Chapter 291: The Guide

The Tree Demon Granny sneered, "A mere yellow-mouthed child; even if you are more formidable than a few days ago, you possess only a fraction of that saber-wielder's might."

Since he could deal with even that saber-wielder, why would he fear him?

The only worry was that monk.

In an instant, a corpse-mountain blood-sea aura arose — even this accumulated-years old ghost felt his heart tremble with fear, startled awake from slumber.

This monk likely holds some magic treasure vicious to the ultimate degree.

Moreover, he suppresses it with profound Buddhist Dharma, able to bring it out to counter enemies when needed.

He is not an easy character to deal with.

Therefore, the Tree Demon Granny used that monk's companion as a threat, wanting to find an opening.

Such a magic treasure necessarily cannot be deployed lightly or swiftly; find a flaw, and it would instead become a restraint. She never expected this monk to actually be so ruthless, not caring in the slightest about his companion's life — completely unlike a renunciate.

Tang Luo's ruthlessness indeed exceeded the Tree Demon Granny's expectations; if he acted personally, the Tree Demon Granny would naturally be incomparably wary.

But a mere yellow-mouthed child whom he disdained to even suck blood from, tossing to subordinates to freely ravage and toy with — how could the Tree Demon Granny possibly regard him seriously?

Without the Tree Demon Granny making any visible move, the surrounding drooping willow branches lashed out toward A Fei.

Layer upon layer of residual shadows directly formed an airtight net, blocking A Fei's path.

"Break!"

A Fei roared, unexpectedly not dodging or evading; the broken sword in his hand instantly transformed from a single black light into dozens of black lights.

Some thrust, some chopped onto those willow branches, emitting the sound of gold and iron clashing.

The defensively interwoven net was actually forcibly broken through; he rushed before the Tree Demon Granny and thrust a sword.

However, whether speed or power, both were far inferior to the start — clearly he was already at the end of his strength.

Another willow branch lashed out; A Fei could not dodge in time, was struck and sent flying backward; in a flash he blocked with the broken sword before him, and though heavily injured upon landing hard, his life was not in danger.

"Heh." The Tree Demon Granny chuckled lightly, not yet having spoken, when her expression suddenly changed.

"Ah!"

An angry tiger's roar came from her side; Lu Sheng, originally bound as a hostage, actually shredded the vines on his body in this instant, regained freedom, and punched toward the Tree Demon Granny.

He originally bore official merit and was a man of extraordinary talent; his surging blood and qi were truly astonishing.

Although his Xuan Qi had not taken form, it still served to protect his body and augment him; now adding the Spartan War Cry's BUFF, plus the Tree Demon Granny placing the vast majority of her attention on Tang Luo...

... she was momentarily caught off guard and he broke free, a fist landing on her face.

The Tree Demon Granny retreated two steps, her face revealing a twisted, venomous look.

This body was naturally not her main body, but an avatar.

But this avatar was also extremely important; the main body cannot move, the avatar is used for various travels and debauchery — one could say it is no different from the main body.

This punch was equivalent to heavily smashing the Tree Demon Granny's face; it did not let her suffer any injury, yet slapped her with a loud, crisp slap.

Never had anyone given her such great humiliation — even the Black Mountain Old Demon, after she obtained a strange treasure, had to give her standing room.

She never expected to actually be slapped in the face by a completely insignificant little insect.

How could the Tree Demon Granny not be furious?

Seeing one punch useless, Lu Sheng said not a word and threw another punch.

The Tree Demon Granny was still immersed in the emotion of "You actually dare hit me, even the Black Mountain Old Demon never hit me like this," and took another punch.

The enraged her was about to counterattack when black light flashed on the other side; A Fei's injuries healed, he rushed in with another sword swift as lightning.

The Tree Demon Granny did not dodge or evade, directly reaching out to grab.

She wanted to personally tear these two ants into powder to vent the hatred in her heart.

Moreover, more attention and power still had to be used to guard against that strange white-haired demon monk; she simply used the avatar to directly engage.

A casual grab, and A Fei's swift-as-lightning sword was caught in the Tree Demon Granny's hand.

However the next breath, the Tree Demon Granny suddenly let out an angry roar, violently withdrawing her hand.

But it was too late; five fingers flew up directly, falling to the ground; Lu Sheng seized the chance and threw another punch.

This punch still could not injure the Tree Demon Granny, yet again knocked her staggering, losing balance.

A Fei thrust another sword, straight for the Tree Demon Granny's head.

At this moment the severed fingers had not yet hit the ground; the Tree Demon Granny's face twisted, her body shook and she vanished.

The broken sword did not strike the Tree Demon Granny's avatar; a sword pierced into the large willow tree behind.

The surrounding air seemed to stagnate for a moment; the earth trembled.

A massive amount of willow branches and vines danced wildly, blotting out the sky and covering the earth, densely packed, almost covering every inch of space.

They gave A Fei and Lu Sheng absolutely no room to dodge; likewise, no power to resist.

Lu Sheng was truly ferocious beyond measure; he roared wildly, backhand swinging his fist to counterattack.

A Fei discarded his sword and retreated two steps, curling his body into a ball to reduce his surface area and suffer less severe injury.

Just as the vines and willow branches were about to whip the two into powder, a warm halo of light emerged from the two, propping up a tiny space that completely enveloped them.

Willow branches and vines fell on the halo, like ordinary tree branches striking a copper wall and iron wall — leaving not a trace, let alone breaking the defense.

"Die!"

The Tree Demon Granny's shrill, venomous-to-the-extreme voice came from the earth, the horizon, all directions.

Only Tang Luo's side was unaffected.

Under such furious emotion, this villain still maintained a certain degree of calm, not rashly acting against Tang Luo, avoiding provoking a stone-shattering strike.

This monk not acting himself is probably a defensive counterattack, waiting for him to move first.

Absolutely cannot make this mistake.

Willow branches and vines whipped wildly; the surrounding space seemed to be torn open with crack after crack.

The Kaiguang light protecting Lu Sheng and A Fei also dimmed slightly, giving a feeling of being on the verge of collapse.

Just as the Tree Demon Granny prepared to put more force into it, to smash the two of them to pieces.

The broken sword stuck in the main trunk of the great willow tree suddenly trembled, then exploded.

A huge cavity appeared in the willow's main trunk, one could see straight through to the scene on the other side.

Wide enough for a grown adult to stand and pass through.

The reason Ah Fei's broken sword could so easily wound the Tree Demon Granny's avatar, and blast a large hole in the great willow tree.

Was naturally because Tang Luo had reinforced it with Glazed Flame, to outstanding effect.

"Aaaaaah!"

An incomparably miserable and furious roar rang out; at this moment, the Tree Demon Granny finally lost all reason, countless vines and willow branches lashed toward Tang Luo, their power worlds apart from the strikes against Ah Fei and Lu Sheng.

Simply the difference between lovers' gentle play-fighting and mortal enemies' frenzied slaughter.

Tang Luo's hands, hanging casually at his sides, lifted; in an instant, countless claw shadows manifested around him.

A thousand hands cannot defend against it!

The incoming willow branches and vines were instantly seized completely by the manifested "Thousand Hands," turning from wildly dancing venomous dragons into dead snakes one by one.

Not only that, after grasping those willow branches and vines, he pulled back and squeezed.

The willow branches and vines all turned into strands of black qi, and within the black qi appeared, shockingly, one twisted, miserable face after another.

They dissipated in mid-air; at the moment of their final disappearance, there seemed to be a hint of liberation.

Every single one of these willow branches and vines was a human life!

The Tree Demon Granny's existence stretched even longer than the Great You Dynasty; for a thousand years, the lives she had harmed were uncountable, absorbing essence and blood to achieve her own body.

She counted as a true yaojing; her strength was in no way inferior to a Golden Core cultivator, and even relying on a strange treasure and terrain advantage, even a Golden Core cultivator would not be her match.

If not for that Black Mountain Old Demon who appeared from who knows where above her, she could be said to run rampant without fear — oh, and also excluding the matter from several decades ago.

Several decades ago, the Tree Demon Granny fought a great battle with the Wuyu Sect, ending with both sides severely injured.

In recent years, she had only recovered her injuries by seizing people's essence blood everywhere and the efficacy of strange treasures.

The Wuyu Sect has now become the Longya Dao Gate; the Tree Demon Granny seemingly gained nothing, yet made a powerful enemy of herself, a losing bargain.

In reality, it was not so.

In that battle, she dealt a heavy blow to that cultivation genius of the Wuyu Sect, successfully planting a heart-demon seed.

It has borne fruit now; although the other party is at the Golden Core realm, plagued by heart demons, his strength fluctuates wildly, requiring frequent seclusion to consolidate, and is no longer a threat.

The only one left is the Black Mountain Old Demon.

But the Black Mountain Old Demon settles in one place, carves out territory as king, devotes himself to building his own paradise pure land, and rarely extends his hand to the outside world.

In another few decades, who in the world could still stop the Tree Demon Granny's steps?

Originally, things were clearly supposed to go exactly like this!

Just where did this demon monk pop out from?

Under this "one grasp," "one pull," "one squeeze," the Tree Demon Granny's thousand-plus years of cultivation were actually shaved off by several hundred years, nearly half!

That giant willow tree, the dense willow branches and vines covering the sky had completely vanished.

Only a bare main trunk remained standing upright; large amounts of fresh blood gushed from the willow tree, flooding the ground beneath everyone's feet in just a few breaths.

And it kept rising, soon submerging up to waist level.

The blood water had no buoyancy; instead it was like a mud pit, countless hands grabbing Lu Sheng and Ah Fei's feet, trying to drag them inside.

The light of the Opening Radiance grew ever dimmer, looking like it could hold on no longer.

Tang Luo moved, stepped forward one step, then...

The blood water vanished without a trace in an instant, everything around returned to calm.

The three of Tang Luo appeared near a small village; not far away were the Howling Celestial Dog and several unconscious people.

Ah Fei looked around in a daze; after a while he suddenly came to his senses: "Master, did that tree demon run away?"

He originally thought it was Master Xuanzang who acted, silently and completely resolving the Tree Demon Granny.

But judging by the current situation, it seems the Tree Demon Granny "moved house with the whole family," fled for her life, leaving them in this place.

"Run?" Tang Luo smiled, "No, he is a 'guide,' Doggy."

The Howling Celestial Dog leaped onto Tang Luo's shoulder, proudly raised its paw, pointing in a direction.

The scent has been completely memorized; even if he flees to the Ninth Heaven, Tang Luo can still catch him out and ferry him across!