I forge immortality with a pagoda.

Shen Yu sneered, not taking it to heart.

As the saying goes, when soldiers come, generals will block them; when water comes, earth will dam it. Having cultivated the Dao to this day, he has never been afraid of anyone, even if he is a true disciple of the Lu Jing Sect.

If this person insists on being his enemy, he will never sit idly by and wait for his death.

Seeing Huang Daocheng leave, Wei Qingjun dared to quickly step forward, his face full of worry, and said, "Senior Brother Shen, Huang Daocheng is a man of profound cultivation and ruthless methods. His influence within the sect is deeply entrenched. In the future, you must act cautiously to guard against his underhanded tactics!"

"Don't worry, Junior Brother Wei, I know what I'm doing. If he dares to come, I'll have my own ways of making him regret it!"

Knowing Shen Yu's methods, Wei Qingjun said no more.

But at this moment, a murmur of whispers arose inside the pavilion.

"So this person is Shen Yu? He looks quite respectable, but it's a pity he doesn't know the art of concealing his abilities."

"Yes, daring to challenge Senior Brother Huang at the mid-stage of Qi Refining is simply courting death!"

"He's only at the seventh level of True Qi, barely making it into the threshold of Upper-Grade True Qi, yet he's so arrogant and ignorant."

"Having offended Senior Brother Huang, things will likely be difficult for him within the sect in the future. It's a pity that such a talented person would ruin his future for a moment of impulsiveness..."

The words of ridicule, doubt, and regret reached Shen Yu's ears, causing him to frown slightly.

Shen Yu's gaze swept calmly over the crowd, causing all the cultivators present to feel a chill in their hearts and hastily shut their mouths.

Although they all believed that Shen Yu's future was ruined, at this moment, no one dared to provoke such a cultivator at the mid-stage of Qi Refining.

Shen Yu remained largely unmoved, selectively ignoring all the discussions.

With a calm smile, Shen Yu bid farewell to Wei Qingjun and left Daogong Pavilion directly.

He summoned the Flowing Cloud Flying Boat, leaped lightly onto it, and transformed into a streak of light, leaving the gates of the Lu Jing Sect.

The destination of this trip is a place recorded on the Heavenly Edict—the Wet Wood Forest.

Shimu Forest is located within the territory of Xinling Kingdom and is under the rule of Lujingzong.

The flying boat was extremely fast, and in less than half a day, the scenery below had changed completely.

A vast, primeval forest appeared before Shen Yu's eyes, with extremely tall trees whose canopies were so thick that they almost blocked out the sunlight.

A thick, grayish-white mist filled the forest, mixed with a vast amount of spiritual energy.

Through the dense canopy and thick fog, Shen Yu could vaguely see many wild beasts moving about in the forest, and vines like giant pythons entwined within, intricate and complex.

Since Shen Yu's eyesight was insufficient, he released his divine sense and began to search carefully.

Two days later, Shen Yu frowned and fell into deep thought on the flying boat.

He had searched the entire damp forest, and explored its core area several times, but found no trace of the ancient vine demon.

The edict was issued by the sect elders, so the information must be accurate; the ancient vine demon must have once lived here.

There are only two possibilities for why it cannot be found now.

Firstly, after the sect elders assigned the task, someone else got there first and eliminated the ancient vine demon.

Secondly, during this period, the ancient vine demon left this place for some reason.

"The talisman describes that monsters like the Ancient Vine Demon prefer cold and damp places, and this damp forest is just right for it to live in... I suppose it won't go to other places casually."

"Keep looking."

Shen Yu pondered for a moment and decided to search again.

He put away the Flowing Cloud Flying Boat, pressed down his true qi, and slowly descended to the ground in the forest.

The woodland was damp and muddy, with a thick layer of decaying leaves covering the ground, making every step difficult and naturally slowing down the search.

Several more days passed, and when Shen Yu ventured deeper into the core area once again, he finally discovered the anomaly.

In the center of several towering ancient trees, there was a deep pit lying on the ground, with withered branches and vines still remaining around it.

Although these branches and vines were withered, some spiritual energy still remained on them, and an astonishing demonic aura emanated from them.

Clearly, this is the nest where the ancient vine demon dwells.

When a wood spirit becomes a spirit, although it is not as agile as a beast, it can still move slowly and stay in one place for a long time. Its roots will then penetrate deep into the ground, forming such deep pits.

Immediately, his gaze was drawn to two marks.

A messy, uneven trail, left by vines dragging their way into the depths of the jungle.

The other trail was clearly the footprints of two cultivators, which ran parallel to the demon's trail for a while before abruptly ending.

"Were they lured away?"

Shen Yu touched his chin, somewhat unsure of what to do.

After a brief deliberation, he no longer hesitated and moved to pursue the depths.

Not long after, the faint sound of arguing could be heard from ahead.

One of them was extremely anxious. "I told you, this monster is incredibly powerful. Even if it leaves its lair, it's not something the two of us can easily defeat. What should we do now?"

"Fellow Daoist, please don't be impatient, calm down."

"The ancient vine demon is trapped in the Fire Array that you and I have set up together, and it will be unable to escape for the time being."

"We only need to use our Taoist magic from a distance to slowly wear down its demonic power. When it is extremely weak, we can then attack together and surely defeat it!"

The other voice sounded somewhat familiar to Shen Yu, as if he had heard it somewhere before.

"well--!"

The voice that had spoken earlier let out a long sigh, full of helplessness, "At this point, there's nothing else we can do."

"Let me make this clear first: if we fail to obtain the tree spirit's vine heart in the end, you must compensate me for the Wood Spirit Orb you gave me earlier."

"Fellow Daoist, what are you saying? Since I, Cui Youxin, have promised you, I will never go back on my word."

Cui Youxin made a solemn vow.

Shen Yu completely suppressed his energy and moved forward while holding his breath.

In the distance, a ring of flames could be seen burning fiercely in a clearing in the woods, with tongues of fire leaping out.

Trapped in the middle of the barrier is a ferocious monster.

It was an incredibly thick, ancient vine trunk, with a human face growing from its tip, emitting a low, hissing roar.

The vines, seemingly forged from black iron, extended from the tree trunk and danced wildly in the air, but whenever they touched the surrounding walls of flames, they were charred black and quickly retracted.

Outside the circle of fire, two cultivators were completely focused, their hand seals constantly changing, and streaks of fire and wind blades continuously struck the vine demon inside the circle.

Shen Yu looked again and saw that the person on his left was the unorthodox cultivator who had escaped from his grasp earlier!

It turns out that this person's name is Cui Youxin.

A flash of murderous intent crossed Shen Yu's eyes.

Cui Youxin turned his head to the side, as if sensing something, and immediately frowned.

"Could it be my imagination?"

The next second, he immediately took off running, fleeing for his life.

When Liu Peng saw him suddenly flee, he felt a sense of foreboding. He knew that with his strength, it was impossible for him to maintain the operation of the Eight Directions Fire Formation on his own.

In just a few breaths, the ancient vine demon will break free, and then no one will be able to benefit from it.

Liu Peng gathered his strength and ran towards Cui Youxin, shouting, "Why are you running! Isn't the tree demon trapped?"

Suddenly, a golden light flashed across the sky, and a chill ran down my neck before I lost consciousness.

A head rolled to the ground, its eyes wide open, still showing surprise.

......

......