Chapter 543 - 233: Avoiding the Storm and Gaining Evil Qi; Crossing the Ash Sea and Encountering a Monstrous Snake (Part 2)
Chapter 543: Chapter 233: Avoiding the Storm and Gaining Evil Qi; Crossing the Ash Sea and Encountering a Monstrous Snake (Part 2)
However, the roots were unnaturally long—dozens of times longer than the weeping willow’s main body.
BANG!
The timely-bloomed Jade Platform Fire Lotus trembled, and a full twenty-four of its layers were shattered on impact. A rain of fragmented flames fell from the sky, igniting much of the seaweed below.
For a moment, the sea surface was a spectacular sight of soaring flames.
However, more roots ignored the roaring blaze, shooting up from the water to surround him from all sides.
"True Yang Fire Dragon!"
With a soft cry from Xiao Chen, a massive Fire Dragon manifested to block the roots rising one after another from below.
At the same time, he immediately gained altitude, trying to distance himself from the strange willow tree below.
As if sensing its prey was about to escape, the weeping willow whipped a branch out of the sea, stabbing straight up into the air.
Its speed far exceeded the limits of a Golden Core Cultivator.
In an instant, it caught up to Xiao Chen and coiled around his Fire Lotus.
This single branch was enough to halt his movement completely.
Without a doubt, this was not just a Nascent Soul-level weeping willow, but likely one at the late-stage Nascent Soul realm.
There was good news, however. The willow tree seemed to lack true sentience, or at least, it didn’t seem to be paying much attention to this fight.
Perhaps to the willow, this was nothing more than a routine hunt.
For Xiao Chen, this was his chance to break free.
Traversing the distant sea with just his physical body was extremely dangerous, so he wanted to save the Blade of Night if he could.
So, he immediately summoned his Wind and Thunder Dual Swords. "Sharp Qi Picking Clouds!"
Thanks to being nourished within Xiao Chen’s Life Pill and the effects of the Celestial Cyan Sword Washing Leaf, the Wind and Thunder Dual Swords were even more powerful than they had been in the Relic. They directly severed the willow branch from below him.
Severed from its source, the section of the branch coiled around him immediately lost its Power and went limp.
But in that brief moment, another three layers of the Jade Platform Fire Lotus had shattered.
If not for Xiao Chen’s hundredfold amplification, he would have likely been trussed up completely by now.
CRACKLE~!
However, the weeping willow didn’t give up. The severed branch shot upward once more.
But instead of repeating its old trick of binding him, it squirmed erratically before spraying a small puff of Yin Fiend Qi from its center, straight at Xiao Chen.
Faced with the assault of the Evil Qi, both the Jade Platform Fire Lotus and the Ghost-Faced Profound Light Shield seemed to be nothing but decorations.
The brightly shining Protective Profound Light was like it wasn’t even there, allowing the Evil Qi to pass right through.
"Hm?"
Feeling the Yin Fiend enter his body, Xiao Chen froze for a second. Then, before the Evil Qi could take effect, he skillfully activated the Mystic Sky Eating Secret Technique on the spot and began its Refinement.
"Hiss... This feeling... It’s Yin Wood Fiend!"
As the Secret Technique activated, he immediately identified the type of Evil Qi.
His eyes instantly lit up as he looked down at the willow tree.
’That little bit just now wasn’t nearly enough!’
An ordinary Cultivator would never dare to covet the treasures of a Nascent Soul-level tree demon, but Xiao Chen had his Augment to protect him.
Although the Blade of Night couldn’t be used lightly, this was undoubtedly the perfect time for it.
With this assurance, he stopped in mid-air. Not only did he not pull away, but he actually drifted a little closer to the branch.
PSSHT~!
The branch once again sprayed a gout of Yin Fiend Qi from its severed end, a method it used to attack prey.
Normally, its prey couldn’t absorb the Evil Qi and would instead suffer a quick, violent death from its corrosive properties.
Afterward, it could simply reabsorb the spent Yin Fiend Qi, resulting in almost no loss.
This time, however, it had miscalculated.
Not only did Xiao Chen absorb it all in an instant, but he even took the initiative to move closer, wanting more Evil Qi.
’Still not enough. A little more!’
Sensing that its prey was still moving, the branch hesitated in an almost human-like way, as if pondering why this particular prey was so different.
Based on its past hunting experience, two sprays should have been more than enough for even a mutated Sea Fish at the Great Perfection of the Golden Core realm.
But it was a creature born of the sea, and for thousands of years, it had relied on instinct.
So, after a brief hesitation, it followed its routine and sprayed another gout of Yin Fiend Qi, attempting to corrode its prey.
’Not enough! Still not enough! It’s nowhere near enough!’
’I need a huge amount to form the Yin Wood Seal. Getting it in these small puffs is way too slow.’
Xiao Chen simply lunged forward and grabbed the willow branch.
He activated the Mystic Sky Eating Secret Technique with all his might, actively drawing the Evil Qi out through the branch.
"Ah, that’s more like it!"
A continuous stream of Yin Fiend Qi was drawn into his body, where it was guided by the Secret Technique into his Dantian, gradually coalescing into the outline of a seal.
BOOM~!
The willow branch sensed that something was wrong and immediately fought back.
Its method was to mobilize more branches, which shot into the air and trussed Xiao Chen up completely.
Then, dozens of branches aimed at him simultaneously, instantly spraying out tens of times more Yin Fiend Qi.
Based on past experience, this was an extremely effective move, enough to threaten even the occasional Nascent Soul-level Sea Fish that tried to eat it. This was the Willow Demon’s ultimate killing move.
"Excellent! Let the Evil Qi come even more fiercely!"
Xiao Chen, however, was beaming. He was only afraid of one thing: that the weeping willow had stored too little Yin Fiend Qi.
With such an abundant supply, a brand-new Yin Wood Seal successfully formed in his Dantian in just over ten breaths of time.
"This wasn’t easy. A Wood Spirit Root Cultivator like me has finally obtained Wood Attribute Evil Qi."