Chapter 2051: Soaring to the Heavens

He Lingchuan knew her arrows were full of tricks, so he didn't even try to block them; instead, he reached out and summoned the Haoyuan Golden Mirror, stepping right into it in one stride.

Immediately after, he appeared behind Qingyang!

"Following Shadow" couldn't be reused a second time in a short period, so he could only make flexible use of the Haoyuan Golden Mirror.

As soon as he revealed his form, he slashed at Qingyang's back with a blade, intending to cleave her in two.

In this round, it's either you die or I live.

He did cut her, but Qingyang's body emitted a huge illusory red plum blossom that absorbed the full force of that strike.

She wasn't hurt; instead, she seemed to be pushed forward seven feet by the blade's wind.

And after He Lingchuan cut through the illusion, his body instead hesitated slightly, not as agile as before.

Qingyang's defensive divine ability is truly formidable—know that he now has his entire body infused with elemental power, making his resistance to spells extremely strong.

If it were anyone else, they'd now be frozen in place, unable to move at all.

Not far away, that man caught sight of He Lingchuan's silhouette and again made the hand gesture for the Severing Technique.

This time, when He Lingchuan appeared, his posture wasn't as upright as before, and his movements were slightly sluggish.

Slightly, but already this heavenly demon had caught hold of him.

So, that backlash technique just now still took effect on him!

Excellent, then let's do it again! The heavenly demon doesn't believe he can withstand his divine technique a third time.

Seizing the opportunity to tear him into pieces, this chaotic bout could end!

However, however, the result was again unsatisfactory:

Space was indeed torn apart once more, but following the fragmentation, it wasn't He Lingchuan who was split apart, but the red mist that burst out obliquely.

The Blood Demon rushed to save his master.

The ghost spawn and Ayi he controlled finally killed another servant boy, and the Blood Demon's true form's guarded demon tree also grew, its branches becoming harder than steel, no longer needing constant attention.

Thus the Blood Demon rushed over and blocked this great Severing Technique.

Most beings' bodies, when split apart, would die instantly on the spot, but the Blood Demon's body is inherently formless and substanceless, so splitting is its normal state.

The Heavenly God's use of this great Severing Technique really just cut at emptiness.

On this side, He Lingchuan caught up in two steps and engaged Qingyang in combat.

Though he had just been struck by the backlash divine technique, he was fortunate to have double protection from his elemental power and the Jinglong Battle Armor; otherwise, he would truly have been torn apart.

Even so, he was badly injured.

But Qingyang had recovered her peak state—in terms of strength and agility, she was now his equal;

In terms of fighting spirit, the two were actually evenly matched, both desiring to put the other to death!

Qingyang's combat techniques are highly seasoned; the divine abilities she inserts into gaps are exquisitely executed. Even if they seem insignificant at first glance, they can produce unexpected effects.

In the flash of lightning and spark of stone, the two sides had already exchanged seven or eight rounds.

Qingyang grew more astonished as the fight went on—He Lingchuan's sword technique is utterly simple yet his sword intent is exquisite, he uses few divine abilities, only attacking where the enemy must defend; his offense is also extremely fierce, Qingyang only felt she had to withstand a raging torrent coming at her face, and even with all her efforts, that violent wave still left her breathless.

Don't forget, He Lingchuan also has overwhelming elemental support that defies reason.

And don't forget, he now has injuries on his body, merely hidden beneath his battle armor so others can't see them.

After only this brief exchange, she understood this man had entered the Dao through martial arts, and his future cultivation would surely be the imperial path of swallowing mountains and rivers, sweeping the six directions!

Too bad, his momentum has already grown, she can't stop him now.

At this moment, the demon tree suddenly shot up a great length, its branches and leaves finally unfurling.

Its growth, even the Wood King Cauldron couldn't stop it.

And this cauldron is also based on wood energy, actually promoting its growth.

Until it straightened its trunk and truly displayed its form, He Lingchuan unconsciously blurted out:

"Ask-the-Dao Tree?!"

The Puluo wood and banyan are similar, growing laterally with straight branches and side trunks; but the Ask-the-Dao Tree is the opposite—its trunk is straight and tall, while the branches that grow out are twisted and vigorous, coiling like dragons, a laudatory expression of "twisting and entwining."

He Lingchuan was deeply impressed by the Ask-the-Dao Tree on Mount Xushan; seeing this tree's vigor, he recognized it immediately without much effort.

Back then, the old tree gave him a piece of red-gold leaf, which he handed over to the Divine Bone Necklace, only then learning it was a gift left by the Wood Spirit Venerable before his sitting dissolution, with three verses inscribed on it.

The next morning, the Great Square Vase returned the Ask-the-Dao Tree leaf to him. Later, he used this leaf to block Miao Zhantian's "True Eye" divine ability's probing, achieving a feat of deceiving heaven.

After that, he was always busy and rarely thought of the Ask-the-Dao Tree again. Now it seems, the Great Square Vase still extracted many elements from that red-gold leaf, even infusing them into the Puluo wood.

He Lingchuan instantly understood why the Great Square Vase made the tree possess the Ask-the-Dao Tree's traits:

Beneath Mount Xushan lies an active volcano, even nurturing the innate divine object Great Fire Spirit Ridge Torch, yet the Ask-the-Dao Tree can sink its roots into the earth-fire to draw nourishment—its fire-eating nature is exceptional.

The blue fire burning fiercely inside the cauldron actually provides it with ample nourishment, allowing rapid growth.

Don't forget, it also received abundant divine blood during the Immortal-Demon War. He Lingchuan himself has experimented on what divine blood does to plants and demons; this little tree's frantic growth may also have inherited the mutation of the old Ask-the-Dao Tree.

In short, as its height and thickness increase, it's heading toward becoming a towering giant tree that reaches the heavens.

The space inside the cauldron grew increasingly cramped, He Lingchuan and Old Niu were squeezed to the side by it, and finally they simply jumped onto the tree trunk.

At this point, the enemy's attacks no longer posed lethal harm to it.

It just kept growing like that, uncontrolled, upward.

Under the control of the Wood Sovereign True Lord, the Wood King Cauldron also struggled to expand its space, its height above ground already reaching thirty zhang and more—it was indeed quite spacious.

But the cauldron can only grow so large before hitting a limit.

Yet amidst the flames and blue smoke, the great tree stood alone in excellence, ever more upright, its crown still reaching the cauldron lid.

Thus everyone heard a dull yet loud "crack" sound—the noise of the tree crown's leaves and branches breaking apart one after another.

But the vigorously growing trunk followed closely behind, shooting straight into the heavens!

The struggle between the Wood King Cauldron and the Ask-the-Dao Tree momentarily presented a strange stalemate.

From the crowd's perspective, they could see the furnace walls already pressed inward.

This was no longer the minor tinkering of He Lingchuan's earlier wall-boring.

The giant tree's trunk grew thicker and thicker, its branches harder and harder, its upward growth momentum becoming ever more unstoppable.

Viewed from outside, the wine-jar-shaped cauldron body shed debris rustling, producing crack after crack.

"No, no!" True Lord Mu Su cried out in shock and anger, suddenly throwing his whole body forward, lunging directly onto the cauldron.

A strange scene appeared:

The moment he made contact with the Mu Wang Ding, his body transformed into old vines, swiftly winding around the cauldron body more than a dozen times, each loop looking unbreakable.

With True Lord Mu Su's reinforcement, the cauldron body's collapse seemed to have stabilized for the time being.