The Skywing Demon raced forward, his heart hammering. He thought he'd completely shaken off the two human maniacs. But then, the next moment, they appeared on either side of him, completely surrounding him.
"Are we going to kill him or not?" Ji Wu Si glanced at the Skywing Demon.
The demon's face immediately tightened.
Yun Jin shook her head. "Nope. This formation doesn't seem to activate without a demonic aura."
The Skywing Demon exhaled in relief.
"Wait until we reach the place, then deal with him," Yun Jin added calmly.
The demon blinked, speechless.
"Seriously? You say that to someone's face and call it polite?"
He quickly regained his composure. These two foolish humans… they think that once they reach the Origin Place, they can slaughter at will?
When the Mother Tree strikes, it won't just be them. Every human will die!
The Skywing Demon roared silently in his mind but dared not show a trace of it on his face.
The blood energy surged again. The formation finally solidified. The next instant, everyone inside the formation vanished from the spot. The world spun around them violently.
Before they could take in their surroundings, a sticky, horrifying stench of blood hit their noses. The corrupting force here was far stronger than the blood moon outside.
Yun Jin felt her protective membrane melting away faster than before. At this pace, in another hour, it would disappear entirely. But she wasn't worried.
She seemed to… have found the place.
Looking up, she saw not far off a massive lake dyed red. In the center of the lake stood an enormous tree, towering into the clouds. It constantly drew blood from the lake, looking profoundly sinister.
Ji Wu Si's pupils contracted sharply. "This is…"
The Skywing Demon laughed maniacally. "You two idiots! You actually dared to follow me here! Today's your death day. This place will be your grave! Perfect… your blood will nourish the great Mother Tree!"
"Mother Tree?" Ji Wu Si frowned.
Yun Jin spoke calmly. "It's the Tree of Life. This Life Tree originates from the supreme Life Tree of the Highest Demon Realm. The life of the demons comes from this tree. The blood moon outside is also a fragment of its essence. To eradicate the demon race completely, we must destroy this tree entirely. Otherwise, after thousands of years, another demon race will rise here."
Ji Wu Si nodded and drew the Wuxin Sword.
Then there's no time to wait.
Kill.
The Skywing Demon froze, dumbfounded. How does this human know these secrets? Even he wasn't entirely clear on some of this!
The Skywing Demon leapt back, his face twisted. "You know this and still dared to come in? Yun Jin, you're way too confident! Today, you'll die by that very confidence."
He knelt toward the Life Tree. "Mother Tree, humans have invaded the demons. Our race is on the brink of extinction. I beg you, Mother, strike down the humans."
The Skywing Demon knelt, utterly reverent.
The massive Life Tree responded almost instantly. Its canopy shook violently, and a terrifying aura surged outward.
The Skywing Demon's face lit up with joy. The Mother Tree heard his prayer! These humans are doomed!
He couldn't wait to see Yun Jin and Ji Wu Si's horrified faces.
Yet…
Neither of them even glanced at him. They simply stared calmly at the lake.
Yun Jin said softly, "There's someone at the bottom of the lake."
Ji Wu Si nodded. "I felt it too."
"You've lost your mind! This is our demon race's forbidden ground. How could there be anyone at the lake bottom? You…" the Skywing Demon started, but stopped.
Suddenly, the Life Tree sprouted long vines.
The demon's eyes gleamed with delight. "Wait, Mother Tree is acting! Please, Mother Tree, eliminate these disrespectful humans!"
The vines lashed out violently.
The demon grew more jubilant, eager to see Yun Jin and Ji Wu Si begging in pain.
But then…
The massive vines plunged directly into the blood lake, churning the water wildly.
The Life Tree… completely ignored Yun Jin and Ji Wu Si.
Yun Jin chuckled. "Looks like the person at the bottom is doing something against the Life Tree."
She already knew who it was.
Perfect timing.
She hadn't figured out how to fully eliminate the Life Tree yet. But Yang Yun… had come to help. Seems even demons have a kind side. They know what she wants and just hand it to her.
The Skywing Demon's expression froze.
"What do you mean? There really is someone at the bottom?"
The person at the bottom couldn't hide any longer under the frenzied vines. He leapt into the air.
The demon's eyes shrank.
It was the Demon Sovereign!
Yang Yun wasn't of a high-level race, and their secrets had never been leaked. Yet the Demon Sovereign… he knew? And he got to the Origin Place before them!
The outer formation had just activated. He had another entry route. How did a half-demon know this?
Yang Yun's expression darkened as he looked at Yun Jin.
It's her again! Why won't she go away?
Yun Jin greeted him warmly. "We meet again. Did you miss me?"
Yang Yun scowled. He really did miss her… way too much.
"What do we do now? She's here again! And the Life Tree was alerted by them, waking early. It's discovered our little plan! I knew this wouldn't work!" Yang Yun muttered in his mind.
The demon soul spoke coldly. "Even if it fails, it must succeed! This is our only chance!"
The reason he brought Yang Yun here was simple. He wanted to absorb the Life Tree's power to boost Yang Yun to the peak of the human realm. Then, immediately head to the Extreme Northern Icefield to open the spatial barrier.
The Life Tree's power was vast. Ordinary people couldn't steal it, but he knew a trick. Set a formation at the tree's roots, use the demonic runes, and secretly siphon energy. Once the Life Tree awoke, the formation would be ready, and it couldn't resist.
But…
Something went wrong.
The Skywing Demon had used a formation to come here, alerting the Life Tree immediately. It wouldn't allow them to steal energy so easily.
Fortunately, the formation was mostly ready.
Not perfect, but…
It could still fight.
This time…
They couldn't fail again.
===
If you like this novel, and I'm pretty sure you do since you literally read all the way to this chapter, I want to share the next project I picked up on AO3. It's a xianxia comedy called "When Everyone Cultivates, I Snatch Opportunities." The protagonist is, quite literally, a thief, and her stuff gets stolen as the background of the story. She also has multiple lives, always reincarnating with the same name because her fate and luck were stolen from her.
The funniest part is how her habits start rubbing off on her pet. They turn into a little troublemakers, it cracks me up every time.
I couldn't resist picking this project. I found the novel yesterday, and by this morning I realized I didn't enjoy reading it through machine translation anymore. I tried Edge first, then switched to Chrome, both on Android, but the reading felt off. It was a bit better on my laptop, I read it through ARC, but all three rely on Google Translate anyway. The novel is still ongoing and has around six hundred chapters if I remember correctly.
Here's the blurb. If it sounds like something you'll enjoy, feel free to check it out on my AO3, and don't forget to join my discord. The link is on my profile.
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Transmigrated? Check. Doomed to an early death? Check.
Feng Qinghe's response is to pull off the ultimate heist, emptying the protagonist's family vault before making her grand escape.
Suddenly, the cultivation world is in chaos. Destined encounters vanish and hard-won treasures disappear, all without a trace or a villain to blame.
When questioned, Feng Qinghe just shrugs. "It's a gift from the heavens~ You snooze, you lose."
Faced with an untraceable enemy, the entire cultivation community makes the only logical choice: if you can't beat 'em, join 'em. So they become a legion of opportunity-snatchers, too. The spiritual energy is pure, but the collective morals have hit rock bottom. After all, why fight destiny when you can just steal its lunch money?
The new rule of cultivation is simple: See it. Want it. Take it.