Martial Conquest of the Nine Desolates
Chapter 424 - 420: Blood Demon Tree

Chapter 424: Chapter 420: Blood Demon Tree

Passing through the White Jade Square, one enters the vast Second Zone. In the distance, tall tombstones stand eerily and terrifyingly, erected upon the earth, with a deathly aura spreading all around.

Xiao Ye had just stepped in when he felt a chill breeze on his face, sharp as a blade’s edge, causing his skin to sting and his bones to chill.

"It seems the Second Zone is not so ordinary," Xiao Ye said, his eyes vigilant as he walked side by side with Nangong Xingyu.

Like in the First Zone, not only is flying prohibited in the Second Zone, but even Void Martial Thought is suppressed, barely able to detect ten steps away.

"Hmm?"

Approaching the first huge tombstone, Xiao Ye’s gaze sharpens as he notices that the ground has been broken open. It was clear that the ancient genius buried here had already crawled out.

Xiao Ye and Nangong Xingyu looked around and saw under a nearby tombstone, it was also empty, and no trace of the young talents from the Four Great States could be found.

"I wonder how Brother Donghuang is faring," Xiao Ye started to worry.

After some time together, he had come to regard Prince Donghuang as a reliable friend.

"The strength of the ancient geniuses in the Second Zone is comparable to Virtual Martial Level 4, not very strong. Unless a Controller appears like in the First Zone, Brother Donghuang shouldn’t be in danger,"

Nangong Xingyu said as he scanned the descriptions on the tombstones.

Xiao Ye nodded at his words.

They continued on their way, after half an hour, the ancient geniuses’ tombstones they encountered were still empty. The entire Second Zone was dead silent, with only the howling cold wind, looking utterly desolate.

"It’s so strange that these tombstones are empty, but we haven’t found a single young talent from the Four Great States. This just doesn’t make sense."

Xiao Ye frowned slightly, feeling as if a pair of eyes were watching him from the darkness, but he could see nothing around him.

It was an intuition, and he trusted his gut.

Continuing deeper into the Second Zone, finally ahead was no longer a visible plain. Xiao Ye saw a vast slanted valley with pitch-black caves, leading to unknown places and hiding unknown dangers.

Xiao Ye and Nangong Xingyu surveyed their surroundings and found that to pass through the Second Zone, they had to cross the valley; there were no other paths.

The valley was tens of meters wide, like a massive crevasse in a mountain, dark and damp, with bursts of cold wind. Sparse vines and strange trees with twisted roots were visible, and withered trees rustled in the wind out of place with the environment of the Talent Cemetery.

On the rugged stones hung a human skeleton, with occasional fresh bloodstains drying on the bones, as if just discarded, and the stench was overwhelming.

"It’s the clothing of the young talents from the Four Great States!" Xiao Ye swiftly moved forward and saw the shattered robes by the remains, his heart growing heavy.

They had finally found the young talents of the Four Great States, but in such a tragic state. It’s hard to imagine just how brutal the ancient geniuses of the Second Zone had been.

After a brief telepathic exchange, Xiao Ye and Nangong Xingyu cautiously entered the vast canyon with a sense of alertness in their eyes.

Looking ahead, they saw an entirely different world within the canyon, a huge underground world, unfolding before them, but the sight made Xiao Ye involuntarily draw a cold breath.

The land was strewn with stark white bones, like thick snow, apparently from creatures dead for a long time, not the young talents from the Four Great States.

"Could these be the remains of the ancient geniuses?" Xiao Ye thought to himself.

Because they still couldn’t fly in the underground world, they could only continue on foot. Their soles stepped on the white bones, which crumbled into dust at the slightest touch.

At the end of this underground world stood a crystal-clear demon tree, swaying majestically amidst the mountains of white bones as if welcoming them.

Beneath the demon tree lay ten withered corpses, with branches piercing through and draining their fresh blood to nourish the tree itself.

Xiao Ye’s eyes quickly scanned and realized that these ten corpses were the participating youth from the Four Great States, recently deceased.

"This tree feeds on fresh blood; it’s definitely not good news!"

A cold glint flashed in Xiao Ye’s eyes as he extended his hand. As power surged, it transformed into a giant hand that slapped towards the demon tree.

Before his hand reached the tree, the underground world trembled as if some colossal creature was about to burst forth from the ground.

"Xiao Ye, get back here quick!" Nangong Xingyu shouted, grabbing Xiao Ye and pulling him back as their figures retreated explosively.

Boom!

In an instant, a massive tree trunk burst from the ground like an octopus tentacle, tearing through the void, shattering the giant hand, and rushing towards Xiao Ye and Nangong Xingyu with a terrifying mighty power.

"Mountain and River Seal!"

Xiao Ye felt an imminent crisis and, without a second thought, released the Mountain and River Seal, summoning an ancient Divine Mountain that radiated endless suppression, rolling forward.

"Star River Destruction!"

Nangong Xingyu flicked his finger, and a splendid star river, like a divine dragon, lunged towards the thick trunk.

The two peak strong people struck at the same time, their power earth-shattering, blasting the giant trunk into sawdust flying everywhere and leaving behind a blood-red liquid, scattering in void like fresh blood.

Hiss!

The demon tree let out a painful scream. Only half of the trunk quickly retracted and sank into the ground.

Xiao Ye and Nangong Xingyu took the opportunity to retreat to the central position of the underworld, while the demon tree swayed its form, seemingly aware of the difficulty the two posed, and did not attack them again.

"What on earth is this thing!" Xiao Ye was shocked.

Just now, both he and Nangong Xingyu had struck together and had not completely destroyed that tree branch, which was terrifying. Had he been alone, he might have been entangled and unable to escape.

How could such a demon tree appear in the Talent Cemetery? Weren’t their opponents supposed to be the Ancient Geniuses?

Xiao Ye was filled with doubts.

"If I am not mistaken, this should be a Blood Demon Tree from the ancient period, cultivated by the Ultimate Palace, grown on the flesh and soul of geniuses. The Blood Demon Tree has a hundred branches, each with the strength of the King Martial Realm, very terrifying."

"It’s likely that the Ancient Geniuses in the Second Zone have all been devoured by this Blood Demon Tree, which is why we saw that all the tombstones we passed were empty," Nangong Xingyu slowly said.

"What!" Xiao Ye was shocked.

This Blood Demon Tree was equivalent to a hundred King Martial Realm strong people, an unbeatable dead end.

Moreover, the Ultimate Palace had been destroyed for over eight thousand years, yet a Blood Demon Tree survived and appeared in the Second Zone. Was this a trap? Don’t the envoys of the Ten Great East State Forces care?

"It must be the work of Prince Nanhuang!" Xiao Ye thought of the content on that piece of paper and gritted his teeth in anger.

Without a doubt, this Blood Demon Tree must be something beyond the second assessment, also the "gift" mentioned by Prince Nanhuang, though it was unclear how it was done.

It seemed that Prince Nanhuang was no ordinary person, knowledgeable and experienced.

"Don’t worry, from the battle just now, the branches of this Blood Demon Tree are not at their peak. After over eight thousand years, each branch has only around the strength of Virtual Martial Level 7, so we still have a chance to break through," said Nangong Xingyu.

Hearing this, Xiao Ye was somewhat embarrassed, panicked with concern.

Yes, if the Blood Demon Tree were still at its peak, that one branch could have killed him and Nangong Xingyu just now, not allowing them any chance to retreat.

Afterward, the two discussed for a moment and finally decided to try breaking through by force. With their strength, there was a high possibility of getting through; otherwise, they would be stuck here.

As to where Prince Donghuang was, they couldn’t care about that now.

"Its weakness is its main trunk. If we can split it open, we might be able to kill it, and the main trunk of the Blood Demon Tree is rumored to contain a red fruit, which is of great benefit to Martial Artists in the Void Martial Realm. If we encounter it, we cannot let it go," Before they acted, Nangong Xingyu analyzed the weaknesses of the Blood Demon Tree to Xiao Ye in detail.

"Oh?" Xiao Ye’s eyes flared with intense light, not expecting such an unexpected gain.

"Charge!"

Soon after, Xiao Ye and Nangong Xingyu moved at the same time, turning into two rays of light, rushing towards the end of the underworld. They both raised the Sky Breaking Saber high, condensing the Slaughter Principle, wielding the Death Slash, transforming into the Death God, with a dense blood light sweeping in all directions.

By now, Xiao Ye was able to easily activate the Slaughter Principle without worrying about backlash.

Nangong Xingyu’s body was wrapped in starlight, with three prominent stars manifesting, filling the underground space, pressing towards the Blood Demon Tree.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The next moment, the underworld shook violently. The swaying Blood Demon Tree surged crazily. Giant branches burst out from the ground, like immense tentacles, attacking them overwhelmingly, blocking out the void.

In an instant, the entire underworld was boiling.

From a distance, the Blood Demon Tree, not originally very tall, soared from the ground and stood tall into the heaven, with a hundred huge branches bursting out from the earth, battling against Xiao Ye and Nangong Xingyu – two strong young talents on their own.

"Damn, so many!"

Xiao Ye’s peak slash chopped down, barely splitting the immense branch, but even more branches attacked, like a prison, sealing Xiao Ye within.

Nangong Xingyu, like Xiao Ye, was surrounded by huge branches, unable to break free.

Xiao Ye activated the Second Layer of the Ten Thousand Refinement Golden Body, raising a massive golden protective shield, blocking attacks from more than a dozen huge branches and giving him a moment to breathe.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Under the relentless attack of the huge branches, the golden shield trembled, rapidly cracking, ready to shatter at any moment.

"You have so many branches, then I’ll break open the main trunk to see if you can still survive!"

Xiao Ye’s eyes shot out two piercing cold flashes, backing the Three-in-One Grotto Heaven, rising a domain, and transforming into an unparalleled long saber. He struggled to split open a hole in the prison of huge branches and squeezed out, seizing the chance to lunge towards the main trunk of the Blood Demon Tree.