Jin Chao made a decisive move, spewing out a mouthful of orange-yellow flames that covered his entire body. The green-clothed man's figure also vanished into the green Wind Roll surrounding him, and on Hou Yi's Sun-shooting Bow, a fierce golden spirit flame surged like a halo, protecting its true form.

Seeing this, the other people hurriedly deployed their techniques to protect their bodies, but before they could even form the hand seals, everyone heard the two demons and one spirit grunt in unison.

In the void, three extremely thick roots emerged from the space cracks, ignoring their Protective Body techniques and piercing directly into their bodies.

The creepy black Protective Spiritual Light continuously crept over their bodies, completely swallowing their Protective Spiritual Light, and then, more roots reached out from the void, seeking to completely bind them.

"Yinkong, help me!" the green-clothed man suddenly shouted.

Yinkong's face showed a struggle, but in an instant, his expression turned fierce again.

He raised his arms, and demonic power surged into them like a tide. His silver hair moved on its own, floating into the air.

Right after, a tall silver willow tree appeared behind Yinkong, its willow branches dancing, causing nearby space to fluctuate wildly.

Yinkong aimed his arms at where the green-clothed man was, then his palms slammed together forcefully.

The space between the green-clothed man and Yinkong suddenly twisted, folding upon itself.

In the next instant, the green-clothed man's figure disappeared on the spot and reappeared beside Yinkong, having escaped the tree roots that had pierced his body.

Meanwhile, the space twisted behind Yinkong, and countless pitch-black space rifts uncontrollably appeared around his body, some even on his torso, dividing his body into pieces in a particularly spine-chilling manner.

"Hmm, Space Folding? This little demon has some skills," the Undead Demon Tree uttered with a hint of interest, taking a closer glance at Yinkong.

Yinkong had no spare energy to speak. The tall silver willow tree behind him had dimmed significantly.

This Divine Skill was still beyond his complete mastery. Forcibly using it now, he even risked damaging his origin.

After sending the green-clothed man away, he resolutely dispersed his Divine Skill, the silver willow behind him vanished, and the surrounding space rifts instantly closed. However, the parts of his body devoured by the space rifts disappeared as well, scattered into the chaotic space currents.

As Yinkong made his move, Jin Chao and Hou Yi's Sun-shooting Bow also tried to save themselves.

After being pierced, Jin Chao immediately activated his Divine Skills. From his eyes, a lava-like liquid flame poured out, landing on the roots. It instantly turned into a golden expanse of sea of flames, which was the extremely pure Golden Crow True Fire.

The terrifying temperature even caused the ground beneath his feet to evaporate instantly, turning into white smoke.

However, within the sea of flames, the roots of the Undead Demon Tree remained unscathed, showing no signs of being burnt or destroyed.

Just as Jin Chao was about to be completely enveloped by the roots, cracks suddenly emerged on the shell-like flame protective shield beside him.

"Jin Yun? Not good, run!" Jin Chao realized this and felt joy, but then his expression changed once more.

Before Jin Chao's words fell, another root burst from the air, aiming to pierce through the flame protective shield beside Jin Chao as well.

Then in the next breath, the flame protective shield completely shattered, and the Golden Cloud Fairy leaped out, her aura completely different from before, now reaching the Nascent Soul Stage.

Golden Cloud Fairy opened her mouth and spat out a mass of gold and white True Fire that swarmed out, wrapping around the root attacking her.

The black root caught fire with a booming sound, turning to charcoal ash. The gold and white True Fire continued to fly forward, incinerating the roots that had pierced into Jin Chao as well.

"True Sun Fire! You've cultivated it!" Jin Chao exclaimed in joy, escaping the predicament together with the Golden Cloud Fairy.

"Only half cultivated, otherwise the True Fire would've completely transformed into white," Golden Cloud Fairy shook her head slightly, her eyes looking towards the Undead Demon Tree with extreme solemnity.

Compared with the green-clothed man and Jin Chao, Hou Yi's Sun-shooting Bow was in a much worse situation. It had already used up all its Golden Crow Arrows and had no other assistance. After a short struggle, it could only be completely bound by the roots, utterly immobilized.

The three strongest individuals were all hit by the attacking roots. Although two had successfully escaped, the rest of the people were still shocked, continually retreating.

However, the Undead Demon Tree did not intend to use this move against them. Not a single root aimed at them appeared. Instead, the surrounding Tree-man Puppets were reconnected with his roots, encircling the people once again.

"Hehe, this tit-for-tat makes things interesting. Use whatever techniques you have left, don't let me be disappointed," the Undying Tree Soul saw that Jin Chao was rescued and took another look at the Golden Cloud Fairy but still appeared to be completely at ease.

Old Man Hei Zhu and the others, upon hearing this, immediately felt a sense of desperation. The attack they had just launched was the result of their utmost effort, yet it hadn't even scratched the Undead Demon Tree. Could it be that they were truly destined to meet their end here today?

But at that moment, Old Man Hei Zhu's eyes suddenly became misty, his body and mind controlled by an overwhelmingly powerful Illusion Technique, making him pray wholeheartedly to the Nether Moon God.

The next moment, Old Man Hei Zhu's eyes regained their clarity, and no one noticed any abnormality.

Inside the Stealing Heaven Tripod, Yuan Ming saw that Old Man Hei Zhu was controlled by his own Illusion Technique, nodded slightly, and then turned his gaze toward the Undead Tree Demon.

Upon realizing that the Undying Tree Soul was still present, he immediately stopped using the black Undying Tree to absorb the Puppets to avoid detection by the Undead Demon Tree.

Although the Undead Demon Tree in front of them seemed unharmed, Yuan Ming sharply noticed that the number of Tree-man Puppets surrounding them was a full ten percent less than before.

These ten percent of Tree-man Puppets were now lying on the ground, mixed in with the other fallen puppets. Moreover, with everyone's line of sight obstructed by the active Tree-man Puppets and unable to look elsewhere, only he could detect this detail with the help of his all-encompassing Divine Sense.

What's more, if the Undead Demon Tree was truly unharmed, it wouldn't have hidden its Divine Soul in the heart of the tree, giving them a breather before reappearing.

Perhaps the Undead Demon Tree had indeed entered a state of suspended animation earlier, which was why it didn't react to his absorption of the puppets until Qi Ye stabbed at the heart of the tree, forcing it to reveal itself.

While Yuan Ming's thoughts were racing, on the other side, the Undying Tree Soul cast its gaze toward Qi Ye, whom it held in its grasp.

"Hmph, I sent out so many hands to hunt down this group of people, but they've repeatedly escaped. Now, they have conveniently invaded Guanghan City. I've been wondering where they got their information and who leaked it. It seems now that the insider was you," the Undying Tree Soul said slowly with a dark gaze.

"Haha! For so many years, there hasn't been a single day that I haven't thought about how to kill you. Now that I've failed, my only regret is not understanding you enough, otherwise I would never have given you a chance to resurrect," Qi Ye laughed wildly.

"This is truly odd, you Cultivators fight to the death in Cultivation just to have a lifespan as eternal as the heavens, aren't you? Under my command, you'll never have to worry about the depletion of your life span. Moreover, as a Returning Void, I've granted you a certain degree of freedom. Such a good deal, why are you still not content?" A trace of puzzlement surfaced in the Undying Tree Soul's eyes.

"Ridiculous! The freedom you speak of, does it involve being at the mercy of your control at any time, carrying out orders against my will under your manipulation? I Cultivate for eternal life indeed, but even more so for the freedom to roam the world, not for a false eternity bound by another. I would rather fight to the death than be forever controlled by you," Qi Ye sneered and said.

"So stubborn, well then, Qi Ye, I'll give you one last chance. Everyone who has been turned into a puppet by me should be completely under my surveillance. Even though I grant a certain autonomy, there's no way any would harbor thoughts of rebellion. If you reveal how you freed yourself from control, I might consider it making up for your transgressions and spare you from death, otherwise, don't blame me for being heartless!" the Undying Tree Soul said coldly.

"If I feared death, I wouldn't have rebelled from the start. As for how I did it, heh, why don't you take a guess?" Qi Ye said contemptuously.

"Unforgivable!" A flash of cold light appeared in the eyes of the Undying Tree Soul.

A black tree root shot out instantaneously from its body and pierced into Qi Ye's Dantian, utterly devouring his Mana and Qi-Blood in just a moment. Even the Nascent Soul wasn't spared, being crushed and absorbed by the root, with not even a Residual Soul left behind.

Qi Ye fell on the spot, his black sword also clattered to the ground. The Undying Tree Soul, without a glance, flicked its left hand and looked toward Jin Chao and the others.

Seeing the Undead Demon Tree devour a Returning Void cultivator in an instant filled everyone with even greater horror.

But just then, from within the line of people, a streak of red light silently flew out from Hua Zhi's body.

"You—" Just as the Undying Tree Soul started to speak, it suddenly saw an additional blood-colored screen above everyone's heads—it was the Shura Blood Devouring Map.

A Blood Shadow emerged from the screen; it was the Shura Blood Devouring Map Artifact Spirit.

"Spiritual Treasure!" Upon seeing this, the Undying Tree Soul's face showed delight, ready to capture the Shura Blood Devouring Map, but it suddenly felt a sharp pain in the chest.

It looked down in astonishment, only to see the tip of a black sword piercing through its chest.

This was Qi Ye's sword? But he was already dead, why would...?

The thought barely formed in the Undying Tree Soul's mind when a black Thunder burst forth from the black sword that had impaled its chest. Crackling fiercely, the Thunder quickly spread across its entire body, forming a massive black Thunder Ball that engulfed it.

In the blink of an eye, all the Tree-man Puppets stood frozen, as if they had lost their minds, leaving everyone bewildered by this sudden turn of events, uncertain of what had just transpired.

Inside the Stealing Heaven Tripod, Yuan Ming was even more shocked. He and Hua Zhi hadn't manipulated the Shura Blood Devouring Map; the treasure had taken flight on its own. Recalling Qi Ye's instructions before they entered this place, Yuan Ming's heart chilled, and several guesses crossed his mind.

But he knew that this was not the time for hesitation. Almost instantly, he ordered Hua Zhi to retract the Shura Blood Devouring Map and directly controlled Old Man Hei Zhu to fly towards the Undead Demon Tree.

As the black Thunder dispersed, the Undying Tree Soul reappeared.

However, its left arm was severed by the Thunder, its remnant soul body not only covered in wounds but also flickering with countless tiny sparks of electricity, with its aura much diminished from before.

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