Chapter 1421: Entering the Ancient Tree
“Bang!”
After being struck by so many frightening and vicious attacks, the head of the Ban Sheng puppet with its many cracks immediately burst apart. Pale flesh and bones erupted from it…
“Crack crack.”
After its head exploded, the Ban Sheng puppet slowly stiffened with its hand in the air before an unusual ripple spread from its broken neck. The unusual ripple then turned into nothing as it quickly disappeared. With the disappearance of this energy, the body of the Ban Sheng puppet suddenly became older at a rate visible to the naked eye. Finally, it transformed into dust that scattered.
“Hu.”
A golden light surged as Xiao Yan’s body quickly shrank. He returned to his original size in the blink of an eye. He wiped off the cold sweat on his forehead and glanced at the situation to his side. With the exception of Xiao Yan and Xun Er, everyone else had sustained some injuries. Even someone as strong as Gu Qing Yang had been injured by a palm strike while he had been exchanging blows with the Ban Sheng puppet. It was fortunate that his Dou Qi was powerful; otherwise, he would have sustained a serious injury.
“This thing was too difficult to deal with…”
Xiao Yan flicked his finger. Numerous medicinal pills shot out of his Storage Ring. The were stopped in front of everyone before entering their mouths.
“Everyone, please rest for awhile. I will stand guard.”Xiao Yan spoke in a deep voice.
No one objected to Xiao Yan’s words. All of them swallowed the medicinal pills and quickly sat down. They made full use of this time to quickly enter their training states. They needed to ensure that their Dou Qi was maintained at peak condition in this place that was filled with danger. Only then would they be able to retain their little lives.
“Xiao Yan ge-ge, do we need to intervene?” Xun Er walked to Xiao Yan’s side. Her pretty eyes looked at the other battlegrounds as she softly asked.
Those other battlegrounds were not proceeding very smoothly. Even Hall of Souls expert from Hun Yu’s group had his heart shattered by the Ban Sheng puppet. He ended up dying, but the strength of that group was still quite high. Thus, they were firmly able to suppress the Ban Sheng puppet. From the looks of it, victory was only a matter of time. The group from the Heaven Demon Phoenix tribe had also suffered some injuries and deaths, but they were not serious and were still within the acceptable region. They had also managed to slow that Ban Sheng puppet…
Compared to them, the last two battles appeared a little too miserable and intense. The four groups had begun an all out struggle in the face of death. Although their strengths were quite impressive, there was no cooperation between them. Hence, a couple of Dou Zun experts had died in the hands of the Ban Sheng puppets. Those four groups had suffered the most serious casualties.
“It is not necessary. All we need to do is take care of ourselves…” Xiao Yan’s eyes flickered as he shook his head. It was not the time to show kindness. All of these people were competitors. After they finished off these Ban Sheng puppets, these people might secretly attack those who had been their allies earlier. Hence, it was best not to be a busybody. If any accidents were to occur and a Ban Sheng puppet went out of control, it would be too troublesome to deal with the fallout. Xiao Yan had gained an understanding of these so-called Ban Sheng puppets. Although these puppets were called Ban Sheng, their true fighting strength was far inferior than a genuine Ban Sheng. Otherwise, it would have been impossible for Xiao Yan’s group to kill it without suffering any casualties.
Xun Er nodded. She also understood his logic. If they were to intervene and lend a hand now, these people might end up launching a sneak attack later on. It was not the time to be merciful.
“Is that the legendary Bodhisattva Heart…” Xiao Yan once again glanced at the battlegrounds around him. After which, his eyes shifted to the Bodhisattva Ancient Tree. Circular light rays spread from the body of the tree a thousand feet from the ground. The light was filled with an extremely shocking life force.
“This Bodhisattva Ancient Tree is even stranger than I had expected. These Ban Sheng puppets were definitely genuine Ban Shengs when they were alive, but even they had ended up becoming puppets. Even they were not able to deal with this Bodhisattva Ancient Tree.” Xiao Yan’s eyes stared at the light as these thoughts flew across his heart. These Ban Sheng puppets were not the things that would give one a headache. Instead, the most troublesome thing was the Bodhisattva Ancient Tree itself because no one knew what kind of unusual tricks it hid.
“Looks like we must be even more careful this time around. Otherwise, we won’t obtain the treasure and we might end up losing our lives…”
“Bang!”
A deep and muffled sound was suddenly emitted from the distance while thoughts were lingering in Xiao Yan’s heart. When he turned around, he coincidentally saw the expressionless Hun Yu shatter the head of his ancestor with a punch.
Hun Yu deeply exhaled when his punch shattered the head of the Ban Sheng puppet. After which, he lifted his head. His eyes looked at Xiao Yan as a warm and friendly smile quickly surfaced on his originally expressionless face, causing Xiao Yan to coldly smile. Was this person performing a face-changing act?
After Hun Yu’s group finished off the puppet, he quickly made his group sit down and recover their Dou Qi. Clearly, they were also exhausted from the big battle earlier.
Around ten minutes after Hun Yu’s group was victorious, the Heaven Demon Phoenix tribe’s battle was finally concluded. After killing around three Heaven Demon Phoenix experts, the Ban Sheng puppet’s head burst apart after it let an opportunity appear.
“Damn thing!”
Jiu Feng’s expression was gloomy as he ruthlessly kicked the corpse of the puppet away. They had sacrificed three powerful Heaven Demon Phoenix tribe Elders in order to finish this thing off. This price could not be considered small.
Jiu Feng inhaled a deep breath of air and suppressed the fury in his heart. He once again calmed down as he waved his hand and told his group to sit on the ground. He swallowed a medicinal pill and quickly began to recover his Dou Qi.
The three groups had finished off their Ban Sheng puppets before the rest, but none of them went to aid the remaining two battles. Instead, they chose to simply observe with cold eyes by the side. Clearly, none of them treated the others as true allies.
“Ah!”
An elite Dou Zun was forcefully torn into two as everyone coldly watched from the side. Blood scattered down and drenched the Ban Sheng puppet. At the same time, fifteen experts, whose eyes had turned a little red, unleashed a powerful wind at almost the same time, and those winds ruthlessly struck the head of the Ban Sheng puppet.
“Bang!”
Against such a number of attacks, the body of the Ban Sheng puppet shook as its head burst apart. The ripple from the blast struck the dozen plus experts nearby and caused the blood to churn within their bodies. A mouthful of fresh blood was involuntarily spat out…
They had truly suffered a bloody loss in order to kill this Ban Sheng puppet.
After this battle ended, the last battle continued for a couple more minutes before the final Ban Sheng puppet was eventually killed. The people fighting the last puppet used a method of risking their lives to make an attack, sacrificing five people in the process…
The last group of people lay weakly on the ground after the Ban Sheng puppet’s head had been blasted apart. They did not even wish to move a finger.
Once the final Ban Sheng puppet was turned into dust, Xiao Yan’s group, which had rested for a period of time, slowly opened their eyes. Their auras had nearly fully recovered with the aid of the medicinal pill.
Xiao Yan’s eyes shifted to the Bodhisattva Ancient Tree after seeing that everyone in his group had finished recuperating. A moment later, he said, “The subsequent situations will definitely be many times more dangerous. Therefore, I suggest those whose strength has not reached the sixth star of the Dou Zun class remain here and cease advancing further…”
Everyone hesitated after hearing Xiao Yan’s suggestion. They soon nodded since Ban Sheng puppets had appeared. No one could know if there were other even more dangerous trials ahead. If one’s strength did not reach the mark, one would be seeking death by heading in.
“Sect chief, in that case, we will accompany Yanran and remain here. You should accompany the junior pavilion chief…” The few Flower Sect Elders looked at each other and spoke. Although they were aware that they were not blessed enough to enjoy the benefits of the ancient tree, they still wished for the Flower Sect to gain something. Currently, Yun Yun was quite strong and she had some sort of relationship with Xiao Yan. If she encountered a wonderful opportunity, she would gain endless benefits.
“This… in that case, you should be careful.” Yun Yun hesitated for a moment before nodding. She did not have any hope to snatch for a treasure. However, she would feel a little worried in her heart if she allowed Xiao Yan’s group to continue on even though she was aware that Xiao Yan was stronger than her.
Xiao Yan nodded. After which, his eyes landed on the Bodhisattva Ancient Tree’s large body. The true Bodhisattva Heart was definitely hidden inside!
“Let’s go.”
Xiao Yan softly exhaled. The pores on his body tensed up at this moment. He waved his hand gently and took the lead to stand up. After which, he slowly walked to the Bodhisattva Ancient Tree. Behind him, Xun Er’s group, which had been waiting solemnly, followed him with grave and cautious faces.
“We should also get moving…”
Hun Yu’s and Jiu Feng’s group could not remain still after seeing Xiao Yan’s group start to approach the tree. They could not bother to rest as they waved their hands and led their people to the Bodhisattva Ancient Tree.
The few fragmented groups further behind also clenched their teeth upon seeing people approach the tree. They forcefully climbed up from the ground. They had already paid a great price in order to come to this far. They were unwilling to simply return empty-handed.
The many people hastened their steps because of the temptation of the Bodhisattva Ancient Tree. As they approached the Bodhisattva Ancient Tree, everyone’s heart once again became anxious. No one knew just what tricks the Bodhisattva Ancient Tree contained. It was this unknown that caused one to feel terrified…
“Sha sha.”
The soft sound of feet slowly pressing against the ground was heard as everyone gradually reached the bottom of the Bodhisattva Ancient Tree. They stood below before lifting their heads. Only then did they realize just how enormous this ancient tree, which had survived for an unknown number of years, was.
“Chi!”
The moment everyone reached the bottom of the Bodhisattva Ancient Tree, a bright light suddenly erupted from the body of the tree a thousand feet above the ground. It turned into a bright pillar that wrapped around Xiao Yan’s group.
This sudden scene caused everyone’s heart to jump. They were just about to unleash their Dou Qi when they were shocked to discover that the Dou Qi within their bodies had disappeared…
“Swoosh!”
The light pillar quickly shrank while everyone was feeling shocked. It emitted a ‘swoosh’ sound as it pulled back into the tree with lightning-like speed. The group of people, who had reached the bottom of the tree earlier, had vanished at the same time. Xiao Yan’s group was naturally included among those who had disappeared …
Nalan Yanran continued to stare at the spot where the group had strangely disappeared from. Her face immediately turned pale.