Above, the fire dragon lurked hungrily, while below, Long Chen's black soil rampaged and continuously eroded the earth. The Tianlin Demon Tree finally gave in.
One by one, the Tianlin Demon Fruit fell from the tree. With each fruit falling, the tree's aura noticeably weakened.
Previously, the Tianlin Demon Tree said that one Tianlin Demon Fruit equaled a thousand years of cultivation, which was somewhat exaggerated. However, losing one fruit was indeed a painful pain like cutting flesh.
Over eight hundred Tianlin demon fruits were all picked up, and the entire tree had lost its luster, as if it were about to wither.
"You... You can ... Please let me go. "The Tianlin Demon Tree's voice was slightly hoarse.
With a wave of his hand, Long Chen slowly retracted the black soil from the ground into the chaotic space, and at the same time put Huo Ling'er away.
"Why bother? Actually, I've always been easy to talk to. Have your men bring me all the rare herbs here. Do you really expect me to handle them myself? Long Chen chuckled.
The old man formed from the Tianlin demon tree now had a dark face—no, not black, but truly black. All of this was tainted by the death aura of the black earth.
The Tianlin demon fruit has been picked, and it will likely take even longer to clear this deathly energy.
With no other choice, the old man obediently ordered the other tree demons to hand over the rare herbs from the forest to Long Chen one by one.
In fact, these rare herbs are easy to identify. As long as they're not tree demons, they're considered rare herbs, because they're nourishment for tree demons. They need them to absorb the spiritual energy of heaven and earth and help them cultivate.
Fortunately, Long Chen only wanted one of each rare herb, not all of them. Otherwise, it would cut off their food supply, and they would fight Long Chen to the bitter end.
"Dao Heart Sword Orchid,"
"Eight-Treasure Linglong Grass,"
"Seven-leaf Araemonia"
"Ahaha, all good stuff, I'm rich!"
As Long Chen collected each rare herb, he couldn't help but burst out laughing. These herbs were so precious—there were even more than a dozen of them being thirteenth-tier rare herbs.
These rare herbs can also be refined into twelfth-tier pills, greatly improving their quality. Long Chen collected over three hundred rare herbs in total, half of which were not even found on the Tianwu Continent. This time, Long Chen's herb garden was enriched even further.
"Old man, don't look so miserable. To be honest, you schemed against me, and I didn't kill you, that was already a special mercy.
Now I have a question for you, and you need to answer honestly. Long Chen looked at the Tianlin Demon Tree, whose face was dark and wished it could bite Long Chen to death.
"Speak," said the Tianlin demon tree coldly.
"I'm curious—why is there a withered branch about thirty li away from you? The scent on the withered branches felt somewhat familiar. Long Chen pointed to a spot above the giant tree.
At that spot was the turning point of the main trunk of the Tianlin Demon Tree, it looked extremely abrupt, as if it was the fork where the tree forked. But it seemed that one fork had been cut off, making the whole tree somewhat off-balance.
"It was cut down by one of your human bastards." The Tianlin Demon Tree roared, and at the mention of this fork, it became furious.
"You humans are all bastards. Back in the great war in the Divine Realm, I was shattered by your human race, forcing me to become a seed and be reborn in my own small world.
As a result, my small world also collapsed, leaving only this core area, settled in this place where birds could no longer lay eggs, able to slowly absorb the surrounding spiritual energy bit by bit and slowly recover.
Tens of thousands of years have passed, and my body is about to undergo a transformation, reshaping my perfect true form. Here comes a bastard of your human race.
Not only did he steal all the Tianlin demon fruits, he also severed one of my dual branches of yin and yang, causing an imbalance between yin and yang. It took me a long time to recover.
And this time, I'm about to reshape my true body. You bastard, here we go again. All my tens of thousands of years of effort have been wasted. You humans are all a bunch of scoundrels. "The Tianlin Demon Tree roared hysterically.
"Don't get so worked up. Let me ask you, do you know that person's name?" Long Chen asked.
"Of course I remember. He said his name is Qingxu, so I should remember him well." The Tianlin Demon Tree said through gritted teeth.
Long Chen nodded silently. As expected, he was an emperor. No wonder the aura left behind there was so familiar, somewhat similar to the imperial seal.
It turned out that Emperor Qingxu had come here to pick fruit, and he sighed in his heart: an emperor is an emperor, and the damage caused is permanent. As long as that aura remains, it can never recover. This wound is terrifying.
"Hehe, you really are unlucky. If I'm not mistaken, last time was just like this one.
You need to extract the life force of a strong person to help you complete the final step, so Emperor Qingxu must have taught you a lesson. Long Chen chuckled.
That day, the Qilin Demon Tree snorted coldly and said nothing. Clearly, Long Chen had hit the mark—he had provoked the Great Emperor on his own initiative and paid a heavy price.
While sighing, Long Chen also felt a chill in his heart. The Great Emperor could sever the Tianlin Demon Tree's body, preventing it from restoring for tens of thousands of years. Without Black Earth and Fire Dragon, Long Chen wouldn't dare challenge the Tianlin Demon Tree on his own. The gap was simply too great.
Especially since Long Chen recalled what Emperor Moli once said: last time he went easy on the heavenly tribulation, but the karma would be counted in the next tribulation. If he didn't work harder, he would really die in the next tribulation.
"You may leave now. You humans are not welcome here." Seeing Long Chen still standing there, the Tianlin Demon Tree said coldly.
"What's up under the swamp outside?" Long Chen asked.
"Just a bunch of sleepy and gluttonous loaches. As long as you don't attack them, they won't pay attention to you." The Tianlin Demon Tree said coldly, his tone tinged with impatience, as if he didn't want to talk to Long Chen anymore, perhaps wanting to heal quickly.
Long Chen nodded, not wanting to say anything about meeting again. He figured this guy would never want to see a human powerhouse again in this lifetime.
Long Chen obtained over eight hundred Tianqin Demon Fruits this time. Just these eight hundred were already a huge surprise, and with so many rare herbs, he was practically a huge profit.
Long Chen sped along the forest passage, speeding outward. The tree demons didn't dare attack him again, and the path was smooth and unobstructed. He returned to the edge of the swamp, looked back, and the forest closed once more, and the towering giant tree was nowhere to be seen.
This island was extremely strange, and its space was eerily bizarre. Although it had only been speeding for a short while, the big tree was nowhere to be seen, nor could anyone estimate how big the island was.
Long Chen didn't think much of it. He took out his bronze token, jumped onto it, and slowly ran out. The whole journey was peaceful, but after leaving the mist, he realized something was wrong.
Because Long Chen felt tremors coming from beneath the swamp, and the water above the swamp began to ripple.
"Whoosh"
Suddenly, something rose beneath Long Chen's feet. He instantly soared into the sky as if riding on clouds and mist.
Long Chen suddenly noticed a colossal creature crawling out of the swamp. The moment it appeared, his scalp tingled instantly.
"A ferocious beast above the Penetrating Nether."
WellIt was a fierce beast resembling a flood dragon, but it had no scales, no horns, no eyes, only a huge mouth visible.
"Hand over the Tianlin Demon Fruit, and I'll spare your life."
That huge monster could actually make human sounds—cold and devoid of emotion.
"Damn it, it was the Tianlin Demon Tree that trapped me."
Long Chen suddenly understood that this monster was the underground disturbance he had encountered before, and the Tianlin Demon Tree said it was nothing more than a greedy loach.
And this monster actually knew he had the Tianlin Demon Fruit. Even if you thought about it with your backbone, you could tell it must be the Tianlin Demon Tree sending it the message—this was a case of using others to kill someone.
"Damn it, I curse you that next time the Tianlin Demon Fruit ripens, someone will come to snatch you again." Long Chen cursed inwardly.
"Hand over the Tianlin Demon Fruit."
"Boom!"
Long Chen's bronze plaque shook again, being sent flying high into the sky. The massive monster roared once more.
"Damn it, this is too much. Even if I'm not an Emperor, I'm not someone you idiots can bully."
Long Chen was furious. Compared to the Great Emperor, he lived a life of utter cowardice. Standing atop the bronze plaque, Long Chen said coldly, "
If you want to die, I'll grant your wish."
"Buzz!"
As Long Chen finished speaking, the monster showed no hesitation and launched its attack. Its huge mouth opened wide, and the entire swamp boiled. Suddenly, the monster's tail shot skyward and swung toward Long Chen.
"I'm going to wear it out with you today."
Long Chen was furious. Even a loach monster dared to bully him—this was outrageous.
"Boom!"
Long Chen couldn't dodge in the void and could only defend with all his might. With a loud explosion, the giant loach monster struck its tail into the swamp.
Long Chen had nowhere to use his footing and was blown into the swamp, stirring up a cloud of silt.
The Dragonblood warriors on the distant shore suddenly heard a loud noise. Seeing the scene, they couldn't help but shout:
"This is bad! The boss is being blocked by a monster!"
The monster appeared, its violent power shaking away the surrounding mist, clearing the sky and earth, allowing them to clearly see the battlefield ahead.
"What should we do? This swamp is poisonous and a no-fly zone; fighting here is a huge disadvantage. "People were shocked.
"Boom!"
A figure charged into the void. Long Chen wielded the Dragonbone Evil Moon and slashed down with his blade, landing on the giant loach monster's head. With a loud explosion, the monster's body suddenly sank, crashing into the swamp, mud flying everywhere like a tide.
Long Chen's full-force strike only pushed back the giant loach monster. A gash was left on its head, but it didn't bleed. Clearly, Long Chen's strike wasn't enough to cause it much damage.
"Roar!"
The giant loach monster roared, spinning rapidly in the swamp, suddenly shooting straight at Long Chen like a massive furious arrow.
"Boom!"
The Demon Moon Furnace appeared, crashing into Long Chen. After being struck by the giant loach monster, he shot up into the sky like a meteor.
Long Chen hid inside the Demon Moon Furnace, feeling his body tremble violently, as if struck by a star, and he spat out three mouthfuls of fresh blood in succession.
The Yaoyue Furnace could only withstand part of the power; the rest was still endured by Long Chen. Long Chen was horrified to find his body cracked, nearly shattering.
That giant loach monster was a tier thirteen ferocious beast, incredibly strong, and on his own turf, Long Chen was nearly killed.
"Buzz!"
Suddenly, light burst forth from the Demon Moon Furnace, stopping to fall and now hovering above the void.
"Brother Long Chen, we've broken free from the constraints of the swamp domain." Ling'er exclaimed in surprise.
"Out of the field?" Alright, I'll give it a tough move. Long
Chen stood atop the Yaoyue Furnace, gazing at the swamp below. His large hand opened, and a ball of flame rose up.