Chapter 451

"Sect Master." Seeing Yu Changsheng saw Lu Ran return and immediately asked, "How did it go?"

Lu Ran said: "Unexpectedly, the guards' attitude was fine; knowing I was an Immortal Sheep disciple, they didn't make things difficult for me."

"Any news of He Qi Feng?"

"They said she went out on a mission and might return soon." As he spoke, Lu Ran's expression turned strange: "He Qi Feng even became an official; she's a Hall Master within Martial Extreme Peak."

"Oh?" Seeing Yu Changsheng was also quite surprised.

Looking at it this way, this woman's abilities are quite extraordinary, aren't they?

As a first-tier god, the disciples recruited by the Martial Monks are naturally all individuals of exceptional talent.

Martial Extreme Peak must also be teeming with experts!

To stand out in such a powerful force and serve as a Hall Master, combat strength alone is absolutely not enough!

Coupled with the fact that He Qi Feng is young and has been in the mountains for a short time, for her to achieve such results...

Wisdom, means, and more are all indispensable.

Thinking of this, Seeing Yu Changsheng looked forward to He Qi Feng joining even more.

"Let's come back and check in a few days," Lu Ran proposed.

"That works." Seeing Yu Changsheng asked, "Shall we open a cave to cultivate for a few days?"

Lu Ran turned to look south: "The captive said that a few hundred kilometers south of Martial Extreme Peak, there is a Deadwood Forest."

Seeing Yu Changsheng's heart stirred slightly, probing: "Does the Sect Master want to infiltrate the Tree-Face Demon's ranks?"

The Evil Demon: Tree-Face Demon, is a type of demon that resembles a dead tree, named for the terrifying human face growing on its trunk.

This race is also a mortal enemy of the Biwu sect.

"Let's go check it out." Lu Ran was noncommittal.

Currently, he only has two statue activation slots left; to increase the number, he must wait until the Sea Realm.

Lu Ran is currently only at the River Estuary Realm, Third Stage; to advance to the Sea Realm, he'll have to wait a while.

He still plans to first activate some statues that can fill his own shortcomings.

For instance, the Yanqing sect, or its mortal enemy, the Evil Demon: Sea Jiaoren race.

Both would allow Lu Ran to fear no water-form techniques and even hide his presence in water; it sounds very tempting!

However, the Tree-Face Demon race is also worth considering.

After all, this race is a natural tower-defense elite!

More accurately, the Tree-Face Demon is the "tower" itself.

Like the Biwu sect, the Tree-Face Demon is of the support type; this race has decent output, and possesses impressive crowd control and defensive capabilities!

Its body is quite massive, and once its withered branches spread out, the coverage area is extremely vast.

If one were to plant a Tree-Face Demon on Cloud Sea Cliff, the defense level of the Ran Sect's base should be able to reach a higher level, right?

Hmm... there are pros and cons.

After all, the Evil Demon: Tree-Face Demon is too large; while its defense is indeed impressive, it also easily attracts enemies.

"Let's go!" Lu Ran gave the order.

Whether he activates them or not, he should first capture some souls to store; it's better to be prepared.

Having been a believer for so long, Lu Ran has always been holed up in a small place like Rain Alley City for the fifteenth, so the types of demons he's seen aren't comprehensive, and he has never faced a Tree-Face Demon head-on.

Kill for a few days and nights, loot some spoils, then rest for a few days before returning to visit Martial Extreme Peak.

Wouldn't that be wonderful?

With that, the Ran Sect trio headed south.

The mere five or six hundred kilometers were covered by the trio in stops and starts, occasionally opening the teleportation mirror.

Soon, Lu Ran and the others saw the so-called Deadwood Forest.

It was really easy to find, because the Deadwood Forest's area was extremely vast!

"Whoa~~~"

On a hilltop, Lu Ran gazed south, unable to help but exclaim.

The captive Shi Yali once said: Five hundred miles of Deadwood Forest, no sign of life, nor sight of the sun.

These words were true!

Within the Holy Lingshan realm, there are two things in abundance: mountains and trees.

Most of the trees in the mountains are lush and green, a scene full of vitality.

Lu Ran had never seen such a lifeless, withered, and decaying forest!

And the scale was so large that he couldn't see the end of it at a glance?

Lu Ran focused his vision to observe, only to see towering dead trees rising from the ground on the distant mountains, their withered branches spreading horizontally and intertwining together.

It's not hard to imagine that the forest must be pitch black, with no sunlight to be seen.

"If someone were teleported directly into the Deadwood Forest when they first entered Holy Lingshan, that would be too miserable," Lu Ran muttered.

Seeing Yu Changsheng nodded in agreement.

"Hoo~" Lu Ran observed for a moment, then summoned an ancient bronze mirror.

Seeing Yu Changsheng immediately reminded him: "Sect Master, the Tree-Face Demon race has an extremely wide attack range; their withered branches can extend for hundreds of meters."

"Hmm." Lu Ran responded casually, the oval ancient bronze mirror in his hand transforming into a full-length mirror.

He stepped into the mirror, and his eyes narrowed!

At the edge of the Deadwood Forest, hundreds of meters away, stood a Tree-Face Demon.

It was in its dead-tree state, not too tall, but particularly thick and with many withered branches.

On the bark in the middle of the trunk, a cracked human face had emerged!

It was expressionless, and in its deeply sunken eye sockets were a pair of dark yellow eyes, strange and startling.

Just looking at it once was enough to make one's hair stand on end!

Evil Demon Race: Tree-Face Demon!

Every Tree-Face Demon has its own territory.

And within a few dozen meters of this Tree-Face Demon, the earth was cracked, with not a trace of life.

Ordinary trees looked half-dead, all tightly entangled by the Tree-Face Demon's withered branches.

The root cause of this situation is that this race possesses a cruel healing technique!

Evil Technique: Sick Wood Spring!

The Tree-Face Demon can absorb the life force of other living beings to replenish itself.

Lu Ran had once seen some online pictures; the poor human beings died in particularly miserable states, all sucked into mummies by the Tree-Face Demon!

"Mr. Long Li."

"Sect Master?"

Lu Ran gestured toward the distant Deadwood Forest: "Why not crash a small boat into it and let me have a hearty meal?"

Seeing Yu Changsheng: "..."

You call the 800-meter-long Dragon Carp Heavenly Boat a small boat?

Lu Ran chuckled: "My Ink Carp Sinking Boat is a defensive technique; its speed is too slow, and its impact momentum is insufficient."

Seeing Yu Changsheng pondered for a moment and said: "Sect Master, since the Deadwood Forest can remain here, it means the overall strength of this race is extremely strong!

There are likely many Sea Realm Great Demons in the forest, which is the only way to protect the base."

Lu Ran nodded lightly: "Mr. is right."

Seeing Yu Changsheng continued to advise: "If we only engage in small skirmishes, we should be able to kill for a while.

But if we raise the intensity of the battle too high right from the start, the enemy camp will likely dispatch Great Demons."

"Makes sense!" Lu Ran immediately agreed.

The suffering he endured at the Night Charm base a few days ago was still fresh in his memory.

"Then I'll do it." Lu Ran waved his hand and grasped a small paper doll.

Seeing Yu Changsheng raised an eyebrow slightly.

It's quite rare to see Lu Ran use the Evil Technique of the Yan Paper race.

Lu Ran gazed at the solitary Tree-Face Demon at the very edge and immediately cast the spell.

In the dark, the small paper doll in his palm connected with the giant tree.

"Crack! Crack! Crack..."

As Lu Ran slowly clenched the small paper doll, the dead tree in the distance felt as if it were being gripped by an invisible giant hand.

The thick trunk was crushed bit by bit, and the cracked face on the tree twisted continuously.

The terrifying human face on the tree did indeed have the organ of a "mouth," but that was just for show; the Tree-Face Demon race itself cannot make a sound.

"Crack..."

The River Realm Tree-Face Demon had no ability to resist; its dense withered branches couldn't move at all, and it ultimately ended up being crushed.

Seeing Yu Changsheng couldn't help but feel a secret tremor of fear.

Is the Tree-Face Demon's Evil Technique evil and cruel enough?

Yes!

But the Sect Master's methods are far more cruel than the demons!

"Killing them one by one like this, how long will it take?" Lu Ran was unhappy.

Since the Tree-Face Demon is dead wood, it is naturally weak to fire.

Lu Ran really wanted to take out the Fierce Heaven Hammer and smash it inside in a grand and spectacular way...

But wouldn't that cause quite a commotion?

No choice, the situation here is too special; the Deadwood Forest is the base of the Tree-Face Demon race, and it requires extreme caution.

It must be said: the Tree-Face Demon race is not one to just stand still!

On the contrary, they have flexible withered branches and can all uproot themselves and "catapult" into action...

"Got it!" Lu Ran's eyes lit up.

He reached out his left hand, and from his wide straw cape, a Rosy Xia Guang Dao immediately darted out.

Divine Weapon Domain: Auspicious Clouds of Rosy Light!

"Open!"

I don't know when it started, but Lu Ran grew fond of this word.

His divine power surged, the Rosy Xia Guang Dao hummed and vibrated, and a streak of rosy light slowly drifted out.

But only one streak.

Seeing Yu Changsheng was a bit confused: "Sect Master, this is a Divine Weapon Domain; isn't this battle intensity a bit low?"

Lu Ran was full of confidence: "It kills fast, and the commotion is small! Just watch, Mr.!"

Seeing Yu Changsheng: "..."

The golden-red rosy light resembled soft, flowing silk, drifting forward along the ground.

"Swish!" At the edge of the Deadwood Forest, another dead tree sensed something unusual and immediately extended countless withered branches.

"Hoo~"

The withered branches were instantly incinerated.

Lu Ran's aura surged, his hair danced, light flowed in his eyes, and his divinity was fully displayed!

The rosy light suddenly accelerated, lunging straight for the Tree-Face Demon's roots.

The Tree-Face Demon had no effective means of resistance!

Even if it controlled its withered branches to weave into a thick shield, it couldn't stop the rosy light from piercing through and incinerating the trunk.

Two words—Absolute Counter!

"Let's go, we'll just look for the stragglers and circle around the edge of the forest~"

Lu Ran held the blade with both hands in front of him and walked forward slowly.

Let's eat a circle of them first!

【Sect Master, someone is coming from the northwest!】 In his mind, Yan Shuangzi's voice suddenly came.

Lu Ran frowned slightly and looked to his rear right: 【You hide first.】

【Yes.】

"Rosy light! Rosy Xia Guang Dao?!" A voice came from afar, moving from distant to near.

One could tell that the other party was moving very fast.

Lu Ran's expression was stunned.

Who could accurately call out the name of the Rosy Xia Guang Dao... Oh?

Lu Ran blinked, only to see several figures darting rapidly from the lush mountain forest to the north.

Leading them was a young woman with an upright posture and a heroic spirit.

She wore a golden-brown Wu Seng uniform, looking sharp and spirited, with a head of short black hair fluttering.

"Whoa?" Lu Ran was quite pleasantly surprised and couldn't help but laugh, "Isn't this who-is-it? Isn't this the famous Great Xia Second Pride?"

He Qi Feng was equally surprised and delighted!

The two of them indeed had no interaction before.

Just at the awards ceremony last year, the two had shaken hands backstage and exchanged a few words.

Lu Ran had refused her invitation to battle quite bluntly, which hadn't made her very happy.

But now, being able to meet Lu Ran here in Holy Lingshan, He Qi Feng had no other thoughts, only feeling incredibly close!

"Haha!" He Qi Feng laughed heartily, "You little brat, you haven't changed at all! Still as annoying as before!

Good!

It seems this Holy Lingshan can't do anything to you either? Haha!"

(End of chapter)