Chapter 367: Sending You on Your Final Journey

"A child swinging a sledgehammer will only hurt themselves," Tang Luo said, looking at the Ginseng Fruit Tree beneath his feet.

Time rewound to when the Yellow Spring Water spread and covered everything; Xiaotian Quan ran incredibly fast, and under the protection of his Kai Guang, he successfully broke free.

But Yu Kongyuan and the other two did not possess such quick wits and speed.

The Ginseng Fruit Tree, as well as the three people beside it, were all swallowed up by the Yellow Spring Water.

However, all three were quite fortunate; they crashed into the crown of the Ginseng Fruit Tree and got stuck inside it.

The Ginseng Fruit Tree offset the impact of the Yellow Spring Water to a large extent for them.

Otherwise, the three would not have lasted a few minutes before they "dissolved into the water."

It was just that, even with the Ginseng Fruit Tree's passive "protection," under the impact of the Yellow Spring Water, the three could not hold on for long.

As their bodies slowly disappeared, the consciousness of the three gradually grew hazy.

Then, they discovered that they had suddenly turned into the "Ginseng Fruit Tree."

As for Yu Kongyuan and Tian Hejin, there was no need to elaborate; they were originally Ginseng Fruits, and Sha Wujing's heart-demon-born Yellow Spring had repeatedly said it would use them as fertilizer.

Re-integrating into the Ginseng Fruit Tree was not an impossible thing.

Fei Yuan Shisan also possessed Yu Kongyuan's vitality, so he counted as half a fruit.

In fact, within this corpse mountain where the Ginseng Fruit Tree had taken root, there existed a large number of "Ginseng Fruits."

Only, unlike Yu Kongyuan and Tian Hejin, these Ginseng Fruits were thrown down by the Yellow Spring to serve as fertilizer for the Ginseng Fruit Tree after dying completely.

The Ginseng Fruit Tree was twisted and malicious, yet it was equally unintentional.

As a plant, the Ginseng Fruit Tree could not be said to possess any sentience, even though it could grow Ginseng Fruits that possessed wisdom.

The consciousnesses of the three mingled together, and under the external scouring of the Yellow Spring Water, amidst the situation where the Ginseng Fruit Tree instinctively swallowed all useful things around it to resist, they occupied the Ginseng Fruit Tree.

The Ginseng Fruit Tree had a spirit; this "spirit" was the spirit of the three.

Fei Yuan Shisan, as a tool person, was willing to devote everything to his master without reservation; Tian Hejin had been hacked half to death by Fei Yuan Shisan, muddleheaded and dazed.

Yu Kongyuan's consciousness occupied the dominant position without any suspense.

Yu Kongyuan and Sha Wujing's demonic thoughts were cut from the same cloth, treating the great undertaking of fetching the scriptures as the top priority.

At the same time, she was unwilling to perish, so she carefully controlled the main body of the Ginseng Fruit Tree to continuously sink down, hiding away, waiting for Tang Luo and Sha Wujing to decide the victor.

Just now, the victor had been decided.

Yu Kongyuan did not hesitate in the slightest; feinting east to attack west, she attacked Ao Yulie's vegetable dragon, drawing Tang Luo away, successfully incorporating Sha Wujing into her root system, and frantically absorbing his power.

Then, Tang Xuanzang threw down a ball of fire.

Yu Kongyuan had originally prepared to take it head-on, but unexpectedly, while this ball of blazing fire scorched her, it was more continuously enhancing her power.

A feeling of fullness and satiety arose spontaneously.

However, this feeling of fullness, of being filled with power, turned into bloating pain after a few seconds.

Too big... no, it's too much.

Yu Kongyuan separately felt that her power was spiraling out of control.

For the entire Ginseng Fruit Tree, the consciousness formed by the three of them mixed together could be said to be quite weak.

It was only by a fluke that they had successfully occupied it; it was far from truly mastering this power.

Like a child waving a sledgehammer, it was already incomparably difficult.

Now this sledgehammer was still being constantly strengthened, thoroughly turning into an unruly wild horse.

Yu Kongyuan, sitting on the horse, no longer felt the pleasure of galloping like the wind, but "unable to dismount once astride the tiger," endless jolting; the slightest carelessness would see her fall off the horse's back.

Then, be trampled into meat paste.

Those tree branches, each with hollows, were swelling.

Dancing wildly in the sea of fire, like crazed dancers holding a final revelry.

Everything still remaining in the corpse mountain frantically surged into the Ginseng Fruit Tree; Yu Kongyuan fundamentally could not control it.

She felt that the Ginseng Fruit Tree right now was like a completely sealed pond.

The water had already risen to the top, but a large amount of water was still pouring in; the pond was indeed expanding bit by bit, that was true.

But the speed of expansion was far, far slower than the speed of water pouring in.

The flames gradually spread over the Ginseng Fruit Tree, not fierce; from afar, it looked merely like it was covered in a layer of faint golden light.

"Master..." Yu Kongyuan heard Fei Yuan Shisan's consciousness speak its final words.

Then, she felt her consciousness power suddenly grow stronger by several degrees.

On the main trunk of the Ginseng Fruit Tree, the face belonging to Fei Yuan Shisan thoroughly vanished without a trace.

The feeling of being nearly torn apart lessened slightly.

On Yu Kongyuan's face, however, not a trace of joy appeared; instead, there was a hint of bewilderment. Fei Yuan Shisan, who had always guarded her side, protecting her, had left...

"No!"

The bewilderment on Yu Kongyuan's face vanished without a trace in half a second, turning resolute. "No, you have merely remained by my side in another way, guarding me forever!"

The originally muddleheaded Tian Hejin's complexion suddenly changed drastically, revealing a terrified expression.

"You..." his face only managed to utter a single character before it abruptly vanished without a trace, thoroughly devoured by Yu Kongyuan.

Growing stronger by several degrees again, right at this moment, violent flames suddenly erupted on the wildly dancing branches of the Ginseng Fruit Tree.

At the same time these flames erupted, the branches happened to snap.

The snapped branches turned into a clump of ash in midair and fell down, landing on the riddled ground.

"A hero severing his own wrist — a good choice," Tang Luo in the sky murmured a sentence.

The wildly dancing branches snapped one after another, and in the process of falling, turned into ash.

Soon, the Ginseng Fruit Tree was left with only a bare trunk and a massive root system.

The rootlets were also continuously constricting; the corpse mountain, under the burning of the Glazed Flames, continuously turned into ash, revealing the bottommost earth.

One can see a large amount of decayed white bones buried in the rocks and soil.

Flying high and looking down, it is simply a burial ground; the area of white bones is even greater.

This deep valley is not a pure land, but an abyss.

Under the burning of the Glazed Flames and the contraction of the Ginseng Fruit Tree's root system, the corpse mountain gradually formed a huge blood-colored sphere.

Above the sphere is a bare main trunk.

And this ball of flesh and blood seems to breathe, beating like a heart, expanding and contracting.

One can see the Glazed Flames still burning on it.

On the Ginseng Fruit Tree's only remaining bare main trunk, Yu Kongyuan's face was incomparably clear; she stared at Tang Luo and said, "Venerable Xuanzang, please forgive the offense."

"There is nothing to forgive; our Daos simply differ." Tang Luo's tone was flat as he threw a punch downward.

The moment Tang Luo struck, a tentacle composed of flesh and blood suddenly grew from the Ginseng Fruit Tree's main trunk, spanning hundreds of meters in an instant to arrive before Tang Luo, lashing viciously at him.

The surrounding space seemed to be torn apart.

Before being burned to nothing by the Glazed Flames, the power Yu Kongyuan could erupt with far surpassed normal circumstances.

The fist landed squarely on the tentacle; the tentacle shattered instantly, a flash of fire light, and it turned into a pile of ash.

And this tentacle was only the beginning; a large number of tentacles grew from the Ginseng Fruit main trunk, from bottom to top, weaving into a net, covering down.

They even enveloped Ao Yulie beside Tang Luo.

"Master, I'll take my leave first, so as not to add trouble for you." Ao Yulie decided instantly and flew upward.

The dignified Third Prince of the Jade Dragon, at this time, didn't even have the qualifications to spectate — if the opponent didn't target him it was fine, but if they targeted him, Ao Yulie would have to leave first.

Especially since this attack method extremely countered him.

Ao Yulie did not possess Tang Luo's strength and reef-like composure, able to forcibly withstand the distorted power with a single punch without being affected.

Fairly speaking, purely in terms of power, Ao Yulie wasn't unable to wrestle with these tentacles, but the opponent's "special effects" were too strong; he truly couldn't endure it.

"Back in the day, during the Journey to the West to fetch scriptures, at least I could... uh, wait, during the Journey West it seems I didn't even have the qualifications to spectate and shout '666'. It all relied on Second Senior Brother and Third Senior Brother's protection." Ao Yulie recalled the past and suddenly discovered the current situation was actually similar to back then.

A pity about Third Senior Brother...

Ao Yulie lowered his head for a glance; within the blood-colored sphere where the Ginseng Fruit Tree's roots took root and contracted, there was also a part of Third Senior Brother, right?

"Falling into demonhood, falling into demonhood..."

Ao Yulie felt a sense of irritation rise in his heart; a dark crimson glow appeared in his eyes. Just then, a cool intention descended.

Like ice water drenching his whole body, Ao Yulie instantly sobered up.

The effect of the Enlightenment had not yet ended.

"This distorted power is truly terrifying." Ao Yulie shook his head; even someone as carefree (salty fish) to the extreme, one who could be described as adapting to circumstances, would silently have a heart devil planted in them.

Let alone Third Senior Brother with his serious, diligent, stubborn brain.

"Master wouldn't also have a heart devil planted without realizing it, right? No, Master has the Merit Jade Lotus by his side, there should be no problem."

Ao Yulie thought.

Tang Luo on the other side raised a hand and patted; the Glazed Nirvana Great Hand Seal emerged, completely ignoring the tentacles covering over from the surroundings, descending directly downward.

The tentacles blocking the Great Hand Seal collapsed at a touch; the sky seemed to rain gray snow.

As for those tentacles not touched by the Great Hand Seal, when they neared Tang Luo's side, he flicked his right hand; the Drilling Wind Bone Sword turned into a whip, instantly "severing" the surrounding tentacles.

"Your power is too dispersed; you don't know how to fight." Tang Luo spoke.

The Great Hand Seal was right before Yu Kongyuan's eyes.

Yu Kongyuan's eyes held some panic; she was about to mobilize power to block, just as Tang Luo said, she actually didn't know how to fight.

Previously staying in Lake City she was a young miss; all along the Journey West she was protected by Tang Luo and them, never experiencing any danger at all, let alone combat.

Having a tenacious, unyielding heart doesn't mean one knows how to fight.

Those who can fight are forged bit by bit.

"Correct, so let me do it." A majestic figure resounded beside Yu Kongyuan's ear.

She felt the blood-colored sphere formed by the Ginseng Fruit Tree's contracting roots stir; behind the main trunk, a body emerged.

Sha Wujing reappeared, but only the upper body; the lower body grew together with the blood-colored sphere.

The only remaining white skull flew toward the Great Hand Seal following Sha Wujing's waving motion.

The two collided; the skull shattered, and the Great Hand Seal also slowly dissipated.

"Master, round two! This time don't hold back; the Sutra of Transcending the World, your disciple will absolutely not give up!"

Sha Wujing reached out and grabbed the Ginseng Fruit Tree's main trunk, yanking it up violently; amid Yu Kongyuan's shriek, he used the main trunk as a weapon and invited battle.

"Not bad."

Tang Luo said, "You haven't disappointed this Master. Then this Master will send you on your final journey."