wielding a heavy weapon; while it appeared invincible, it was actually somewhat cumbersome.

If its weakness had remained undiscovered, it might have been fine, but once perceived by Zhou Yan's divine soul, it was as if the spirit had shed its iron armor to reveal its vulnerable flesh.

Therefore, no matter how tightly guarded it was, it was prone to a single lapse in a hundred precautions.

"Roar..."

Having been heavily wounded in succession, the Locust Tree Spirit seemed to go mad, and countless branches lashed down violently.

Zhou Yan retreated rapidly, dodging the lashing branches just in time.

The two Corpse Controlling puppets, however, were still locked in a struggle with the Locust Tree Spirit, and a multitude of branches struck the zombies, producing the sound of clashing metal from time to time.

It was precisely because of the distraction provided by the Corpse Controlling puppets that Zhou Yan had sufficient opportunity to heavily wound the Locust Tree Spirit.

What a pity, I don't know any fire-element Daoist arts; otherwise, dealing with the Locust Tree Spirit would be even easier.

Zhou Yan sighed inwardly, his figure retreating swiftly.

At the same time, a sliver of his consciousness flew out from his mind, manifesting into a Yaksha in mid-air, which lunged viciously toward the Locust Tree Spirit.

As the Yaksha thrust its iron fork fiercely into the Locust Tree Spirit, the weapon seemed to turn transparent, sinking directly into the depths of the tree.

Immediately following, the Yaksha pulled the iron fork out with force, and at the tip of the fork was a dark green light.

This was the demon soul of the Locust Tree Spirit.

Had Zhou Yan not heavily wounded the Locust Tree Spirit repeatedly, it would certainly not have been so easy to fork out its demon soul.

It was simply that the Locust Tree Spirit had been too impatient; if it had truly engaged in a war of attrition with Zhou Yan, it was likely that Zhou Yan would have been the one anxious in the end.

However, a spirit creature is a spirit creature after all; its intelligence was insufficient, and having been frightened by Zhou Yan's bluffing, it had sought to strike at Zhou Yan himself.

Unfortunately, this had been Zhou Yan's strategy from beginning to end, all for the sake of heavily wounding the Locust Tree Spirit's demon soul.

In the end, it was proven that Zhou Yan's strategy had gone very smoothly, allowing him to heavily wound the demon soul and defeat the Locust Tree Spirit at a relatively low cost.