One strike

The tree spirit's words still echoed in my ears.

However, Fang Zelin ignored it all and slapped his palm against the still-burning tree in front of him, trying to extinguish the fire.

Seeing that Fang Zelin was still persistent, the two demons beside him also shook their heads.

This person won't listen to advice.

How could he possibly put out this fire by himself, all for the sake of the benefits promised by the tree spirit?

This person is somewhat blinded by greed.

The two demons shook their heads inwardly upon thinking this, but they didn't pay any attention to it.

The tree spirit didn't say anything, so neither of them would.

However, just as the three demons were watching Fang Zelin make a fool of himself, and Fang Zelin was about to strike the tree trunk with his palm, his posture suddenly changed.

A surge of rich Spiritual Power flowed directly into his palms, and then Fang Zelin let out a sharp shout.

In an instant, his palms changed shape and slammed heavily onto the tree trunk in front of him.

"Bang!"

With a muffled thud, the tree trunk shook violently after taking a solid blow from Fang Zelin's palm.

Seeing this, Fang Zelin pressed his strength into the tree trunk with both palms and pushed hard.

"Splash."

With a loud thud, the entire tree trunk was overturned by Fang Zelin.

What are you doing!

The tree spirit realized something was wrong and suddenly shouted at Fang Zelin, its voice already carrying a hint of panic.

"It's nothing. You're a demon, so I naturally can't believe everything you say. I was just talking to a fellow Daoist about this, and we can't take everything we hear at face value."

"Now, let's push aside a tree and see. It seems there shouldn't be any problem. If I'm wrong, given your kind nature, I will not only help you put out the fire, but I will also apologize to you."

Fang Zelin calmly replied to the voice, but his gaze had already turned to the ground.

The fallen tree brought with it a lot of soil, but from its roots, one could see rows of stark bones.

"Really!"

Looking at the countless bones embedded in the tree roots, some of which were very small and clearly the skulls of children, one could tell at a glance that they were actually children's skulls.

Upon seeing this, Fang Zelin took a deep breath, his expression instantly turning serious.

"I felt something was off before. With such a huge promise of profit, most people would have been blinded by greed."

The tree trunk, which had been pushed aside, was now engulfed in even fiercer flames, and within moments it had been reduced to a charred remains.

At this moment, the entire sea of fire began to tremble, as if something terrifying was awakening.

Upon seeing this, Fang Zelin immediately retreated, fearing he would be caught in the crossfire.

The tree demon before them possessed an unknown amount of cultivation, and was utterly terrifying.

He had just tested the waters, only to confirm his suspicions.

Yuanqing Prefecture had long been plagued by demons, and people often went missing.

The situation was so severe that many people had to leave their homes, which shows just how terrifying it was.

In this situation, the tree demon in front of them was also a local overlord, and it seemed impossible that it had nothing to do with this matter.

So Fang Zelin gave it a try.

It's reasonable to assume that any tree trunk burned by heavenly fire must have had some kind of problem.

Now that I've tried it, it's really true!

Beneath this tree trunk lie countless bones!

After the inferno passed, all that remained beneath the tree trunks were bones; it could practically have become a mountain of bones!

If we help this tree demon put out the fire, we're just helping the demon grow stronger!

"You're asking for it!"

The tree demon roared fiercely, and flames soared throughout the sea of fire, like a giant beast in the flames.

A section of tree root suddenly pierced through the ground and shot directly towards Fang Zelin.

Fang Zelin was prepared for this; he drew his sword with a backhand motion and slashed at the tree root.

The tree root was severed in an instant.

The fallen tree roots, as if still alive, seemed to want to sink into the ground.

Fang Zelin wasn't about to give the tree root a chance; he kicked the broken root back into the sea of fire.

"How is this possible? Your sword has such power?"

The tree spirit was somewhat incredulous. It had originally thought that even if Fang Zelin had seen through its disguise, it would simply kill it and bury it in the ground as nutrients.

This will also allow it to gain more power to resist the heavenly fire.

But how come this guy's sword is so powerful?

Fang Zelin did not answer, but noticed that the extended tree roots had now retracted.

He could see clearly that as the tree roots emerged, flames spread outwards, as if they were about to burn the roots as well.

Judging from this, the fire can't reach the ground yet; it can only burn the tree trunk.

Even so, the tree spirit was still trapped.

"Come, let's kill this tree demon together!"

Fang Zelin ignored the tree demon and instead spoke to Bearing the Heavens.

Upon hearing Bearing the Heavens, Chengxiao immediately started buzzing.

It wasn't wrong before; if you see those demons, just cut them down. You still have to cut them down now.

After understanding what he meant, Fang Zelin was somewhat amused and exasperated.

But then all his Spiritual Power began to flow into the Bearing the Heavens Sword.

A sword's cry suddenly rang out at that moment.

Bearing the Heavens Sword was already somewhat impatient at this moment.

Having failed to strike before, I can finally test my skills once again.

The plain and unadorned sword blade, at this moment, began to shed its embellishments, and a bright light suddenly shone forth.

Immediately, a sword aura began to condense.

Fang Zelin held Bearing the Heavens in his hand, feeling the sword aura he had felt earlier.

The tree spirit in front suddenly sensed the threat before it and immediately panicked.

"Are you a cultivator?"

Although it had heard Fang Zelin address it as "fellow Daoist" before, it hadn't thought about it in detail.

The main reason is that cultivators are not that common.

"You two, you can leave if you don't want to die."

Fang Zelin turned to look at the black bear and the giant python beside him.

He had no energy to deal with the two demons at the moment, so he could only focus all his energy on the tree demon in front of him.

The two demons were already trembling like leaves as they felt the chilling sword aura emanating from the Bearing the Heavens Sword.

Upon hearing this, he immediately turned and fled into the distant woods without looking back.

Seeing the two demons escape, Fang Zelin breathed a sigh of relief.

"Let's combine our strength and give that tree demon one strike, just one strike, and then retreat immediately."

"This tree demon is extremely powerful. We probably can't kill it with a single sword strike, but we should at least be able to injure it. This thing has been burned for so long and is very weak."

Fang Zelin spoke softly to Bearing the Heavens, and then his whole being seemed to merge into the Bearing the Heavens Sword.

Bearing the Heavens hummed continuously at this moment, and then the sword's momentum began to rise continuously, just like the sword that slashed towards Falling Stream Mountain back then.

The tree demon in front roared repeatedly, and countless tree roots began to break through the ground, preparing to block the sword.

In just a moment, countless intertwined tree roots formed a huge net above.

Although heavenly fire began to spread towards the tree roots, the tree demon dared not withdraw at all, as the sword aura made it feel deeply threatened.

At that moment, Fang Zelin felt his body lighten slightly as Bearing the Heavens gently lifted him off the ground.

All the Spiritual Power in his body was frantically poured into the Bearing the Heavens Sword, and the Spiritual Power absorbed by the Bearing the Heavens Sword was now preparing to be fully released.

The next moment, a sword cry that resounded through the heavens and earth rang out, and a huge phantom of a sword materialized in the air.

As the enormous sword appeared, the entire world went dark.

Subsequent updates will likely be scheduled around midnight. Please be aware of this.

Please don't wait for the update at noon; the author usually updates around this time.