#607 - The fisherman gets the advantage
This enormous palm swept across the area, causing countless Devouring Ghost Insects to explode, along with the humanoid creatures, all annihilated and killed on the spot.
With a deafening boom, the golden palm struck the Devouring Ghost Insect King, unleashing a terrifying shockwave.
The Devouring Ghost Insect King was sent flying, its light dimming slightly, but it wasn't killed; instead, its ferocity was ignited!
“Jee--”
The Devouring Ghost Insect King let out a sharp, piercing shriek, its horrifying gaze locking onto Kong Yang as it charged with lightning speed!
Its speed was simply too fast. Although Kong Yang immediately raised his war戟, he was still sent flying. The war戟 slammed into his chest, breaking most of his ribs, and he spat out a mouthful of blood.
If he didn't possess the Heavenly Yang Divine Body and such tenacious vitality, any other ninth-level Origin God Realm expert would have certainly perished on the spot!
Just as the Devouring Ghost Insect King launched its second attack, another Changyang Prefecture disciple activated a life-saving trump card, transforming it into a silver bell phantom that enveloped them, a dozen in all.
The Devouring Ghost Insect King slammed hard into the bell phantom, producing a deep and resonant ringing sound, but it couldn't break through the defense for the time being.
Seeing that even a Heavenly God attack couldn't kill the Devouring Ghost Insect King, Kong Yang and the others' expressions turned extremely grim.
What made their hair stand on end even more was that although the Devouring Ghost Insect King couldn't break through the bell's defense, it simply clung to the bell and began to gnaw on it!
As a series of teeth-grinding "crunching" sounds echoed, a tiny gap was actually gnawed out of the bell!
The bell wasn't a physical entity; it was a manifestation of a powerful divine ability, yet it could still be gnawed on—it was too terrifying!
And that wasn't all.
In the canyon, a large number of Devouring Ghost Insects continued to emerge from the ground, swarming through the air. Even with their life-saving trump cards, they felt a chill run down their spines.
The Devouring Ghost Insect King was too terrifying; this was simply an unsolvable dead end!
“…Run!!”
Kong Yang glanced at the Enlightenment Fruit Tree with reluctance, but ultimately gritted his teeth and made the decision to retreat.
The other Changyang Prefecture and Wuchen Sect disciples were also extremely unwilling. The Enlightenment Fruit Tree was right before their eyes, within reach, yet unattainable. It felt like their hearts were bleeding, and they were grinding their teeth to pieces.
But no matter how unwilling they were, it was useless.
This Heavenly God Realm Devouring Ghost Insect King was too terrifying, completely exceeding their expectations.
Kong Yang had even used his life-saving trump card, and such a powerful Heavenly God attack had only lightly injured the Devouring Ghost Insect King. Its defense was frighteningly strong.
Moreover, the Devouring Ghost Insect King could also devour Heavenly God Realm-level divine power.
If they dragged this on, they feared that even using up all their life-saving measures would be futile.
The Enlightenment Fruit Tree was precious, but their own lives were more valuable in comparison.
At the same time, the other three hundred or so Changyang Prefecture and Wuchen Sect disciples were also suffering.
Even with the protection of the Heavenly-Rank Magic Treasure, the golden wheel, they couldn't withstand the attacks of tens of thousands of Devouring Ghost Insects. The golden wheel was covered with densely packed Devouring Ghost Insects, beginning to gnaw on it!
Left with no choice, a Changyang Prefecture disciple had to use a life-saving trump card, annihilating a large number of Devouring Ghost Insects. Then, the hundreds of them immediately charged out of the canyon.
If they didn't run, they feared they wouldn't be able to escape.
Kong Yang and the others, enduring the Devouring Ghost Insect King's gnawing, could only retreat out of the canyon as well.
Seeing that the Devouring Ghost Insect King and most of the Devouring Ghost Insects were chasing after them, a smile slowly crept onto Su Chen's face.
“Was this also within his calculations?”
Qing Ling, Ying, and the others, upon seeing this, looked at Su Chen with a hint of amazement in their eyes, deeply admiring him.
If they had discovered the Enlightenment Fruit Tree here, they would have rushed in immediately.
But Su Chen was remarkably composed, waiting for the hundreds of Changyang Prefecture and Wuchen Sect disciples to lead the charge, attracting most of the Devouring Ghost Insects' firepower. Then, taking action would be much easier.
Brilliant!
What amazed them most was that Su Chen not only knew in advance that there was an Enlightenment Fruit Tree here, but he also seemed to know in advance that the Changyang Prefecture and Wuchen Sect disciples would make a comeback.
This was like precognition, which was somewhat unbelievable.
“Go!”
After Kong Yang and the others led most of the Devouring Ghost Insects out of the canyon, Su Chen and his group immediately rushed towards the Enlightenment Fruit Tree.
Su Chen didn't directly try to uproot the tree, because this Enlightenment Fruit Tree had already taken root here and was difficult to move.
Su Chen fully activated the Xuan Tian Art, pouring all his spiritual power into the Xuan Tian Artifact, fully activating it.
Buzz—
The Xuan Tian Artifact bloomed with a brilliant light, enveloping the Enlightenment Fruit Tree. The void became somewhat blurred and distorted, and strands of spatial laws burst forth, transforming into spatial slashes that began to cut through the space here.
An astonishing scene occurred: the Enlightenment Fruit Tree actually swayed gently, its entire body emitting a dazzling golden light, surrounded by Daoist rhymes. It was actually resisting the power of the Xuan Tian Artifact, as stable as a rock. The spatial slashes released by the Xuan Tian Artifact were ineffective.
It wasn't that the Xuan Tian Artifact wasn't powerful enough, but that Su Chen's cultivation wasn't high enough to unleash the full power of the Xuan Tian Artifact.
“I'll give it a try!”
Ying said in a deep voice, gripping the red curved blade. Strands of blood-colored lightning crackled around it. Suddenly, she drew her blade and slashed!
The blood-colored blade light bloomed, accompanied by the apparition of mountains of corpses and seas of blood. That kind of terrifying and unparalleled murderous aura made Su Chen tense up, feeling a great sense of threat.
Bang!!
Ying's blade struck the ground near the Enlightenment Fruit Tree, attempting to dig it out.
But her terrifying blade light, comparable to a Heavenly God attack, only created a tiny crack an inch deep in the ground, accomplishing nothing.
“So hard to dig up?”
Ying was stunned for a moment, frowning.
“Heavenly-Rank spiritual objects nurtured naturally by heaven and earth mostly have self-protection powers. For example, the Silver Dragon Lotus can遁入虚无 (escape into nothingness), making it difficult to catch even for Heavenly Gods.”
Su Chen wasn't surprised, explaining, “The Enlightenment Fruit Tree is rooted in the earth, surrounded by the Daoist rhymes of heaven and earth, which can resist external attacks, making it difficult to forcibly dig it up.”
“However, the power of this heaven and earth Daoist rhyme is limited. As long as we attack continuously and exhaust it, we can dig it up.”
“You guys hold off the Devouring Ghost Insects, I'll dig up the Enlightenment Fruit Tree.”
As Su Chen spoke, he activated the Xuan Tian Art, continuously pouring all his power into the Xuan Tian Artifact. Strands of blazing spatial laws burst forth, continuously cutting at the space where the Enlightenment Fruit Tree was located.
This was equivalent to competing with the Enlightenment Fruit Tree, whoever exhausted the other's power first would win!
Of course, not just anyone could compete with the Enlightenment Fruit Tree.
Power below the Heavenly God Realm couldn't even break the Enlightenment Fruit Tree's defense, unable to threaten its safety, and naturally unable to exhaust its heaven and earth Daoist rhyme.
Su Chen had cultivated the Xuan Tian Art to the state of perfection, his strength was incredibly profound and powerful, and with the extraordinary power of the Xuan Tian Artifact, the power he unleashed under full activation could barely rival that of the Heavenly God Realm.
Its lethality might not be as good as Ying's, but it was more durable, able to continuously exhaust the Enlightenment Fruit Tree's heaven and earth Daoist rhyme.
