Chapter 757

Chapter 757: The Tree Unleashes Its Power

Hearing this, Fang Lie was almost driven to anger. He angrily slapped the guy and scolded, "Are you an idiot? Can’t you see where we are?"

The Wonderful Bodhi Tree shouted, "What does that matter? No matter where we are, we can’t defeat the Semi-Immortals! We can’t beat one, and you’ve provoked four! Isn’t that asking for death?"

"You fool!" Fang Lie angrily replied, "If I wanted to die, I would have done so long ago without needing you! Can’t you see they’re as obedient as grandchildren? Right now, I want them dead!"

"Hmm?" The Wonderful Bodhi Tree was stunned and hurriedly took a look. It quickly noticed that the expressions of the four Semi-Immortals were not right; they seemed very wary of Fang Lie’s clones nearby.

"It really is like that!" The Wonderful Bodhi Tree began to observe carefully, then gasped, "What the hell is this place? Why is the Spiritual Energy so chaotic, and the Heavenly Dao laws seem twisted? And what’s that in the sky? So many meteors!"

"This is the Land of Star Fragments!" Fang Lie explained. "There’s a spatial crack in the sky connected to a certain Immortal Palace, causing fragments of the ruined palace to fall endlessly. When they pass through the Ninth Heavens Fierce Heavenly Winds, they burn up and become meteors, but some still crash to the ground, turning this place into a chaotic area. Here, divine skills and Dao magic can’t be used. Even though the four of them are Semi-Immortals, their abilities are sealed. They are really just stronger Seventh-Rank demon beasts!"

"Hahaha, so that’s how it is!" The Wonderful Bodhi Tree suddenly felt incredibly joyful. It instantly changed from being timid to extremely brazen, saying, "Don’t worry, young master, these four weaklings are mine! I didn’t expect that after decades without fighting, I could kill four Semi-Immortals in one go! How satisfying!"

While speaking, the Wonderful Bodhi Tree brandished the largest Bronze Chime Bell and violently smashed it down onto the Eighth-Rank Earth Demon Bull blocking its path!

The hundred-foot-tall Bronze Chime Bell was larger than the Earth Demon Bull. When struck down by a Ninth-Rank Great Demon, it truly had the power to crush mountains. The bull didn’t even have time to let out a scream before it was smashed into pieces on the spot!

The terrifying force struck the metal ground, producing a massive explosion that rang out, leaving those nearby dazed and stunned, their minds spinning!

The metal ground sunk over three feet, showing just how strong this guy was!

Dozens of Fang Lie’s clones were caught off guard by the blast, their ears ringing. Infuriated, he shouted, "Can’t you be more careful? The ground here is metal; you can’t smash it with the chime!"

Fortunately, divine skills, Dao magic, and treasures could not be used here. Otherwise, that strike would definitely have unleashed the power of the Bronze Chime Bell. Once the chime’s sound with Dao essence emerged, Fang Lie’s clones might not just feel dizzy; they could even be killed instantly!

The Wonderful Bodhi Tree, knowing it was in trouble, quickly called out, "Oh dear, young master, I’m truly sorry! I slipped up this time; it won’t happen again!"

After saying that, it hurriedly stored the largest chime bell and rushed toward the Jade-Green Toad. This time, it swung the second and third Bronze Chime Bells, attacking with both hands and no longer daring to hit the ground with force!

The Jade-Green Toad was a Ninth-Rank Great Demon and was already sentient, not lacking in intelligence. Faced with such a frenzied assault, without the ability to use protective divine skills, the best option was to dodge.

However, the problem was that four Semi-Immortals were behind him. If he dodged, wouldn’t those four be done for? He could ignore others, but he couldn’t abandon his master, Immortal Jade Toad!

In desperation, the Jade-Green Toad could only extend its claws and block the fierce strikes of the two chime bells.

But it was not a beast good at fortifying its body; its strength was inferior to that of the Wonderful Bodhi Tree, and its bodily resilience was much lower. As a result, its two front claws were broken immediately.

In pain, it let out a cry and spat out a stream of green toxic liquid all over the Wonderful Bodhi Tree.

This was the critical toxic liquid of the Jade-Green Toad, which it had nurtured within itself for over a thousand years. Even an ordinary Ninth-Rank demon beast would suffer serious damage from it, and if their resistance to poison was low, they might even be killed immediately.

But the problem was that the Wonderful Bodhi Tree was a great tree, and being a spiritual root, it was naturally immune to deadly poison.

What could kill Ninth-Rank demon beasts was nothing more than a stinky liquid to it, possibly just corroding a layer of bark—hardly serious injuries.

Thus, the Jade-Green Toad’s most skilled attack not only failed to kill the Wonderful Bodhi Tree but instead provoked its ferocity. Hundreds of arms swung like windmills, raining down assorted Bronze Chime Bells like a torrential storm upon the Jade-Green Toad. It was soon screaming, its skin torn and blood gushing, quickly left on the brink of collapse.

Seeing this, the four Semi-Immortals immediately realized things were going terribly wrong and dared not linger any longer. They hurriedly tried to break out in all directions, but they bumped right into the encirclement of Fang Lie’s many clones.

Each Semi-Immortal was surrounded and brutally beaten by seven or eight of Fang Lie, iron rods cracking against their bodies. Even if they had steel bones, they could not withstand it, and soon they were disheveled, continuously coughing up blood, their faces and bodies turning dark blue, with many bones broken!

If this continued, no matter how strong they were, they would end up being beaten to death!

At this point, the four understood that Fang Lie would not let them go. Thus, Immortal Hua Yi roared angrily, "Damn Fang Lie! I’ll remember this today! In the future, I will repay you tenfold!"

After saying that, he forcefully slapped his forehead, and suddenly a small figure, only about a foot tall and resembling his youthful self, appeared. With a flash, it darted out of the encirclement and quickly vanished without a trace.

Without a doubt, this was his vital primordial spirit, the essence of his lifelong cultivation. As long as this entity escaped, it could possess the body of a low-level cultivator, allowing for reincarnation and swiftly restoring its cultivation at a certain cost.

This was one of the reasons why Semi-Immortals were particularly difficult to kill; even if their physical bodies were shattered, they could still escape with the essence of their cultivation. Without the burden of a physical body, their speed of escape was incredibly fast, and they could use their life-bound treasures for self-rescue, making them extremely hard to capture or impede.

Seeing Immortal Hua Yi escape, the others no longer insisted. The ageless Immortal Childs left a parting threat, saying, "If I don’t die today, I will kill your entire family in the future!" Then she too fled with her primordial spirit.

The third was Immortal Jade Toad, whose primordial spirit was notably unique; it was riding on a Jade-Green Toad. He merely let out a cold snort and quickly fled.

The last one to escape was Immortal Shadow. As a sword cultivator, he was most straightforward, leaving no words behind. However, he fled not with a primordial spirit but with a Nascent Soul, or rather, his life-bound sword orb!

The reason he did not have a primordial spirit was due to his cultivation path being different from the others.

Once a cultivator reaches the Nascent Soul level, they face three significant choices on their cultivation path.

One is to form a Nascent Soul and walk the Nascent Soul path. This path is relatively straightforward but highly specialized, suitable for those with less talent.

Most sword cultivators from East Kunlun choose this path, integrating their life-bound sword energy into it, eventually refining it into a sword orb with pure, powerful sword energy. This not only allows them to attack and defend but also grants them the fastest escape speed, making them an extremely formidable presence.

The second path is to shatter the Nascent Soul and form a primordial spirit. Most cultivators, such as those from the Mo Sect, walk this path, enjoying flexibility and the ability to treat their primordial spirit as a second body, while also using their life-bound treasures.

The third path is to use the Nascent Soul as a seed, extracting its essence and integrating it into the soul, directly forming a primordial spirit. This involves enduring the trials of wind, fire, and thunder, making one’s divine sense incredibly strong, absolutely overpowering peers, and enhancing their combat power!

This is the most challenging path. However, if completed, the potential is limitless! Only the strongest talents can embark on such a Dao path, with the Xuan Sect being among the best.

In truth, there is no hierarchy among these three paths; each can be trained to the highest level. Ultimately, it depends on the cultivator’s determination to determine strength.

However, the qualifications demanded by these three paths differ. The Nascent Soul path is the simplest, requiring low qualifications but high comprehension and perseverance. The primordial spirit path calls for talent, which is manageable.

Only the primordial spirit path demands unwavering qualifications, comprehension, and perseverance, making it impossible for anyone but the absolute top talents to practice. This is also why the Xuan Sect has consistently had few disciples.

Yet, in the Land of Star Fragments, these three paths began to show their differences. Once the three primordial spirits flew out, they quickly became contaminated by the chaotic atmosphere surrounding them.

Both the primordial spirit and Nascent Soul are the very essence of a cultivator; they cannot withstand even a hint of corruption. Yet, they are now tainted by the chaotic energies, especially the strands of Ninth Heavens Fierce Heavenly Wind, which nearly cost them their lives, almost like a repeat of enduring the tribulations.

The Ninth Heavens Fierce Heavenly Wind acts like little knives, relentlessly wearing down the powers of the primordial spirits, while other corruptive energies pollute their purity, forcing them to expend vast amounts of magic to purge the filth.

However, without the nourishment of their physical bodies, their magic wanes with each use; once it runs out, they become helpless against the contaminating forces, and soon their primordial spirits will dissipate.

In comparison, the sword cultivator’s Nascent Soul is much better. It is wrapped in sharp sword energy, completely unaffected by the corruptive energies, and with its speed, it escaped the Land of Star Fragments before exhausting its magic.

Thus, in this chaotic battle, the four Semi-Immortals surrounded Fang Lie, but the outcome was three dead and one heavily injured, turning the whole encounter into a farce!