Stealthily cultivating in the chaotic world of demons and martial artists
Chapter 194 - 193: The Monster Tree Reappears (Seeking Monthly Tickets)_1

Chapter 194: Chapter 193: The Monster Tree Reappears (Seeking Monthly Tickets)_1

Spring passed and autumn came.

In the blink of an eye, two years of cold and heat had passed.

Dragon Fish Island, Evergreen Pavilion.

Fang Xi gazed at the fine rain outside and heaved a long sigh.

Ever since Ruan Xingling had expressed her intentions to be his Taoist Companion and he had rejected her, she had confined herself to Maple Leaf Island and seldom visited.

He was also aware that as time went by, more and more friends would be unable to keep pace with him, and thus they would gradually drift apart.

It was so with Wei Yixi, and so it was with Ruan Xingling!

"Island Master, please drink your tea!"

Next to him, Xiahou Ying was kneeling in a proper manner, skillfully preparing the Spiritual Tea.

"Hmm, not bad..."

Inhaling the fragrance of the tea, Fang Xi voiced his appreciation.

Under his guidance, this woman’s cultivation had advanced to the third layer of Qi Refining and perhaps would soon break through to the middle stage of Qi Refining.

And Lord Xiahou, who managed Spirit Medicine Valley, also worked diligently and had recently come to report that the cultivation of Dragon Scale Fine Rice had yielded results.

No doubt, before long, they would be able to eat second-order Spirit Rice at every meal.

After the daily leisure activities, Fang Xi sent Xiahou Ying away and entered the Cultivation Room.

This was his most private and secret space, guarded by layer upon layer of Arrays. Even if Xiahou Ying rashly entered, she would be turned to ashes by the Yi Wood Divine Thunder!

...

Da Liang World.

Wu Jing, Martial God Sect.

Fang Xi was reading a book.

In recent days, the Martial God Sect had seen an emergence of remarkable talents, proposing several developments for Qi and Blood Martial Arts that were quite enlightening to him.

Among these, Fang Xi believed the most promising was to continually strengthen and purify the True Gang, eventually condensing it into a tangible object, just like a pill!

’Qi and Blood... Holding Pill? Core Formation?’

’The three thousand Dao, could it be that all roads lead to the same goal in the end...’

’Or perhaps, is Great Liang also a sub-world within the Immortal Path?’

’But can one person condense two Golden Cores?’

’If not, this conceptual Qi Blood Holding Pill Skill will inevitably conflict with the Core Formation of Cultivators...’

Fang Xi put down a scroll of secret records and sighed.

If he had to choose between Qi Blood Holding Pill and Immortal Path Core Formation, he would undoubtedly choose the latter!

After all, beyond the Immortal Path Golden Core, there are still plenty of realms and Cultivation Secret Skills available for further cultivation and advancement.

But once he opts for Qi Blood Holding Pill, he would have to forge a new major realm.

The uncertainty was just too high!

To bypass a clear path and instead venture into uncharted territory was not Fang Xi’s way of doing things—as he always acted with prudence.

"Alas..."

"If the path of Qi and Blood Martial Arts is impassable, does the value of this world only lie left with—Demons?"

Fang Xi sighed as he walked into the Martial God Sect’s secret prison.

The prison was built underground and divided into nine levels.

The first few levels contained those who betrayed the Martial God Sect or those who had failed in their struggles. Seeing the Sect Master of Martial Gods arrive, they would either rattle the bars made of special metals and shout their innocence or shrink into a corner in fear.

But as one went further down, the light grew dimmer and dimmer.

At the very bottom, even the sounds from the outside world gradually faded into utter silence.

"Martial Gods really dare to do anything when they go mad..."

Fang Xi opened a metal door and came to the deepest part of the ninth-floor dungeon.

Behind a series of specially constructed doors lay various... Demon Servants! Or Monster Infection victims!

It couldn’t be helped, as this was Fang Xi’s requirement!

Therefore, the Martial Gods, relying on their own martial power, captured traces of those infected by Demons and imprisoned them for research.

The fact proved that the Demons were more like a collection of regularities; as long as a few deadly regularities were avoided, the lethality of Demon Servants was not too significant.

"Demon Blood!"

Fang Xi stood before a metal door, looking at the label on it: "Must not let Demon Blood come into contact with even a trace of flesh and blood, or it will swiftly devour and turn into a pool of blood? Best to use jade to separate it, or gold as the next best option?"

He opened the metal door and entered a securely sealed chamber.

The walls inside the chamber were actually covered with gold leaf, and in the center of the chamber, on a golden altar, there was a jade bottle.

Fang Xi created a green magical hand and grabbed the jade bottle, slowly opening it.

A drop of dark red blood flowed out.

It had been in this place for who knows how long, yet it still seemed as fresh as if it had just been separated from the mother’s body, deep and glistening.

’Back then, my Magic Power almost couldn’t eradicate the scent of the Monster Tree that had been separated by who knows how many generations...’

’And now?’

Fang Xi took out a long sword of magical instrument, and the tip of the sword touched the blood droplet.

Within his Dantian Qi Ocean, a droplet of liquid Magic Power was rapidly consumed, turning into an emerald green glow that enveloped the blood droplet.

Zzt zzt!

An intense sound of corrosion erupted as the blood bead and the liquid Magic Power intertwined and evaporated...

By the end, that drop of demon blood alarmingly vanished without a trace.

And Fang Xi silently circulated his magic power, restoring that consumed drop of liquid magic power.

"With the quality of my magic power now, offsetting a drop of demon blood is no problem... Even Martial Gods can do it, but what if it’s more? Even... a sea of blood?"

"The ’Demons’ of this world... really are fascinating... I’m afraid they’ve already touched upon some characteristics of Core Formation, or even higher, right?"

"In such a situation, even if I truly find the Monster Tree, success is not guaranteed..."

"Fortunately, my goal can be set lower, not needing to subdue the Ancestral Monster Tree, but to obtain the tree seed..."

After all, the Ancestral Monster Tree was actually quite peaceful; last time Fang Xi was in the Demon Realm messing around blindly, there wasn’t any reaction, until the very end when he was about to break open the Demon Realm, it moved just a bit.

As Fang Xi was thinking this, while perusing many reports on demon experiments and testing the Immortal Cultivators’ lethality to demons, a confidant ran swiftly over, his face full of joy:

"Sect Leader, it’s great news!"

"Oh, what has happened?"

Fang Xi looked at the still moving severed hand inside the prison cell, wrinkled his brow, sealed the place off with an array, and then stepped out to ask.

"The Monster Tree... has been found!"

The confidant answered gleefully.

"Oh? That’s really good, who found it first?"

Fang Xi laughed heartily, as his previous offer of the Beast Blood Pill as a reward had indeed paid off.

"It’s Zhou Tong, Protector Zhou..."

"Him, huh... That’s rare indeed."

Fang Xi remarked thoughtfully.

Zhou Tong, since the first time he exchanged for a Beast Blood Pill and failed to break through, had been subtly suppressed by a bunch of Martial Gods.

As a result, the contributions he had been saving up until now were still a bit short.

Fortunately, this time he found the Monster Tree and made a great contribution, so he could be directly rewarded with a Beast Blood Pill, enough for him to break through.

...

Light State.

This state was located to the southwest of Great Liang, filled with thousands of mountains and ravines, jungle vapors, and sparse population.

One day, above a vast wilderness of dense forests, there were more than a dozen huge figures with wings streaking across the sky, as fast as lightning.

The slightly ignorant locals on the ground, upon seeing the a dozen or so winged red-armored deities descending from the sky, immediately knelt by the roadside to pray.

"Zhou Tong, is this the place?"

Fang Xi, likewise using the Martial God body and Gang Qi Wing secret skill, transformed into a blood-red giant figure with huge wings, asking the Zhou Tong beside him.

This old Grandmaster, after receiving the bestowed Beast Blood Pill, finally broke through, and the True Gang Giant he formed showed a coppery red color. Although he was somewhat shorter than the surrounding circle of Martial Gods, he emanated an unbreakable aura.

"Reporting to the Sect Leader, it is indeed ’Sanchuan City’ ahead... I just happened to be traveling nearby when I discovered that the entire city had a Demon Disaster outbreak, forming a Demon Realm... It’s exactly the same as the Demon Realm of the Monster Tree in the illustrations."

"This Monster Tree hides for a while before it comes out to consume humans. Before the people of Sanchuan City are completely devoured, it won’t move its territory."

Zhou Tong answered loudly.

And after flying over a mountain range, Fang Xi saw at the horizon, where three rivers intersected.

There should have been a large city here originally, but now it was already covered by the pitch-black Demon Realm.

Even the Monster Tree tattoo on his back began to stir with eagerness.

"Indeed, it’s... the Ancestral Monster Tree!"

Fang Xi muttered to himself as he looked at the inverted black bowl-shape.

This demon, he had finally seen it again!

"Yo yo... Is this the infamous Monster Tree, which has haunted the dreams of countless Grandmasters in our sect? It doesn’t seem so extraordinary after all!"

Liu Ruyan flew with unparalleled speed, arriving above the Demon Realm and revealing a slightly ferocious smile: "Sect Leader... now that the thirteen Martial Gods of our Martial God Sect are all here, why don’t we just uproot this tree, how about that?"

Upon hearing this, the surrounding Martial Gods also displayed bloodthirsty smiles.

’Dammit, the Beast Blood Pill really shouldn’t be eaten; it causes brain issues...’

Fang Xi was utterly speechless at the muscle-brained ideas of the Martial Gods in his sect.

Now, his Divine Consciousness could reach up to eighty zhang. With just a slight dive and scan, he could sense the unfathomable depths of the Demon Realm.

’This sensation... almost merges with the Earth and the Void... almost a third-tier forbidden Great Array?’

’If any of you Martial Gods, even one of you, can shake this array in the slightest, I’ll let you take the position of the Sect Leader!’

’The key point is, it’s fine if you mess up and kill yourselves, but it’s not good if you drag me down too.’

Fang Xi rolled his eyes internally, but his expression became sharp and cold: "Land, set up camp! Without my command, no one is to touch the Monster Tree Demon Realm!"

Under the strict orders of the Martial God Sect Leader, the Martial Gods reluctantly landed and began setting up camp.

Then Zhou Tong caught a hunter nearby, and according to what he said, the Monster Tree had just appeared a month ago.

"A month ago?"

Fang Xi looked at the huge Demon Realm not far away, deep in thought and silent.

In his mind, thoughts spun endlessly.

’Fortunately, the target has been discovered. If I leave a few Martial Gods to guard, it should be impossible for the Ancestral Monster Tree to run away again... Even if it does run, I can still track it!’

’As for me?’

’Even if I want to take the risk to explore the Monster Tree Demon Realm, I should at least go back and remanufacture the ’Earth-shaking Array’ first, to ensure that there’s no worry for the way back...’

Last time, when the aura of the Monster Tree wasn’t so terrifying, Fang Xi could successfully make a getaway with just a first-tier Prohibition-breaking Talisman.

This time, he felt that the Monster Tree Demon Realm was almost comparable to a third-tier forbidden Great Array, obviously needing the ’Earth-shaking Array’ for safety.

’Perhaps... I could even manufacture the ’Vertical Ground Golden Light’ Spiritual Instrument I’ve been conceptualizing, and then consider this matter...’