Shushan Earthly Immortal

Chapter 396 Burning Ailao, Taking Root
Ailao Mountain, Bottomless Cave.

This cave is as large as a sinkhole, seemingly bottomless, dark and damp. If you look down into it, you can only see pitch blackness, like a night sky where you can't see your hand in front of your face. From inside, there are moaning and wailing sounds, like the sound of water, the sound of wind, the sound of insects, or even the sound of ghosts, as if they lead straight to the underworld.

A colossal ancient tree, too large for a hundred people to encircle, grew out of this sinkhole. The tree's bark was smooth, like silk or cloth, emitting a ghostly green light. The leaves were like scales, dark green to black. A cold wind blew up from the bottom of the cave, making the scale-like leaves rustle. In some places, the leaves were so dense that they collided with each other, producing a clanging sound like metal striking metal.

The ancient tree's roots were unknown, its trunk its length unknown, with only a small tuft at the top emerging from the hole and protruding above the ground. Although it was only the tip of the iceberg, from the ground, compared to the other ancient trees around it, this small tuft was still an extremely conspicuous towering tree.

The canopy of the large tree covered hundreds of acres, obscuring the bottomless pit, preventing any light from penetrating and making the cave appear even more profound.

At this moment, under the canopy of this large tree, on the edge of the bottomless pit, a person sat cross-legged.

This was a rather handsome middle-aged man, wearing a green robe with a black dragon design and a golden crown on his head, practicing martial arts with his eyes closed.

Just then, a faint rumble of thunder could be heard over Mount Ailao. At first, the man paid no attention and continued practicing his martial arts. But when the thunder above became continuous, louder, and closer, he realized something was wrong and opened his eyes to look.

The sky was clear and bright, with white clouds drifting lazily by; there was no thunderstorm in sight.
All that could be seen was a small dot in the sky, rapidly growing larger.

He activated his divine eye and stared intently, only to see a massive sword with a black hilt and a white blade! A sword as big as a mountain!

The man frowned and said,

"Go, stop them."

Then, as if obeying a command, the ancient tree in front of him emitted a bright, eerie light, its scales rustling. Immediately, this ancient tree, which was already of unknown height, began to grow rapidly, shooting straight into the sky like an arrow released from a bow.

"Which family is so blind as to dare to plot against my Ailao Mountain!"

Mu Longzhang looked up and asked sharply.

The demon's lips moved slightly, his voice barely audible from a distance. But in the next instant, his voice exploded in mid-air, like a thunderclap in a clear sky. This furious roar echoed high in the sky, spreading in all directions, yet no one responded, only the ever-growing boom of the giant sword crushing the sky continued.

The sword, like a solitary mountain, descended from the sky; the tree, like a blue rainbow, rose from the ground.

"boom!"

A deafening explosion resounded, and from the center of Ailao Mountain, beasts and birds within a hundred miles were terrified, fleeing in all directions in panic. At the point where the giant sword and the giant tree intersected, a horizontal ripple of void space erupted, sweeping outwards, shattering the white clouds, and creating a huge cloud cave that stretched for a thousand miles in diameter in the void.

Upon closer inspection of the point where they intersect, the scales and leaves on the giant tree's crown are all tightly packed together, resembling an iron umbrella, armor, or a dragon's back, but not quite a tree. The scales are indestructible, yet firmly rooted to the earth; the giant sword is sharp and unstoppable, descending with the force of the heavens. The moment they meet, it's like thunder and fire, a clash of titans, a stalemate that freezes them in mid-air.

High in the sky, Cheng Xinzhan saw this and guessed that the ancient tree must be the famous vine species of Ailao Mountain. It was just that it had grown too big and was too old, so it looked like a tree. He just didn't know if it was the dragon vine that Mu Long Staff had refined into his avatar. He changed his sword technique, and the Tai'a Magic Sword burst forth with a mysterious yellow sword aura, which seeped into the scales and leaves.

Just like rotten soil and decaying roots, the dark green, glowing leaves of the scales, illuminated by the sword's aura, gradually turned dark yellow, then withered and fell, and cracks began to appear on the scales. Then, the giant sword plunged further into the tree crown, piercing the branches and trunk.

This process is like cutting meat with a dull knife; although it is slow, it is gradually breaking open the giant tree.

"The Filthy Earth Demon and the Yin Ruins Demon have come prepared."

In the Ailao Mountains, Mu Longzhang recognized Jian Sha and frowned. With a thought, he sent a message to the ancient tree, and then the ancient tree changed.

High in the sky, the ancient tree suddenly loosened its canopy scales on its own, and the giant sword, like a sharp knife cutting tofu, sank down and cut into the trunk, making it look as if the ancient tree had given up resisting.

However, once the greatsword's blade was mostly embedded in the tree, the ancient tree emitted a ghostly light, instantly halting the sword's downward momentum. Then, the ancient tree's branches began to grow wildly; the branches, though thick, were as supple as snakes, making the tree look more like a vine. These vines clung to the greatsword, completely enveloping it in the blink of an eye, like a large tumor growing from the top of a vine.

Not only that, the vine, like a snake, swallowed the giant sword as if it were a tree python devouring a sheep. Its body slowly writhed, suppressing the giant sword while simultaneously pushing it downwards, seemingly wanting to possess it.

Seeing this, Cheng Xinzhan naturally understood Mu Longzhang's intention. He chuckled softly and muttered to himself,
"I'm just worried you won't be able to eat it."

He then made another sword gesture and summoned another sword.

"Donghua Qingshu".

"go with!"

He pointed his sword at the demonic vine.

The wooden sword immediately transformed into a streak of azure light, hurtling down at breakneck speed.

The giant vine countered the attack, and a side branch quickly sprouted, growing to over ten feet in the blink of an eye. As it grew, it lashed at the blue rainbow like a whip.

However, just as the two were about to collide, Qinghong suddenly twisted her body, dodged the whip, transformed herself into a soft sword rope, and used her skillful strength to climb onto the demon vine. She then quickly swam along the side branch and arrived at the main body of the demon vine.

The sword cord, like a dragon coiling around a pillar, wrapped around the demonic vine and immediately began to tighten its grip, like iron hoops binding the vine. It not only jammed the earth sword but also seemed poised to crush the entire vine into pieces. At the same time, the sword cord tightened, sinking into the vine, and the demonic vine immediately oozed bright red sap, like blood.

Moreover, the sword cord spewed out sword energy, and the bluish-purple sword energy pierced the wounds on the demonic vine, causing these areas to quickly turn black and rot.

"Pruning curse! Rotten peach curse! Diseased tree curse!"

Mu Longzhang gritted his teeth. There were only so many Earthly Fiends in the world that could restrain the Wood element, so why were they all appearing at once today? Who was this person?
He began to ponder who his enemies were, and who could be so meticulous and powerful as to find so many counteracting substances. Furthermore, he activated his divine eye again to look upwards, but in the extremely high heavens, he only saw a hazy cloud of light, and what was inside the cloud of light was unclear.

"Pretend to be a ghost!"

Mu Longzhang cursed under his breath, thinking to himself, "Who doesn't have the 'Pruning and Twisting Curse,' the 'Rotten Peach Curse,' and the 'Sick Tree Curse'? Let's see if your flimsy wooden sword is more powerful, or if my deep-rooted dragon vine is more formidable!"
Knowing its master's intentions, the demonic vine suddenly sprouted many tendrils, thinner than the sword cord, and then turned around to wrap around the sword cord, pulling outwards with force, intertwining and vying with each other.

Just then, the sound of fire roared from the sky again, and a fiery rainbow flew down.

The demonic vine naturally wanted to dodge, but at this moment, the sword rope was entangled with it and they were locked in a struggle. How could Cheng Xinzhan let it have its way?

He pointed downwards and chanted an incantation.

"Dong Gong issued an edict, and Jiao Mu obeyed."

The seed is made of wood, and the green vine becomes its reins.

Rooted in the void, locked in the heavens;
The spiritual root is solidified, and the Qi will forever govern the four directions.

"Hurry, hurry, as commanded by the Heavenly Lord Qing Tong! [Smash!]"

After the incantation was recited, the sword rope on the vine suddenly shone with a bright blue light, combining strength and gentleness, locking the demonic vine like a steel hoop, allowing Huo Hong to strike it squarely.

"laugh--"

Like a swift arrow hitting a target, or a hot knife piercing a candle, the fiery rainbow pierced through the demonic vine and then settled, solidifying into a crimson longsword.

That's not all. A torrent of fiery sword energy flowed out of the crimson sword, cascading down and pouring onto the demonic vines, creating a magnificent waterfall of flowing fire.

Mu Longzhang didn't know what kind of evil fire it was. As soon as it landed on the vine, it began to burn fiercely, and then it flowed down and burned towards the base of Ailao Mountain.

At the same time, the demonic vine, weakened by its injury, allowed the earth sword within its belly to move again, flying downwards. Soon after its descent, the earth sword met the fire sword that pierced the demonic vine, and then, using the fire sword as leverage, continued its descent. Thus, the earth sword, heavy and the fire sword, sharp and unstoppable, cleaved the demonic vine in two from top to bottom.

The demonic vine, severely injured, let out a mournful cry!

It seems that this demonic vine has already developed sentience and is a wood spirit waiting to take human form.

"Useless thing, come back here!"

Mu Longzhang's face was ashen, and he shouted.

Upon receiving the order, the demonic vine immediately severed its own head, discarding the burning part at the top. Although it would severely damage its vitality, the flames terrified it, as if the fear was etched into its very soul. After severing itself in two, the demonic vine no longer cared about the three swords. The intact lower half rapidly retracted, shrinking to the bottom of the cave in an instant, not even revealing its head.

At this moment, Cheng Xinzhan also realized that this was definitely not the power of the legendary Dragon Staff, but rather another demonic vine with some potential in the Ailao Mountains. Given time, if it could be fortunate enough to survive the heavenly lightning, it might be able to transform into a wood spirit dragon and undergo a complete metamorphosis, but as things stand, it was still far from being able to achieve that.

The demon withdrew the vines, and the three magic swords continued their descent. The fire and wood swords acted as guards, circling around the earth sword as they spiraled downwards. The earth sword, like a peak or an arrow, pierced the air and hurtled towards Mount Ailao.

Mu Longzhang knew he had met a tough opponent today, so he stopped being arrogant and finally started to fight.

He remained seated cross-legged, not moving, but as soon as he had a thought, a fierce wind began to blow throughout the Ailao Mountains, and spiritual energy from all over the mountains and plains gathered there.

A huge, dark green dragon claw appeared in the air, about thirty or forty feet long, and went straight for the giant sword that was flying down. Judging from its posture and movements, it seemed as if it was just grabbing a fallen leaf.

Cheng Xinzhan looked down and recognized the move.

The day the Five Poison Heavenly Kings escaped, the Dragon-Bathing Staff had been used. Its four dragon claws lifted up the five sacred mountains and clouds transformed from Ye Yuanjing's most treasured magic weapon, the "Five Sacred Mountains Brocade Clouds Handkerchief," demonstrating immense power. Moreover, it now appeared that these dragon claws were considerably larger than those from that day.

After the battle that day, Cheng Xinzhan consulted Ye Yuanjing and learned that this was the Golden Core Divine Power of the Dragon-Bathing Staff, the "Heaven-Reaching Dragon Claw Hand," capable of uprooting mountains and cities, and changing at will. When all four claws are extended, combined with its divine dragon form, it possesses the power of a true dragon claw, which is quite formidable.

"呲-"

The dragon claw grabbed the sword and held it tightly. The blade and the dragon claw rubbed together, sending countless sparks flying.

Cheng Xinzhan held the Five Sacred Mountains seal in his hands and recited,
"town!"

"Qiang!"

The earthen sword emitted a mysterious light, its momentum as powerful as the Five Sacred Mountains. It had just been forced to stop, but now it accelerated and sank again.

Just then, a dragon claw appeared in the sky and grasped the sword, completely stopping the momentum that the magic sword had just gained.

Then came the third dragon claw, reaching straight into the clouds to grab Cheng Xinzhan.

But at this moment, the wooden sword transformed into a sword rope once more, wrapping around the dragon's claw to try and pull it back.

However, the earthen sword is powerful and heavy, capable of contending with the dragon's claws, while the wooden sword is not good at strength and cannot win a wrestling match against the dragon's claws, thus failing to subdue them.

At this moment, Cheng Xinzhan changed his technique again, and the fire sword transformed into a huge crimson furnace, descending from the sky and landing on the dragon's claw, spewing flames. At the same time, the sword rope tightened its binding. The dragon's claw also emitted a ghostly light, resisting the flames and the sword rope, creating a stalemate.

"I'd like to see how many more tricks you have up your sleeve!"

Mu Longzhang sneered.

No sooner had he finished speaking than the fourth dragon claw appeared, still reaching towards the sky.

Cheng Xinzhan certainly had many more magical treasures, but after a brief test, he had already grasped the demon's spellcasting power and spirit control level, and didn't want to waste any more time dealing with the same tricks. Moreover, after several exchanges, he could tell that this Mulong Staff was indeed a very cautious person. Back when he killed the Five Poison Heavenly King, he had been shouting hoarsely from afar, appearing to be giving it his all, but his attacks were very slow, always holding back his strength. Today was the same; they were fighting on his mountaintop for so long, yet he still refused to show himself.

If they keep testing each other like this, who knows how long the fight will go on?

So Cheng Xinzhan formed a mudra and chanted the Thunder Incantation.

"Commander Deng commands: Dragon Thunder, proceed swiftly! Destroy the claws!"

"Crack!"

Thunder erupted in the void, manifesting as a bolt from the blue, about to strike down, but only a flash of silver light streaked past, hitting the dragon's claw squarely.

"boom!"

The dragon claw, formed from spiritual energy, shattered instantly, exploding into a ball of lightning and fire.

"what?!"

Mu Longzhang suddenly stood up, looked at the sky, and felt threatened for the first time.

What kind of lightning magic is that?!

"Chuck! Chuck! Chuck!"

Just as the demon was filled with doubt, three more bolts of lightning struck down from the sky, shattering the other three dragon claws and unleashing the three swords once more.

Mu Longzhang's expression was extremely grim. He could sense that the lightning technique had a powerful restraining effect on dragons, resembling the legendary Dragon Lightning. However, Dragon Lightning was one of the Five Thunder Orthodox Techniques, passed down only by the Three Eastern Thunder Cults, and those who learned it had to possess dragon might, making it extremely difficult to master. Why would such a person not cultivate in the East, but come looking for him?

Ah!
It's him!

Mu Longzhang immediately realized what was happening, his expression changing several times in an instant before finally turning into a furious laugh.

"So it was you, you little thief! Give me back my brother's life!"

After speaking, he opened his mouth and spat out a golden pill that was a deep, emerald green. As the golden pill appeared, the spiritual energy of Ailao Mountain was attracted to it, creating a hurricane that formed a spiritual vortex funnel, with the golden pill at the center of the vortex.

Within the vortex, a gigantic dragon shadow gradually appeared, followed by layers of dark clouds in the sky.

"hold head high--"

A colossal, dark green dragon with a crown on its head flew out of the Ailao Mountains, soaring upwards on the clouds, reaching a length of hundreds of feet.

Although he was countered by the Dragon Lightning, Mu Longzhang had no choice. All his skills were in the Dragon Form, and it would be a waste not to use them. Besides, he was relieved to know Cheng Xinzhan's identity. He thought that this thief was only at the third level. No matter how famous or powerful he was, as long as he was careful, he should be fine.

Upon seeing this, Cheng Xinzhan took out the "Supreme Heavenly Capital Talisman," held it between his fingertips and pressed it to his brow, chanting incantations. Then, a flash of light appeared on the talisman, and he threw it out, which transformed into a bolt of lightning that flew down.

"Rumble--"

Lightning crackled from the talisman, transforming it into a hundred-foot-tall giant with a phoenix beak and silver teeth, crimson hair and an orchid-colored body, wings sprouting from its armpits, eyes blazing with fire, and hands and feet shaped like dragon claws.

At this moment, the Ink Dragon raised its tail, about to swat away the three swords that were about to land. In the blink of an eye, Marshal Deng flapped his wings, transformed into a blur, and swooped down, directly mounting the Ink Dragon's back. He then bent down, grabbed the dragon's neck, and with a forceful lift, pried the Ink Dragon apart by a distance.

At this moment, the three swords seized the opportunity to accelerate and fly past. From the moment they drew their swords until now, they finally made contact with the protective array of Ailao Mountain.

When they were about a hundred feet above the ground, the approaching, unfamiliar aura automatically triggered the grand formation, causing vast swathes of vines to sprout in the void. These vines were densely packed, varying in size, and covered in scales, resembling dragons and snakes. They were extremely intelligent, soaring and leaping through the air, one after another, intertwining and weaving into a huge vine net that stopped the three treasures—the Sword Peak, the Sword Furnace, and the Sword Rope—before they hit the ground.

"burn!"

At this moment, Cheng Xinzhan, who was far away in the sky, chanted a spell. The sword furnace at the bottom responded to the sound, and a pure white flame surged out from the furnace. The vines wrapped around the furnace instantly turned into ashes, and a large hole was burned in the net of vines that filled the sky.

"Bang!"

The sword furnace broke through the vine net and fell into the Ailao Mountains. The flames inside the furnace, white, gold, blue, purple, red, green and yellow, all flowed out at once. They ignited upon contact with anything, immediately forming a raging sea of ​​fire that quickly swept in all directions.

"boom!"

Immediately afterwards, the earthen sword followed the net hole burned by the fire sword into the ground, finally landing with half of its blade buried in the soil, like a flying peak taking root, or a huge sword monument nailed to the vital spot of the Ailao Mountain.

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(End of this chapter)