Chapter 2052: Bursting the Cauldron, Growing Toward Heaven

The battle inside the cauldron had already been separated by the giant trees, turning into a game of escape and slaughter hidden among leaves and branches, blocking out all light.

At that moment, two figures rushed swiftly from the southern forest, saying nothing, and charged straight for the Wood King Cauldron.

The guards brought by Qingyang were protecting the great cauldron, and upon seeing this, they quickly formed ranks.

Unexpectedly, meteorites rained down from the sky—some as large as houses, others like grindstones—and over a hundred crashed down within a dozen breaths, all landing within a radius of over a hundred zhang!

Everyone's faces turned pale with shock, scrambling to dodge, no longer able to focus on forming formations.

As Liu Qingdao ran forward, he finally put down his paintbrush and drew a pair of treasure swords.

Boom, boom, boom, boom—the earth shook and mountains trembled.

The largest meteorite struck the Wood King Cauldron precisely, cracking with a soft pop into several pieces.

Suffering such heavy damage, the walls of the Wood King Cauldron were slightly deformed.

Normally, such damage would heal instantly, but now it was fully focused on suppressing the growth of the Questioning Dao Tree inside, leaving no energy to repair the cracks.

Crackling sounds echoed as the giant vines on the cauldron's body were snapped in several places.

Amidst the rising dust and smoke, blue and red sword lights twisted like dragons in flight, piercing through the chests of several people.

Immediately after, the bat puppet transformed into a massive complete form, seized No. 66, landed on the cauldron's body, and struggled to cut through the other giant vines.

The ghost ape also grabbed a huge axe and swung wildly with a series of booms.

Yuan Xuan anxiously tried to regroup his forces for an attack, but it was already too late.

Just as Dong Rui's puppet severed the three giant vines, the top of the furnace cauldron suddenly bulged upward with a sharp crackling sound, and the remaining giant vines all snapped at once!

Immediately after, the Wood King Cauldron shattered!

The green fire and hot air inside the cauldron gushed out, surging in all directions, setting the nearby forest ablaze with raging flames!

Those standing outside the cauldron, caught off guard and without protection from the Wood Immortal True Lord, were swept by this terrifying wave of fire—many were instantly vaporized, leaving not even a trace of ash.

Fortunately, Dong Rui had released the snail toad upon nearing the battlefield, letting it carry him underground.

Since his covert scheme in Miancheng, he had known he had become a delicacy in the eyes of the heavenly gods, whom they would gladly waste divine power and incarnate bodies to capture. Thus, in every major battle, he prioritized his own safety above all.

Once underground, even immortals would find it hard to catch him.

The Wood King Cauldron was blown apart from within—the giant wood burst through the cauldron's mouth and continued growing wildly until it reached a height of a hundred zhang, only then barely stopping!

Such a tremendous commotion startled the birds of the mountains and forests into flight, circling above the valley, screeching and cursing.

From afar, their constant chirping could be heard.

The trunk of the giant tree was far thicker than the great cauldron, so at this moment, the Wood King Cauldron had become nothing but scattered fragments on the ground.

The space inside the cauldron had long been squeezed out, leaving everyone no choice but to be forced up into the trees.

Causing such a huge disturbance, Dong Rui immediately asked the eye spider on his shoulder: "Hey hey, are you still alive?"

"Alive." He Lingchuan's voice came through the tiny spider at once: "There are enemies heading west!"

He was fighting Qingyang among the branches and leaves of the giant tree, while still needing to watch in all six directions.

West? Dong Rui responded loudly with "Understood"—west isn't just this side?

Several puppets instantly turned their heads together.

Landing and rushing forward was a man in his early thirties, his face dark and bluish, lips pale, skin cracked and bleeding.

He did not look like an immortal, nor even like a master. But Dong Rui thought: how could an ordinary cultivator survive so long inside the Wood King Cauldron?

This man was actually not coming for Dong Rui—he landed, stopped, turned, and began pinching his fingers and forming seals toward those in the trees—

His true target was He Lingchuan, weaving through the branches and leaves, battling Qingyang!

Seeing faint purple qi shimmering at his fingertips, the divine technique he was secretly using against He Lingchuan must be powerful, and Dong Rui disliked it, so he gave orders to the two puppets:

"Get him!"

The bat puppet shrank to its smallest form, fell from above, and shot straight at his celestial cap like an arrow.

The man kept forming seals with his hands, looked up, and blew a breath at it.

The bat puppet felt as if its front wings were burdened with tens of thousands of jin of stone, unable to fly, nearly plummeting to the ground with a slap.

But it succeeded in drawing the enemy's attention, so he failed to notice a monkey had appeared behind him—until a fierce wind stirred at the back of his head.

By then, the man had no choice but to interrupt his divine technique, first raising his hand to block the ghost ape's overhead strike.

What a pity—this divine technique requiring long incantation was far more powerful than the few he had used before. He had once used it on a powerful cultivator, who, in desperation, struggled violently, resulting in the man's own arm being torn from its socket.

Not dislocation—this was a living, tearing separation of the bone!

Earlier inside the cauldron, the demon tree had grown too fast, he could never aim properly, fearing the effect might also break bones, so he saved it for use after emerging.

His strength was not great, but his palm glowed faintly with a glowing "Exchange" character.

This divine technique could transfer the attack force of any weapon he touched to the earth below to bear, but it could be used at most three times.

Thus, to the ghost ape, his fiercely ruthless strike seemed to vanish like a mud ox into the sea, effortlessly absorbed by him.

Absurd—even the Nine Nether Great Emperor could not press down his great staff with one hand!

Fortunately, at this moment, a pair of claws suddenly grabbed his elbow from behind and yanked hard!

With a crisp crack, like firecrackers, yet it was this man's tendons snapping and bones dislocating!

Both of his arms were torn apart violently, and he could no longer draw talismans—

The one who loves ambush from behind, none other than No. 66!

It didn't even need to turn to face the man—another crack, and it directly twisted his head off.

Instantly, a cluster of gray light flew from his mouth and nose, rushing straight toward the heavens.

The ghost ape somehow produced a cloth bag, opened its mouth, and let out a hiss toward it.

Collect!

The bag naturally exerted a tremendous suction force.

That gray light, darting left and right in escape, could not get away—it was sucked in anyway.

The ghost ape tightened the bag's mouth, let out two proud hoots, and grinned smugly.

This soul-receiving pouch was an old treasure of the Phantom Sect, forcibly taken by Dong Rui with shameless audacity, his reasoning being that everyone else could collect souls, but he couldn't.

Look at that—welcoming the new year with a red start.

A door inexplicably opened in the wrinkles of the tree roots, and Nan Ronghe and the other two leapt out, their faces filled with astonishment.

After spitting out those three burdens, the Soul-Capturing Mirror instantly reverted to a palm-sized small round mirror, transformed into a faint light, and flew off to find its master.

To protect these three, it barely participated in the earlier great battle, letting the Hao Yuan Golden Mirror take all the credit—damn it!

Liu Qingdao just happened to rush over, followed the faint light up the tree, and came to support He Lingchuan.

Qingyang Light was already struggling immensely to deal with He Lingchuan alone, a formidable foe; several times she tried to descend but was intercepted by him. He knew that once she landed, trouble would inevitably arise.

Now with an additional great immortal as opponent, Qingyang was truly overwhelmed, barely managing to parry over ten exchanges before He Lingchuan pierced her left lung with a halberd, causing her to immediately cough up blood.

The wound was no more than three finger-widths from the heart meridian.

But at the same moment, her entire body suddenly blazed with green light.

"Retreat!" Liu Qingdao shouted loudly, shielding He Lingchuan as they swiftly withdrew.