Thousand-Year Tree Heart

Yan Chixia's aura continued to rise.

His eyes projected the weathered insight of one who had seen through the world's affairs as he looked up at the Ghost King Seal.

"Black Mountain Old Demon..."

His voice was ancient and unfamiliar, utterly mismatched with his face full of black beard.

Yan Chixia stepped into the void and reached out with one hand.

"Sword, come!"

The Xuanyuan Sword fell into his hand. Human Path Fortune surged, and he could vaguely hear the prayers of countless people.

"Ten Thousand Swords Return to One!"

The Xuanyuan Sword split into endless sword lights, its sword qi flowing like a river before converging into a single point.

A streak of sword light shot skyward like a cold star in the heavens. It appeared frail, yet its eternal presence could not be ignored.

Clang!

The cold star broke through the Ghost King Seal's blockade and struck the spatial rift.

A crisp chime rang out, like jade colliding, like pearls falling onto a jade plate.

The Ghost King Seal was knocked away, becoming a shooting star that vanished somewhere unknown. The spatial rift rapidly closed.

Black Mountain Old Demon peered through the rift, roaring, "After you die and enter the Netherworld, I will torment your soul for ten thousand years!"

"Heh..."

Yan Chixia chuckled, utterly disdainful of Black Mountain Old Demon's threat.

Then his overwhelming aura vanished in an instant, and he fell from the air. Fortunately, Zhou Yi reacted quickly enough to catch him.

After probing him with True Essence, Zhou Yi discovered that Yan Chixia was wounded all over, his soul seemingly gravely injured as well. He had fallen unconscious.

"Tree demon, this is all your doing!"

With a thought from Zhou Yi, the Purple Lightning Sword nailed itself into Tree Demon Granny's true body, destroying her Origin soul.

The flames within the mountain hollow continued to rage, while sword qi ravaged her without cease. The tree demon's aura steadily weakened.

"Stinking Daoist, when your lifespan runs out and you enter the Netherworld, the Black Mountain Ghost King will avenge me..."

Even before her death, Tree Demon Granny did not forget to make one final threat.

The exorcising power of Purple Sun Sword Qi erupted, and the tree demon's soul was obliterated in an instant.

After the great battle, Black Mountain had turned to ashes. Only a severed Ghost King Arm and Tree Demon Granny's thousand-year demon body remained on the battlefield.

The tree demon's main trunk differed from its roots and branches. Having been tempered by spiritual energy for a thousand years, it no longer feared flames.

As for the Ghost King Arm, it had turned into a stone ridge. Zhou Yi's knowledge was too limited for him to know its purpose.

They returned to Lanruo Temple.

Zhou Yi took Yan Chixia's wine gourd and lifted its cap. A rich fragrance wafted out.

The wine gourd was only a little over three feet long, yet it contained hundreds of pounds of Immortal's Brew. It was a curious treasure.

Using Immortal's Brew as its base and adding several dozen spirit medicines, Yan Chixia had brewed a spiritual wine containing abundant, gentle Five Elements Spiritual Energy.

The spiritual wine flowed into Yan Chixia's body, constantly nourishing him. His previously chaotic aura gradually steadied.

Zhou Yi sat cross-legged in meditation, restoring the True Essence within his body.

Having witnessed the might of a Netherworld Ghost King that night—a single hand immobilizing the void—Zhou Yi's previous self-satisfaction vanished completely.

Martial artists made mistakes; cultivators engaged in magical combat. Nothing tempered one's will and Dao heart more.

After this battle, Zhou Yi's state of mind improved greatly once again.

The next morning.

Yan Chixia slowly woke as sunlight streamed through the broken window lattice.

Tree Demon Granny had occupied Black Mountain for many years, controlling hundreds of thousands of ghosts and preventing them from reincarnating. Even during the day, ghostly winds had constantly howled there.

Now, aside from the choking smell of tar, the dark clouds that had shrouded Black Mountain were nowhere to be seen.

Zhou Yi entered from outside. Seeing that Yan Chixia had awakened, his face immediately lit up with joy.

"Senior Brother, how are your injuries?"

"They were never much of a problem. Ancestral Possession only cost me a dozen or so years of lifespan."

Yan Chixia made it sound easy, but even an Innate Grandmaster could only live to around one hundred and fifty. More than ten years was still a full tenth of his life.

The path of cultivation was long and endless. Let alone every year, even each day was immensely precious.

Zhou Yi asked doubtfully, "Ancestor? Didn't you say the Kunlun Sect was founded by you, Senior Brother?"

Yan Chixia grinned. "Not our ancestor. I once took shelter from the rain in a ruined temple. The wind was fierce that night and blew the temple right down. A statue inside broke apart, revealing a jade pendant."

"This jade pendant contained a method and a wisp of soul. It could connect with an ancestor and allow them to possess one's body, inviting a god to descend."

"As for which sect that ancestor belonged to, I have no idea. The cost is simply rather high."

Zhou Yi was stunned. As expected of a protagonist in this world—his trump cards were simply endless.

"Senior Brother, why did that Netherworld Ghost King force his way across the boundary? With a Ghost King's strength, what in the Human Realm could possibly be worth coveting?"

Zhou Yi had pondered it all night yet still could not understand what Black Mountain Ghost King sought so desperately by crossing the boundary.

His exact strength was unknown, but even if the Netherworld was inferior to the Immortal Realm, the difference could not be great. A regional Ghost King was comparable to an immortal god.

"Blood Food, naturally! The human world has nothing else, but it still has tens of millions of people."

Yan Chixia said solemnly, "Legend says there are Ten Ghost Kings in the Netherworld, each ruling a region. They are Netherworld Dignitaries, and every Ghost King has existed for countless tens of thousands of years. At their level, even improving by the slightest bit is incredibly difficult."

"Yet there is a method in the human world that can greatly increase a Ghost King's power in a short time."

Zhou Yi guessed, "Could it be devouring humans?"

"Yes and no."

Yan Chixia said, "The Human Realm is extremely fragile, so a Ghost King cannot descend in person. Usually, they dispatch ghost creatures under their command to invade, slaughter humans, and conduct Blood Sacrifices. Records say that Heretical Demonic Paths once summoned the Asura Ghost King and countless Nether Soldiers and Ghost Generals. They ravaged the human world for more than ten years, killing and wounding millions."

The Netherworld was exceptionally suitable for ghost creatures to survive in. The ghost generals under a Ghost King's command were at least monsters comparable to Tree Demon Granny.

Tree Demon Granny had been restricted by her true body and could not easily leave Black Mountain, but Nether Soldiers and Ghost Generals could ravage the world.

"Fortunately, Senior Brother acted decisively and saved the collapsing structure from disaster, sparing the world from a catastrophe that could have swallowed it whole."

After sighing, Zhou Yi asked, "The tree demon left behind her remains and the Ghost King Arm. Do you know what they are useful for, Senior Brother?"

"Tree demons are Plant Spirits. After a thousand years of tempering, their trunks can be refined into flying swords. It is perfect, since you do not have a suitable Magical Artifact. Most importantly, the Thousand-Year Tree Heart is condensed from incomparably pure spiritual energy. Swallowing it directly can extend your lifespan by fifty years."

Yan Chixia continued, "As for the Ghost King Arm... the Black Mountain Ghost King was a mountain range that became a spirit. That severed arm contains pure Earth Elemental Spiritual Energy. Drag it somewhere and cultivate atop it—it will be comparable to a spiritual land."

Compared to Zhou Yi, who had only just entered the path of cultivation, Yan Chixia had cultivated for decades and possessed broad knowledge. In just a few words, he arranged the division of the spoils.

Zhou Yi felt rather embarrassed. Of the two spoils, he was taking more than one and a half.

"Senior Brother has lost lifespan, so the Thousand-Year Tree Heart is just what you need to make up for it. My cultivation is still shallow, and the Purple Lightning Sword suits me well. Taking the Ghost King Arm will be enough."

Strictly speaking, the Purple Lightning Sword had no rank and did not count as a Magical Artifact. It was merely an exceptional mundane weapon.

Only because Zhou Yi had nurtured and tempered it day and night with True Essence, making it resonate with his will, could he use the Sword Control Technique.

Yan Chixia waved a hand dismissively. "No need to stand on ceremony, Junior Brother. With the tree demon gone, there is nothing left for me in Jiangzhe. Demons run rampant throughout the land. I heard there is a Corpse King in Xiangfu that has harmed many people, so I will go take a look."

"When your cultivation succeeds in the future, remember to slay demons and exorcise evil. That will be my greatest comfort."

Zhou Yi frowned slightly. He heard a sense of entrusting his final affairs to him in Yan Chixia's words.

"Senior Brother, your injuries...?"

"Don't worry. Your senior brother is blessed by fortune. It's nothing serious."