Chapter 1017

"Mo Xian, Mo Xian… a cultivator born this way might, in some sense, also be a transcendent…"

Fang Yue had already figured it out.

Jingcheng is only the beginning.

The terrifying aspect of this array lies in its contagiousness.

Even in just this short time, the churning emerald-black light had already spread outward.

This means the entire array will gradually expand as the Spirit Tree grows stronger—Jingcheng is merely a starting point; its true goal may be to consume all of Qing Guo, even the Qingchuan Jie.

A being nurtured by the life force of an entire world—how terrifying its power must be, Fang Yue could not even imagine.

By that point, only a transcendent—only such a being—could suppress it.

But in reality… even he possesses some ability to curb the spread of this disaster.

The problem is…

Fang Yue took a deep breath and looked down at the very bottom of the Spirit Tree—the core of the tree.

There, a woman's face, somewhat unfamiliar, was slowly emerging from the bark.

It was unmistakably… An Dong'er, whom Fang Yue had been searching for so long!

It seemed the monster created by absorbing all the life of Jingcheng… was An Dong'er herself!

"What purpose does Feng Wang serve by doing this? He's dead, yet he lets An Dong'er grow stronger through the Mo Xian Array, becoming a being that looks down on transcendants… wouldn't it be better if he himself became the main body?"

As Fang Yue pondered this, his pupils suddenly contracted—he saw another tiny face slowly emerging beside An Dong'er's face on the tree, unmistakably… Feng Wang's masked face!

Feng Wang… wants to be reborn inside the Spirit Tree?

No! He should have been utterly destroyed, with not a single soul fragment remaining after I slew him.

What exactly is this…

As Fang Yue's confusion grew, an even smaller face began to emerge beside Feng Wang's—clearly Huang Hou's bark-faced visage.

"What did the Phoenix Organization do to the Spirit Tree! They might be able to use it to achieve rebirth!"

Fang Yue immediately sensed something, gripping his sword tightly.

He had barely killed Feng Wang and the others—he didn't want to fight such a terrifying foe again.

And yet…

Fang Yue looked at the head cradled in his left hand.

It was unmistakably You Sisi, reduced to nothing but a head.

Behind the head, tendrils connected to the Spirit Tree, as if being drained of nourishment.

"No time to hesitate!"

He took a deep breath, his gaze turning icy.

If he had to choose between the two, he could only apologize to An Dong'er.

Gently placing You Sisi's head down, Fang Yue leapt from the branch and swiftly approached the main root, heading straight for An Dong'er's face.

Previously, he had tried severing other branches at their junctions with the Spirit Tree—only to find that the moment they were cut, all life on the branch, including the branch itself, withered and died instantly, crumbling into black ash the instant it hit the ground.

Clearly, the main Spirit Tree both absorbed nourishment from the branches and sustained their vitality—their bond was inseparable, too intimate to be torn apart by force.

So, he had to act on the main Spirit Tree itself.

Landing before An Dong'er's bark-face, Fang Yue shouted twice—but she showed no reaction.

The entire Jingcheng was falling into crisis; Lord Han, Captain Wu, Tail… many of his comrades lacked the strength to resist the Mo Xian Array's corruption—he had to act swiftly, decisively, and ruthlessly.

Fortunately, the Imperial Palace, as the royal family's final stronghold, should not fall so easily.

Since voice had no effect, Fang Yue unhesitatingly aimed his Heaven Sword at Feng Wang's face beside An Dong'er and thrust forward.

The Heaven Sword instantly met resistance like striking hardened steel.

Fang Yue's expression darkened; behind him, the Taiji Grinding Disc shadow and the Flower Bud Shadow appeared, black qi flooding into the Heaven Sword—then, with a sharp hiss, it sliced through the Spirit Tree as easily as through tofu!

Hssst!!

Almost the instant emerald-black sap spurted from the wound, An Dong'er, Feng Wang, and Huang Hou's three bark-faces simultaneously opened their eyes and let out piercing, furious screams.

Their expressions and movements were identical—they all turned their gazes sharply toward Fang Yue.

Then, the Spirit Tree moved.

All the branches flailed wildly like limbs, lashing out like whips toward Fang Yue's position.

Tap-tap-tap-tap-tap!!

Dust exploded from the ground—but amid the chaos, a figure shot skyward: Fang Yue, unharmed.

Yet on Fang Yue's face was a strange expression.

He felt strange.

Because… the Spirit Tree was weak.

No—more accurately, by his own standards, the Spirit Tree was weak, at most barely at the Rain Realm level.

This was completely inconsistent with its earlier displays: its blinding speed and the emerald-black light engulfing all of Jingcheng.

"It's grown weaker—or rather, it's become something different!"

Watching as some branch-heads, torn loose by the excessive arc of the Spirit Tree's lashes, splattered onto the ground like smashed watermelons, Fang Yue's face darkened—he spread his black wings and shot straight toward the Spirit Tree.

Sword raised—black qi erupted from his body in a spiral, wrapping the blade into a black sword hundreds of meters long.

Sword fell—the black blade, amplified by the two shadows, descended like a black thread, too swift for anyone to react.

Hssst!!!

The black thread severed the main root of the Spirit Tree—and split open An Dong'er's massive bark-face.

The face was cleaved from top to bottom, but for the entire Spirit Tree, it was merely a large gash at its base.

Emerald-black sap gushed wildly—An Dong'er, who had just been screaming, now looked as if she'd been slain in one stroke; both halves of her face closed their eyes and fell utterly silent.

As An Dong'er's human face closed its eyes, the human faces of Feng Wang and Huang Hou also closed their eyes and fell quiet; only the surging dark-green sap at the wound kept making sounds.

"So… it's over?"

Fang Yue looked tensely toward the forked branch bearing An Dong'er's human head, but the next instant, a crisp crack—sounding like wood splitting—rang suddenly in his ears.

Looking back, Fang Yue froze on the spot.

He saw the entire spirit tree, using the wound from his slash as its origin point, rapidly spreading large cracks upward; in no time the whole spirit tree was covered in cracks, and with a thunderous boom it exploded apart, splintering into a skyful of broken wood.

Fang Yue's breath almost stopped at that moment; his body had already instinctively lunged toward where You Sisi's human head was, and he caught An Dong'er's head steadily.

But the problem was… the branch connected to the back of her head had already snapped into a skyful of broken wood, falling to the ground.

A head cut off from its nourishment faced only true death!

Memories of every moment spent with You Sisi flashing through his mind, Fang Yue's chest tightened and his mind went blank.

And just then, a clear voice suddenly rang out from beside him, followed by… a slender, exquisite finger—like carved wood—tapping on You Sisi's head.

"Night… brother?"

As if withered wood meeting spring, on You Sisi's head sprouted clusters of dark-green flowers; they quickly covered the head, and the nearly extinguished vitality surged up and grew rapidly.

Fang Yue stared in astonishment at the head in his hands, then followed the direction of the wood-carved finger and saw that standing beside him was, unmistakably, an unfamiliar yet familiar-looking wooden-carved girl.

"An… Dong'er?"

(End of chapter)