Chapter 198

Chapter 198: The Troublesome Yin-Yang Tree Demon

Sometimes this tree would coil around any cultivator who brushed against it while passing beneath, and once it had you, it was hard to break free. It usually had no real aggression, and after half a day it would let go.

But the Yin-Yang Tree in front of them was far away and still launched an attack on its own. That meant it had already become a demon. If it grew true intelligence, it would not just trap them for half a day. The Yin-Yang Tree Demon loved to play tricks, so it might not release them until the tournament ended.

Thinking of this, Shen Sang Ruo called out: “Don’t let those branches wrap you!”

At her warning, the others moved at once and fell back together.

The net woven from black and white branches snapped at the air and missed, then swept toward them again.

Ye Huai drew the Nether Shadow Sword and slashed. The branch did not budge. His strike, backed by a Late Golden Core Sword Cultivator’s strength, left only shallow marks.

Song Wei Yan cast spellcraft, Bai Ruo An threw talismans, and Su Xi Yu swung her alchemy furnace as a weapon, but the results were the same.

Even when Shen Sang Ruo used fire spiritual power, the thing wood-type demon beasts fear most, she only managed to scorch part of a branch.

They understood at once that this Yin-Yang Tree Demon must be at least above the Mid Nascent Soul Stage.

Alarm bells rang in their minds, and they ran at full speed.

Shen Sang Ruo kept calm and said: “Its branches can’t stretch forever. Get outside their reach.”

Song Wei Yan shouted while running: “Didn’t the Secret Realm get cleared ahead of time? How can there be a demon above the Mid Nascent Soul Stage in a Mystic-tier Zone?”

Shen Sang Ruo twisted aside from a sweeping branch and answered: “Maybe the Elders left it because it usually isn’t aggressive.”

On Fengling Terrace, the watchers sighed for the five from Ninghua Sect.

Someone muttered: “After a hundred years of cultivation, that Yin-Yang Tree Demon looks even stronger now.”

Another said: “If Ninghua Sect gets caught, their Sect Grand Tournament run ends here.”

A third recalled: “Two tournaments ago, a whole team got wrapped from start to finish. They could have placed in the top twenty. In the end, they looked ready to cry.”

Someone added: “It didn’t show up last time. After two hundred years, people almost forgot about it.”

A veteran warned: “It roams the Mystic-tier Zone, so you can’t guard against it. If you meet it, your luck’s rotten for eight lifetimes.”

Many lamented Ninghua Sect’s bad luck.

A voice complained: “Why didn’t the Elders remove this Yin-Yang Tree Demon? What a nasty trap.”

They knew the Secret Realm’s clearing was done jointly by top sect Elders.

Another watcher said: “I hope the five from Ninghua Sect escape. They’re strong enough to arm-wrestle Flying Cloud Sect. If this thing ruins them, what a pity.”

To Shen Dao Chen and Master Ling Xiao, though, this was good news. It felt like heaven itself was helping them target Ninghua Sect. In their hearts they wished the Yin-Yang Tree Demon would stall all five.

Immortal Lord Chang Li and the two beside him frowned slightly as they watched the five sprint for the edge of the branches’ range, but they believed those juniors would find a way.

Shen Sang Ruo snapped her Luan Feather Fan, and the tree’s black and white branches turned pitch black in the flames. They still writhed and shot at her with great speed. [If it’s a demon with intelligence, it should feel pain. Even if the branches are tough, there should be at least a moment of fear.]

What she saw, though, was only a brief pause, like the branch froze for a second.

Her eyes flashed. [Strange.]

In her quick glance she thought she saw a tiny curl of green.

They ran several hundred meters, yet the branches kept chasing.

Song Wei Yan looked back at the soul-chasing branches and cried: “How long are these things? We’ve run so far!”

Bai Ruo An could not help himself and joked: “Ancient tree demon, how old are you, anyway?”

Right now their speed matched the branches. They kept a steady gap. If this continued, they could escape, so they still had the mood to talk.

But Shen Sang Ruo felt uneasy. [A demon above the Mid Nascent Soul Stage wouldn’t fail to catch a few Late Golden Core cultivators. This Yin-Yang Tree Demon is toying with us, making us think we can run.]

The next moment, trouble struck.

While running, Song Wei Yan tripped over something unseen. He went down hard. Before he could rise, several branches wrapped him and lifted him into the air. He could not move at all.

He yelled: “What the heck!”

Cracks split open across the ground, and countless roots burst out.

These were the tree’s roots. For a Yin-Yang Tree that looked the size of an ordinary tree, its root network spread shockingly wide. The roots didn’t need to extend like branches. The ground the team ran across was already its turf.

So the roots only had to push up from below to surround them. Dodging was impossible.

Chased and blocked from all sides, Bai Ruo An and Su Xi Yu soon had their legs snagged by roots, then were bound tight by branches.

Only Ye Huai, riding Sword Flight, and Shen Sang Ruo, who could borrow the wind to take to the air, remained free.

On Fengling Terrace, someone groaned: “It’s over. Ninghua Sect might be wiped out.”

Another threw up his hands: “How do you run? Above and below, the Yin-Yang Tree Demon has them covered.”

A third offered the cold math: “Pity. Maybe only Shen Sang Ruo and Ye Huai can get away. Abandon the other three and cut losses. There shouldn’t be mortal danger. With those two, they might still gather some points.”

That sounded like the best way to keep Ninghua Sect’s score from looking too bad.

A bundle of roots lunged up in front of Shen Sang Ruo. She flicked her Luan Feather Fan and used the wind to vault over them.

The roots stabbed past less than a foot from her. This time she saw clearly. After being burned, the roots only stopped; they did not jerk back. And on those roots, she spotted hair-thin green tendrils. If she had not been so close, she would never have noticed.

[Normal vines twine around trunks and branches. Why are there vines on the roots?]

Su Xi Yu’s urgent cry cut off Shen Sang Ruo’s thoughts: “Senior Brother, Junior Sister, don’t worry about us. Run! This tree demon is wrong! It’s sucking my spiritual power!”