Chapter 248: The Person Granny Tree Demon Saw in Her Dream

Soil and stones flew in all directions, while the flames were blown flat. The scene flashed into Lu Liangsheng’s view in an instant, raging flames sweeping across the sky, distorting the air as it was sucked away. Countless rocks and clumps of earth below surged toward the sea of flames covering down from above, pushing out a distinct trail between them.

Boom——

Magical power shook, flames, earth, and stones trembled, and enormous ripples of force were sent surging in all directions under the spells and demonic power of both sides. The mountains, rocks, forests, and wilderness were all shaved apart and shattered. A nearby mountain peak was stripped bare, bringing with it crackling sounds of collapsing rocks before it toppled down with a thunderous crash.

“Haha, it was not easy for a thousand-year-old tree demon to cultivate. This Venerable will not kill you either. Submit obediently! Come with me to Ziling Mountain!”

The raging flames surged and pushed aside the earth and rocks that came crashing toward them, splitting into hundreds and thousands of streams that darted and swam in all directions. Fire overcame wood, and besides, the fire in his hand was no ordinary flame. It was a magical treasure obtained from the Five-Colored Manor, specially prepared for today.

The woman in the black dress pulled both hands away from the ground, turned around, and fled underground, wanting to evade the overwhelming blaze.

A tremor came from the sky. The figure casting the fire suddenly withdrew the raging flames he had released, then raised his head and looked toward the distant mountains, where a figure holding a horsetail whisk, with his hair tied in a Daoist topknot, gently stroking his long beard, was looking over.

The Sacred Flame Exalted Venerable immediately bowed down.

That figure on the mountain peak looked on with a smile, his wide sleeves bearing the Yin-Yang Eight Trigrams sweeping outward.

His voice came rolling over like thunder.

“Little demon, where are you going!”

The sleeve suddenly unfurled, and the surrounding forests violently shook as they fell toward the sleeve of the person on the mountain peak. Tree trunks snapped with crackling sounds. Like an inexhaustible force of suction, the earth and rocks on the ground were all swept upward into the air, and Granny Tree Demon, hiding underground, was forcibly pulled out as well, swept into the air.

“Ahhh——”

Her graceful and slender figure was swept backward as she struggled, her disheveled hair flying loose as she roared, “You will never get past the Three Calamities and Five Tribulations!!!”

Granny Tree Demon’s black-dressed figure seemed to shrink, rapidly being sucked into that person’s sleeve. Moments later, a Daoist utterance rang out from the mountain peak.

“I will come back to retrieve the demon afterward.”

At the foot of the mountain, the Sacred Flame Exalted Venerable lowered his head and knelt in prostration, and the several people beside him likewise bowed down to the ground.

“Yes.”

Seeing the tree demon being taken into that person’s wide sleeve, Lu Liangsheng found it somewhat familiar, and subconsciously reached for his own wide sleeve. It was extremely similar to how he had previously used the Purple-Gold Black-Patterned Gourd to collect the white fox demon.

‘So the tree demon was taken away by that person. Just a flick of his sleeve is already this powerful.’

Unfortunately, this was only a memory within a dream, so he could not sense the other party’s strength or weakness. However, since he already knew the place and where to go, only the final step of the plan remained.

Lu Liangsheng collected his thoughts and prepared to leave and withdraw from the spiritual consciousness. However, in that instant, he suddenly turned his face toward that mountain peak. What had originally been merely a scene from the tree demon’s memories did not shatter.

Over there, the figure in the Daoist robe holding the horsetail whisk slowly turned his face, as if he had seen him. His eyes flashed like lightning, piercing through everything.

‘Not good!’

Lu Liangsheng quickly withdrew his spiritual consciousness and flew back along the spiritual thread he had come through. The lush greenery gradually disappeared from his sight, and darkness swept over him like a tide.

Bang——

The Demon-Subduing Mirror placed on the altar shattered, startling the Daoist beside it into jumping up. “Yan Chixia, help!”

The bearded man guarding one side did not dare to be careless. His hand smacked against the wooden chest with a bang, and one small sword after another flew out with magical light, following the circle around Lu Liangsheng and the tree demon before stabbing into the floor. Immediately afterward, he sat cross-legged on the ground, formed a spell seal with both hands, and his lips moved rapidly as he recited one Soul-Calming and Spirit-Settling incantation after another.

Sun Yingxian was no slower. He bit his index finger and wiped the blood along the red thread connecting Lu Liangsheng and the tree demon. With his other hand, he produced two talismans and slapped them onto the backs of the man and demon.

“Spirits and Gods of the four directions, heed my command. Protect this red thread from breaking. With Lu Liangsheng’s soul bound here, let his spirit not perish and his physical body not fall.”

As the sacrificial words were recited, his bloodied fingertip pressed against the constantly trembling red thread, not daring to move even a fraction. A layer of fine sweat seeped across the Daoist’s face and slid down his chin, drops falling one after another and soaking a large patch of his chest.

“This Daoist can hardly hold on any longer. What exactly is going on over there?!”

Downstairs, the Toad Daoist sat by the wall, stretching out his two short legs. He put down the recipe book, raised his face and looked upstairs, then quickly got up and climbed the wooden steps.

Seeing the shattered bronze mirror and the Daoist covered in sweat, he spread his webbed feet and dashed over, then leapt up and charged straight into his disciple.

At the same time, Sun Yingxian suddenly shouted, “Scholar Lu, wake up——”

Under the bloodied fingertip, the red thread gave a ‘twang’ and snapped directly, while the Toad Daoist also crashed into Lu Liangsheng’s waist at that instant.

The figure sitting cross-legged tilted slightly, his eyelids trembled, and Lu Liangsheng suddenly opened his eyes and exhaled a rough breath.

In his field of vision, the Buddha sat upright on the altar, the bronze mirror placed upon it shattered across the floor, while the sandalwood incense in the burner had broken in two, lying on the altar and sending up wisps of lingering smoke.

The Daoist shouted while holding his bleeding finger in his mouth, his voice reaching Lu Liansheng as a dull buzz. The Toad Daoist, his pale-white belly sticking out, staggered around in circles, continuously rubbing the top of his head. Yan Chixia leaned against the wall, panting, sweat dripping from the tips of his beard.

Outside, there was also the braying of the old donkey and the sound of Zuo Zhengyang swinging his blade through the forest. The feeling of reality finally returned.

Lu Liangsheng propped himself up on his knees and wiped the sweat from his face. Within the formation, the tree demon’s body swayed before she fell down with a bang. He reached out and touched her forehead, only to find that she had merely fallen into a deep sleep.

He couldn’t help but chuckle. He walked over to the crooked window frame covered in spiderwebs and pushed it open.

‘Who exactly was that person?’

Lu Liangsheng took a deep breath of the fresh mountain air. His senses gradually returned and became clear. He remembered that the figure of the person on the mountain peak seemed somewhat familiar, yet he had never seen him before.

Behind him, the Daoist’s voice was now clearly audible, and his incessant questions came one after another.

“Hey, hey, I’m asking you something.”

“What happened over there? Did you see anyone?”

“Were you troubled by the demon soul, or perhaps confused by the other party’s appearance? Hey, Great Scholar Lu, Young Master Lu, can you hear this Daoist speaking?”

The Toad Daoist covered his head and plopped down onto the ground. “Don’t call him. His soul hasn’t settled yet.”

“I went into the tree demon’s dream.”

At this moment, Lu Liangsheng withdrew his thoughts, and his emotions from before had also calmed down. Seeing the concerned gazes of his master, the Daoist, and Yan Chixia, he walked over and sat down beside them.

“I also saw how she was taken away. There is another person behind the Sacred Flame Exalted Venerable, but unfortunately, it was too far away, so I couldn’t see his appearance clearly.”

The Daoist was not having it. He got up from the ground and patted the dust off his backside.

“Look, just one Sacred Flame Exalted Venerable is already powerful enough. The person behind him is probably already an Immortal. We can’t take him on!”

As dust filled the air, the Toad Daoist held his webbed hands behind his back and slightly turned his face. “If this old man had recovered to his former state…”

Before he could finish, Lu Liangsheng interrupted him and said:

“We only deal with the Sacred Flame Exalted Venerable and the Fire Prayer Cult.”

Now that things had reached this point, Lu Liangsheng was unwilling to give up just like this. “He mentioned a place in the tree demon’s dream. Perhaps that is where his true dwelling is.”

“Listen to this old man—”

The Daoist stepped over the hopping Toad Daoist, who was still hopping about and waving its webbed hands, and headed towards the stairs, waving his hands in refusal. “Not going, not going. We might as well return to Qixia Mountain and cultivate first. Once this Daoist reaches the Golden Core and learns the Heaven-Descending Lightning Technique, we can blast him to death then!”

Lightning?!

Lu Liangsheng looked at the Daoist, his expression suddenly frozen. Beside him, the Toad Daoist stopped waving his webbed feet and looked at Sun Yingxian, blinking. He slowly turned his head and met the eyes of his disciple, who was looking at him as well.

They nodded together.

“Heavenly might is not to be trifled with. Divine thunder descends, and all evil submits!”

Sun Yingxian stopped in his tracks and turned around, only to see the master and disciple staring straight at him. He instinctively stepped backward until his back pressed against a wooden pillar, dust rustling down onto his head and shoulders.

“Hey, hey, what kind of look is that you two are giving this Daoist?”

Hahaha!

Leaning against the wall, Yan Chixia’s beard spread as he laughed heartily, causing the Daoist to turn his head and shout, “What are you laughing at again?!”

The bearded man stopped laughing, supported himself against the wooden chest as he stood up, and spread his hands.

“I don’t know either. The atmosphere was tense, so I loosened it up!”

Over there, Lu Liangsheng picked up his master and placed him on his shoulder, then picked up the tree demon from the ground and carried her horizontally in his arms. Only then did he look at the Daoist and voice his idea, causing Sun Yingxian’s Daoist hat to ‘bounce’ once.

“Aren’t you about to reach the Golden Core? When the time comes, how about going to the Sacred Flame Exalted Venerable’s home to undergo the tribulation?”