The enraged roar of the human face on the black giant tree echoed throughout the soluble cave, an invisible wave of sound waves rolling through, shaking the entire cavern, with countless fragments of stone falling down.

The numerous tree-man puppets seemed to have received some unified command and retreated toward the giant tree, halting their advance, and no one pursued, including the wielders of the Black and White Chessboard, Hou Yi's Sun-shooting Bow, the green-clothed man, Jin Chao, Hua Zhi, and others. They all ceased their attacks and looked up to the sky, releasing their Divine Sense to see what was happening above.

Seeing this, the black giant tree huffed coldly once more, and a layer of luminescence emerged on the stone walls of the cave in all four directions, stopping everyone's Divine Sense.

"Lank Chessboard, Hou Yi's Sun-shooting Bow! I didn't expect you would truly dare to come here. Good, it saves me the trouble of finding you!" The Undead Tree Demon's eyes turned to the opposition, its massive voice resonating in the cave.

"Undead Tree Demon, it's unexpected that over the years you have slain so many cultivators, creating so many puppets. Such annihilation of humanity will surely bring divine retribution!" A black and white figure emerged from the chessboard, it was the Black and White Artifact Spirits.

"Humph! I am a Tree Demon, not of the Human Clan. I don't need your feigned humanity, and it's not your place to judge my cultivation path right from wrong! Since you dared to come today, then all of you shall stay here!" The Undead Tree Demon sneered.

Before the echo of its words had faded, the ground near the Black and White Chessboard, Hou Yi's Sun-shooting Bow, and the green-clothed man, among others, suddenly cracked open without warning, revealing almost a hundred cracks of varying sizes.

The next moment, countless black tree roots shot out from the cracks, stretching as they met the wind, rising in unison and lashing towards everyone.

Almost simultaneously, the army of tree-man puppets, which had stopped earlier, followed the tree roots and once again charged towards everyone.

Just as the battle was about to erupt, a black shadow shot out from the top of the black giant tree at a startling speed, vanishing into the cavern's ceiling with just a flash, with everyone in the cave too preoccupied to see clearly as they prepared to face the enemy.

Inside the Stealing Heaven Tripod, Yuan Ming's gaze flickered slightly.

Despite its incredible speed, the black shadow could not escape his Divine Sense, which revealed a completely black tree-man, different in appearance from the common tree-man puppets, and possessing extraordinary strength, having reached the half-step Returning Void stage, but it had used some special technique to conceal its power.

Moreover, the aura of the black tree-man was exactly the same as the Undead Tree Demon, and based on Yuan Ming's speculation, it seemed to be some sort of clone.

At this moment, including the green-clothed man, everyone in the cave naturally had no time to worry about the black shadow, as they each employed their Divine Abilities to face the wildly dancing tree roots and the swarming army of tree-man puppets.

Hou Yi's Sun-shooting Bow, however, floated toward the direction of the black giant tree, its surface radiating golden light, with countless runes revolving and flickering around it. The Lank Chessboard flew above the Sun-shooting Bow, spinning continuously, emitting large swathes of black and white radiance.

Amidst the intertwining lights, black and white chess pieces shot out from the board, flying around above and below, faintly forming some sort of formation, repelling any tree-man puppets or tree roots that came its way.

At this moment, including Yuan Wuji, the members of the Tide-rider Alliance made a move that surprised the others.

The four of them suddenly withdrew from the battlefield and rushed towards the top of the cave.

The human face on the black giant tree's eyes darkened, the black tree roots originally targeting the crowd now split in half, enveloping Yuan Wuji and the others.

Yuan Wuji and his comrades were prepared, their bodies emanated thick Blood Light, and armor of blood appeared within it—the Blood Puppet Armor.

With the summoning of the Blood Puppet Armor, their speed increased greatly, nimbly evading the entanglement of the black tree roots and reaching the wall above them.

Their figures flickered, turning into four Blood Shadows that passed through the wall's luminescence and entered the stone wall, fleeing toward Guanghan City.

"Could it be that Yuan Wuji and the others showed up on Three Immortals Island this time with the unset goal relating to that silver-white Orb?" Yuan Ming thought silently inside the Stealing Heaven Tripod.

He had heard from Guoguo about the conversation between Ni Mu, Jia Sifang, and Wan Tianren within the Starry Sky Hall. Ni Mu and the Tide-rider Alliance seemed to have deep ties; could they have had a premeditated plan?

"Yuan Wuji and the others have also gone to Guanghan Palace! In that case, I should also take a look." Xi Ying suddenly spoke up.

"You're going? How can you leave the Stealing Heaven Tripod to go?" Yuan Ming was taken aback and quickly asked.

"Using Guoguo," Xi Ying replied, then beckoned Guoguo over, applied the Golden Sunflower Beast Taming Technique, with most of his mana and Divine Soul leaving his body to merge into Guoguo's.

Guoguo's demonic power surged, reaching the Level 4 Middle Stage.

"That works. Here, take the Spiritual Beast Bag of the Three-eyed Crow with you; if necessary, I can lend a hand." Yuan Ming took off the Spiritual Beast Bag from his waist and handed it over.

Without hesitation, Guoguo swallowed the Spiritual Beast Bag and then transformed into a Spiritual Body, becoming invisible.

Yuan Ming discreetly released Guoguo from the Stealing Heaven Tripod space, and Guoguo immediately sped upwards.

Although Guoguo's Invisibility Divine Ability was exquisite, it couldn't escape the Divine Sense of the green-clothed man and Jin Chao. However, they were too busy dealing with the Undead Tree Demon's fury to pay much attention to the suddenly emerging Guoguo, allowing it to leave.

Yuan Ming breathed a sigh of relief and looked at the situation in the cave, his brows tightly furrowed.

The battle in the cave was extremely unfavorable for everyone; the black tree roots of the Undead Tree Demon, although seeming soft like vines, were exceptionally tough. Except for those protected by the Lank Chessboard around Hou Yi's Sun-shooting Bow, the others were all pressed to the point of being overwhelmed.

Even the green-clothed man's green claw shadows could only sever a few roots at a time, not to mention the attacks from the others.

It would be bad enough if they were merely tough, but these black tree roots also possessed the ability to absorb Mana, rendering attacks from everyone's Magic Treasures and Spells not only ineffective but quickly absorbed, and not even the Golden Crow True Fire unleashed by Jin Chao was an exception.

With the containment of these roots, the attacks of the tree-man Puppets became even more ferocious, and everyone's protective magic talisman were successively shattered. Had it not been for the Lank Chessboard bearing the brunt of the attacks, they would have almost been unable to hold on.

Just then, Hou Yi's Sun-shooting Bow shone brightly with golden light, and once more, a Divine Arrow with an aura far surpassing the previous ones appeared on the bowstring, drawn to the full crescent.

"Whoosh"

A burning golden rainbow shot out, and everything it passed—whether it was the obstructing black roots or tree-man Puppets—was shattered in a single strike, piercing through directly.

The golden rainbow tore through the void, crossing a distance of a hundred zhang in an instant, heading straight for the Undead Tree Demon itself.

The vines hanging in front of the Undead Tree Demon rose up one by one, and dozens of roots also shot out from the ground, joining together to face the golden rainbow head-on.

Bang, bang, bang...

More than twenty roots and vines were shattered in succession, but the momentum of the golden rainbow was completely spent, reverting to the state of a Divine Arrow and getting firmly entangled by the remaining vines and roots.

"Impossible! Even if you have cultivated to the Upper Fifth Level, it's not possible for you to so easily catch my Golden Crow Divine Arrow!" Hou Yi's Sun-shooting Bow exclaimed in disbelief.

"Ignorance!"

The Undead Tree Demon laughed wildly as the black tree roots entangling the Golden Crow Divine Arrow suddenly exerted force, rapidly draining the Spiritual Power within; the once brilliantly golden color completely turned dull and grey.

The soul of the Golden Crow within the arrow's body let out a scream and fell silent as it perished.

Yuan Ming witnessed this scene and was greatly surprised. The roots of the Undead Tree Demon were so terrifying that they could devour all kinds of Spiritual Power. They were incredibly sturdy, far more formidable than any Magic Treasure he had seen before. It was simply inconceivable.

"Although the Undying Tree is very tough, and its roots are even more tenacious, it should not be possible for them to be this powerful. What's going on?" Xi Ying was also deeply puzzled.

Her Divine Soul had separated from her body, and some Divine Soul still dwelled in her Nascent Soul, so unlike Yuan Ming, who had lit the Possession Black Incense to possess another, she had not completely lost consciousness.

With Hou Yi's Sun-shooting Bow's desperate charged attack failing, the morale of the Green-clothed man, Jin Chao, and the others plummeted further. Despite the defense of the Lank Chessboard, they were pushed back step by step and soon cornered in an area of the Soluble Cave, just near where Hua Zhi and her group were.

Hua Zhi and her group had been hiding on the outskirts and hadn't faced many attacks thus far. But now, with the Lank Chessboard, Green-clothed man, and others retreating nearby, Hua Zhi and her group also got involved, facing increased pressure.

Hua Zhi had already transformed into a half-human, half-vine state, with large amounts of transparent Poison Liquid and parasitic spores spreading out, attacking the black roots and tree-man Puppets that came forth.

At this juncture, Old Man Hei Zhu and others also dared not hold back any longer and unleashed all sorts of bottom-of-the-box Divine Skills. Under Yuan Ming's order, Blood Shadow, Hong Ling, and even Elder San Jue spared no effort and went all out.

However, Elder San Jue's strength was merely comparable to that of the Green-clothed man and Jin Chao. It didn't make much difference, and the situation of Hua Zhi and the others grew increasingly perilous.

Seeing this scene, Yuan Ming could no longer stand by idly. He activated the Soul Power of the Half-step Word Witch and cast the Nightmare Technique.

The originally ferocious expression on the Undead Tree Demon's face momentarily stiffened, showing a hint of daze, and its eyes clouded over, consciousness rapidly blurring as if about to plunge into deep slumber.

But at that moment, wisps and strands of Black Mist began to appear on the many roots of the Undead Tree Demon, spreading rapidly and enveloping the Undead Tree Demon within it.

A force of attraction came from within the Black Mist, Yuan Ming's Divine Sense was swiftly absorbed, the Nightmare Divine Ability was interrupted, and the eyes of the Undead Tree Demon cleared up once again.

Yuan Ming's heart sank with a clunk, never in his dreams had he imagined the Undead Tree Demon possessed such a Divine Ability; it could directly absorb Divine Sense, rendering any illusion-based Divine Skills completely ineffective against it. How were they supposed to fight this?

"Who dares to launch a sneak attack on me!" The Undead Tree Demon instantly realized what had just happened, and its demeanor became even more ferocious as it bellowed angrily.

Yuan Ming, of course, did not reply, but quickly pondered his next move while his Divine Sense reached out to Qi Ye, who was currently entangled with the Green-clothed man.

Qi Ye had lured him here under the pretense of having a method to counteract the Black Mist.

Yuan Ming activated the Divine Sense and communicated with him through the Artifact Spirit in the Shura Blood Devouring Map.

However, Qi Ye simply kept fighting the Green-clothed man, with no indication of responding at all.

"Could this person be colluding with the Undead Tree Demon, and I was deceived?" Yuan Ming murmured in alarm.

Fortunately, he had kept a backup plan. The Transmission Array Plate that had just sent them into the White Round Moon was still on Penglai Mountain. It was not impossible to leave this place if they wanted to. If the situation became truly dire, he couldn't care less about the potential consequences.

However, Guoguo had gone to Guanghan City. It would be necessary to call her back, otherwise, with Xi Ying's soul attached to her, encountering any mishap could lead to serious trouble.

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