Refining the Mountains and Rivers

When Qin Yu had been examining his surroundings, he noticed that the blood flowing out from the corpse had strangely disappeared into the ground without spreading out at all. It was like a large invisible mouth was beneath the corpse, slurping up all the blood. Still, he never imagined the killer would be this giant tree.

A loud rumbling sounded out from behind him. The speed of this tree monster was astonishingly fast. Countless roots swung around, like the arms of malevolent ghosts.

"Stay…here…join…me…" The corpse's mouth flapped open and close, the voice incomparably strange. With loud cracking noises, dozens of branches suddenly fell off from the tree and the sound of whistling arrows filled the air.

Qin Yu's heart skipped a beat. He thrust his feet into the ground and came to a halting stop. He could hear piercing sounds ring out from above his head, causing his hair to flutter up. A thick and dense array of branches pierced deep into the earth in front of him, forming a mountain of wood that blocked his way.

The tree monster rapidly approached. The upper-half of the pierced through corpse suddenly revealed a strange smile as it opened its mouth and emitted an ear-piercing scream.

Qin Yu stiffened. At this moment, he felt as if countless iron needles had ruthlessly pierced into his mind, nailing his soul tightly in place.

At this time, the Cosmic Seacross Bell within his soul space began to ring. The sonic waves were like surging tides, crushing all the invading power.

Qin Yu's movement was instantly restored. A trace of killing intent flashed in his eyes. However, he kept still, maintaining an appearance as if he was still being suppressed.

A ghastly cackle came from the corpse's mouth. The branches of the tree monster wove into two large hands that grasped at Qin Yu.

Following that, only a bit of strength needed to be applied and he would end up just like the corpse before him.

But at this moment, a blinding silver white light erupted, ruthlessly crashing into the tree monster like a bolt of lightning falling from the skies. The corpse emitted a pained roar and countless blocking branches were cut apart. On top of the massive body of the tree monster, a long wound appeared with green goo wildly gushing out.

Qin Yu swiftly lifted his right hand and his index finger thrust into the tree monster's wound. Then, he landed on the ground and howled away once more.

The corpse roared in anger. The wound on the tree monster's surface began to regenerate at a speed visible to the n.a.k.e.d eye. Even the severed branches began to grow back.

Its six giant feet formed of roots continued to move forward, chasing after Qin Yu. But at this moment, its immense body staggered and it almost fell down in place. The corpse's eyes widened and it stubbornly stared at Qin Yu. Its mouth moved as if it wanted to say something but all that came out was black blood.

Then, like a wax figure rapidly melting beneath an inferno, the upper half of the corpse dissolved into yellow and red goo. The massive body of the tree monster trembled. It tried to straighten itself, but its network of tree roots began to turn black and rot away at an incredible speed.

Bang -

The tree monster crashed into the ground.

Qin Yu stopped and turned around. He watched the tree monster on the ground fiercely struggle until its twitching movements gradually came to a stop. He furrowed his eyebrows, a dignified expression on his face.

Earlier, he had discovered that this tree monster possessed a mind-boggling self-healing ability. If he really wanted to directly face it and kill it, he would surely need to pay a great price.

Thus, he used the finger of his right hand. Because it had absorbed enough poison and transformed into a part of the Great Dao Body, its toxicity had become even more terrifying than before. Just a touch was able to poison this tree monster to death.

However, in Qin Yu's understanding, there were no records of this tree monster in the information he received about the Demon Ascension Gate. Moreover, the dead cultivator left a shadow that hovered over his heart.

This opening of the Demon Ascension Gate seemed different from before!

After reminding himself to raise his guard, Qin Yu turned and quickly vanished from sight.

…

Two cultivators were slumped on the ground near a mountain stream. Their hearts had been pierced through by tree roots, but because one of them had a tyrannical cultivation, he had yet to die.

The cultivator lifted a trembling hand and took out the soulguard stone. Then, with his final strength, he crushed it.

Hum -

A black halo of light appeared around him, wrapping about his body. his darkened eyes began to shine a little, hope rising within them. But at this moment, an unknown change occurred. The black halo of light violently shook and then shattered.

The cultivator's eyes widened, his face pale with shock and fear. "No!"

His scream was full of despair!

The tree roots that pierced through the hearts of the two cultivators suddenly turned transparent. At this time, one could see red blood flowing through them, pouring deep into the depths of the earth.

Several breaths of time later, the roots released themselves and drilled into the ground, leaving behind the corpses of the two cultivators. But, because all the moisture from their bodies had been taken away, all that was left were two withered corpses. Their mouths were still wide open in pained screams. Their heads faced the heavens in a silent roar, as if asking why they would perish here. But what a pity, they were doomed to never receive an answer.

…

On a gravel beach, a female cultivator fled in distress. There were countless rips in her robes, revealing her clear and fair skin. As she ran away, traces of a spring scene could be seen.

She constantly looked behind her. Although there was nothing there, she didn't relax at all. Instead, her eyes became even more panicked.

This was because just moments before, she had witnessed several of her companions being dragged into the ground without warning. After that, none of them came back up.

Just what is that…why isn't the soulguard stone working…I don't want to die…I don't want to die…I don't want to die…!

Her expression became even more fl.u.s.tered. She suddenly staggered. Although she didn't fall to the ground, her speed inevitably slowed. She paled, infinite despair pouring out from her eyes.

Bang -

Countless crushed stones shot up into the skies. The roots that drilled up were like an open mouth, swallowing the female cultivator and then returning belowground as fast as lightning.

The gravel beach became quiet once more, as if nothing had happened. It was just that several pieces of gravel were stained with drops of blood, silent proof of what had occurred here.

…

Bang -

There was a loud crash on the ground as a deep pit was formed. The cultivator at the bottom of the pit was in a distressed state as he spat out a mouthful of blood. He looked at the demon ape crazily hurtling towards him and he bitterly cursed out loud. He never thought that because he was being greedy and killed two little demon apes, he would actually attract such a terrifying fellow.

This demon ape should be the commander of the demon ape pack. Perhaps amongst the little demon apes he had killed was one of this demon ape's direct bloodline descendants.

Hum hum! No wonder it had kept chasing him without end. He had fled for such a long time but had finally been forced into this hopeless situation.

But even so, what can you do to me? You damned demon ape, if you want to take revenge, try again in your next life!

The cultivator flipped his hand and took out the soulguard stone, a sigh in his eyes. His trip through the Demon Ascension Gate was over with this, and he still felt a bit of unwillingness.

Kacha -

The soulguard stone shattered and a black halo of light spread out. The demon ape roared in rage, but helplessness rose in its cruel and blood-filled eyes.

It recognized this stone. As long as these damned intruders destroyed it, they would be able to escape without losing a single hair.

Through the endless years, demon beasts of various tribes had been hunted down and killed generation after generation. But, they were rarely able to kill these intruders.

Today was also the same.

The demon ape came to a stop. It knew that it had already lost its chance to kill its enemy. Its blood-red eyes seemed to see through that black halo of light and see the mocking look in the intruder's eyes.

Pa -

Like a popping air bubble and also like a layer of ice bursting apart, the black halo of light broke down and faded away.

But, the intruder was still in the pit.

Both sides were stunned at the same time. After a short period of time, the sighing expression in the cultivator's eyes became one of inexhaustible fear. He struggled to stand up.

The helplessness in the demon ape's eyes instantly disappeared. All that was left behind was cruelty and rage.

Bang -

The ground was torn apart by sharp claws. It took several steps forward and leapt into the air. Then, like a heavy stone, it crashed into the pit, smashing into the cultivator's chest. As the sound of breaking bones filled the air, the demon ape opened its jaws wide and placed the cultivator's entire head between its teeth.

Crunch -

Crunch -

This was the sound of hard skull bone being chewed upon. Fresh blood and brain fluids dripped down the sides of the demon ape's mouth. It puffed up its chest and beat down like a drum, its head rearing back and roaring towards the sky in excitement.

These damned intruders, they seemed to have lost whatever it was they relied upon to escape…their end had arrived!

…

When Qin Yu killed the tree monster and escaped, the small world of the Demon Ascension Gate had already started to fall into chaos.

There were tree monsters killing people, but there were even more wild and enraged demon beasts rampaging about. Many of them had even taken the initiative to hunt down human cultivators.

In this world, there were no living beings willing to be fat sheep reared in a cage, their only destiny to wait in despair for the day they were butchered.

This was particularly true for demon beasts that had developed wisdom, who possessed tyrannical strength, and were naturally cruel and bloodthirsty.

And, what was even stranger was that everything that occurred in this small world was isolated from the outside world, not alarming any of the powerful Demonic Path powerhouses standing guard outside.

Thus, this great catastrophe arrived, sweeping through the entire small world. It was destined to cause countless deaths and serious losses to the future elites of the Demonic Path.

..

Two figures stood atop a large tree, staring towards the depths of the small world with a dignified look in their eyes. At the same time, there was a bit of happiness.

"Ancient tree monsters!"

The figure on the left slowly spoke. His body was tall and straight like a spear and his elegant eyebrows were like swords. He emitted an endlessly heroic spirit just by standing.

To the right was a familiar person; it was the one known as the Blood Battle Demon God, Zuo Lanyue. He took a deep breath, suppressing his tumbling emotions. There was a burning heat deep in his eyes.

"Brother Xu, I never imagined that entering the small world this time, we would actually have such a marvelous opportunity."

The two youths glanced at each other. There wasn't anything that needed to be said; they understood each other.

To others, these ancient tree monsters awakening might be a disaster. But in their eyes, this was a monumental spell of good fortune.

If they could hunt down these legendary ancient tree monsters…

Xu Guzi lightly said, "With just you and I, we cannot accomplish this."

Zuo Lanyue smiled. "Then I must bother Brother Xu to call upon our colleagues. I imagine that our other fellow daoists must be interested in this."

…

Beneath the ancient tree monster that towered higher than the heavens, the blood that flooded out from the cracks in the ground began to stir and tumble about. Like boiling water, faint traces of blood fog rose up, slowly condensing into a figure.

This figure resembled a thin and emaciated old man. His eyes were calm and tranquil, with a bit of pity and compassion within them. This was unexpectedly the old man respectfully referred to as the Sage in the cave within the northern snowy regions.

What was different now was that he wore a thin blood red robe. He gazed into the distance, and after several breaths of time, revealed a happy expression.

"Juniors of the demonic path, please offer your life and warm blood to my people, to establish the foundation of our new life!"

The Sage flicked his sleeves. A giant mottled furnace of an unknown material appeared, settling right below the ancient tree monster.

Pa -

Pa -

The ground broke open and countless tiny tree roots drilled up. They crawled up the furnace. Then, the ends of the roots broke open and beads of dark red blood dripped into the furnace.

It was a tremendous amount. Even though the beads of blood dripped out from the tree roots slowly, once they reached a certain number, it was like raining blood!

The Sage looked at this and his eyes became even warmer, as if he saw the light of hope.