I manage female characters in all the heavens.

Sensing hostility, Nie Xiaoqian's longsword, which had been hovering beside her, suddenly transformed into a streak of silver light and shot towards the Tree Demon Granny's face!

Strike first!

The Tree Demon Granny snorted coldly, her figure swayed, and she transformed into a cloud of dark green mist that dissipated. The long sword pierced through the mist, striking nothing.

The next moment, the earth shook violently!

Countless tree roots burst forth from the ground, densely packed, like wild snakes, coiling towards "Nie Xiaoqian" from all directions!

Without even lifting her eyelids, Nie Xiaoqian flicked her sword finger, and the long sword spun in the air, transforming into a silver arc that swept outwards from her center!

Hiss!

The sound of tree roots colliding with sword light was incessant!

Those tree roots, as thick as human arms, were easily severed like rotten wood in the face of the silver sword energy!

Dark green sap splattered everywhere, and broken tree roots twisted wildly on the ground!

But the tree demon's roots seemed endless—if one was cut off, more would immediately sprout from the ground, one after another, as if to completely drown "Nie Xiaoqian"!

Although Nie Xiaoqian's flying sword was sharp, she only had one, and she gradually became overwhelmed by the tree roots surging in from all directions.

So she summoned another sword and flew it out. The two flying swords attacked together, directly causing the tree demon's roots to retreat in defeat.

The tree spirit, who had returned to its hiding place underground, snorted coldly and used its magic to summon wind and rain, making the already torrential rain even more intense.

Under the cover of the rain, the tree demon finally had time to conjure a tree-man over ten meters tall from its roots and punch "Nie Xiaoqian".

This punch was so powerful that it even shattered the rain curtain in an instant, and could even smash the city gate with a single blow!

Nie Xiaoqian's gaze sharpened, and she finally unleashed her true abilities, unleashing a torrent of powerful Six Absolute True Qi that poured into her flying sword.

The two flying swords received a large influx of true energy and emitted a dazzling blue light. The blue light enveloped the flying swords, forming two huge sword-shaped phantoms that were two zhang long, and slashed fiercely at the tree man!

"Greatsword Technique!"

Two illusory blue swords slashed across the treant, instantly cutting it into four pieces and causing it to collapse. At the same time, the swords dissipated, turning into two ordinary longswords that continued to cut the roots that kept sprouting from the ground.

Nie Xiaoqian frowned; she could sense that the Tree Demon Granny's true form was not here.

The creatures that appeared and communicated with her, as well as those that were cut down, were merely avatars formed from the roots of its main body.

Its true form, that monstrous giant locust tree, should still be rooted deep underground somewhere near Lanruo Temple, and has not moved over.

That old monster is incredibly prudent!

The human and the demon exchanged dozens of blows, neither of them using their full strength, only testing each other, yet they still managed to wreck the courtyard and nearly half of Lanruo Temple collapsed.

Nie Xiaoqian's flying sword was sharp and could cut through anything, while the tree demon Granny's roots were endless, and her true form had not yet arrived, so for a time neither could do anything to the other.

A glint flashed in Nie Xiaoqian's eyes; she had already made up her mind.

She swayed, drifting backward three zhang like a falling leaf, avoiding several tree roots that suddenly pierced out from under her feet. At the same time, she retracted her sword finger, and the long sword that had been crisscrossing in the air drew a silver arc and flew back to her side to hover.

Stop.

She stood with her hands behind her back, her face calm: "It's pointless to keep fighting like this. We can't determine who's better or worse, and we might as well compromise and discuss a profit-sharing plan."

The tree demon grandmother's dark green avatar emerged from the soil again, standing in the courtyard, looking at her with an uncertain expression.

After a moment, it slowly spoke: "How do we divide it?"

"The current situation is that I was the first to see this yard full of zombies, and I even sacrificed my own subordinates to help them grow."

"Nie Xiaoqian" pointed at the Tree Demon Granny, "And you, you just squatted in the ground, waiting for them to finish transforming before popping out to try and steal the spoils. In terms of contribution, I get the lion's share. So I get 80%, and you get 20%!"

Upon hearing this, the Tree Demon Granny's face darkened: "Nonsense!"

"These living corpses are the result of my gathering of yin energy and casting spells around Lanruo Temple day and night for the past ten years or so, which slowly corrupted these monks and transformed them into living corpses step by step!"

"Without my years of management and accumulation, how could Lanruo Temple have produced living corpses?"

Even if you bring a hundred or so people and let them absorb your essence to replenish their vitality—that's just icing on the cake! The foundation was laid by me! I should be responsible for 80% of it!

Hearing this, Nie Xiaoqian was taken aback. She had thought that the living corpses were naturally produced, but she didn't expect them to be the product of the Tree Demon Granny.

However, she still had something to say.

"Come on, what's so special about your little bit of yin energy nourishing and cultivating?"

Nie Xiaoqian rolled her eyes. "If it weren't for the hundred or so living people like me feeding them, what great gains could they possibly have from those dozen or so monks from Lanruo Temple who were just blank living corpses?"

"It's because I brought these people that the harvest increased several times over. It's only right that I get 80% of it!"

The two argued back and forth in the broken courtyard about the distribution of resources until the zombies had killed and devoured all the soldiers, and they finally reached a consensus.

Nie Xiaoqian waved her hand impatiently, "Fine, fine, I'll compromise again, one price, fifty-fifty!"

“There are 18 zombies here in total. You take nine, I take nine, let’s all part ways amicably. Otherwise, we’ll just stay here until dawn when the yang energy rises and turns the zombies into a puddle of thick liquid, then none of us will be able to eat them!”

The Tree Demon Granny fell silent.

Its withered face was creased with wrinkles, clearly indicating that it was engaged in a fierce internal struggle.

After a long while, it finally nodded with difficulty, "Deal, fifty-fifty split!"

However, after "Nie Xiaoqian" had chosen her nine living corpses, the Tree Demon Granny's face darkened again when she saw the quality of the nine corpses in her hand.

The zombies don't distribute the soldiers' essence equally; those who kill more naturally consume more, and the quality of their essence is higher.

Nie Xiaoqian, citing her previous two setbacks as an excuse, decided that it was time for the Tree Demon Granny to take the lead and directly picked the nine highest-quality candidates.

Based on the amount of essence absorbed, "Nie Xiaoqian" has nine, which is twice as many as the Tree Demon Granny's nine.

"What, you want to go back on your word? You can't break your promise when you're up to something. My sword is very sharp." "Nie Xiaoqian" glared at her and slapped a living corpse that was trying to bite her to the ground.

After considering the consequences of going back on her word, the Tree Demon Granny chose to swallow her pride and bear it.

"Damn humans, they're so cunning! I still have so much to learn!"

The Tree Demon Granny left with her nine living corpses in a hurry, seemingly not wanting to stay with "Nie Xiaoqian" for even a moment longer.

Nie Xiaoqian sneered and activated her Absorption Technique, directly beginning to devour her nine living corpses.

Only after taking a deep breath did she realize the difference between these zombies and ordinary people.

She thought that this time she would only get about the same amount of essence as when she devoured hundreds of people before, which was far from enough to strengthen her physical body to the limit.

As a result, the quality of the zombies' essence was unexpectedly high. There were only nine zombies, and she had absorbed the essence of only seventy or eighty people in total, but the enhancement she received was comparable to that of several hundred people she had devoured before.

It seems that what the Tree Demon Granny said was true; this living corpse is not something that can be created casually. The Tree Demon must have put in a lot of effort for it, and this time she really did steal the opportunity and gain an advantage.

But since we've already taken it, let's just leave it at that. We can't exactly go and apologize to the tree spirit, can we?

More importantly, she discovered that devouring these living corpses could further enhance her physical limits.

Previously, when it devoured humans to strengthen its physical body, its limit was 3,000 jin of force with a single arm swing, but if it devoured living corpses, its limit could reach 5,000 jin!

Nie Xiaoqian's eyes flashed with excitement, and she became excited.

"Great, great, great! This world has not only given me the possibility of cultivating immortality, but it can also help me break through the limits of my physical body!"

"This is truly a celestial abode, a blessed land!"

"Hahaha, hahahahaha!" She laughed heartily, her mind already forming more than a dozen horrific plans for mass-producing living zombies.

The tree spirit, who had already walked some distance away, heard such cheerful laughter and her expression became complicated.

The little girl is so happy to devour a living corpse; she's really showing off her demonic side.

In contrast, the tree demon takes years to plan and secretly gather zombies, and even feels a little guilty when absorbing them, showing no trace of demonic nature!

It couldn't help but sigh, "I can't even compare to humans as a human, let alone as a demon..."

This world is so sick. I miss the days when the world was at peace and demons represented the worst evil in the world!

Chapter 165 Lanruo Temple has been in disrepair for many years; Nie Xiaoqian is kind and gentle.

The next morning, the sun shone brightly, as if the torrential rain of the previous night had never existed.

Yesterday's heavy rain was summoned by the Tree Demon Granny with magic. After a struggle and compromise with "Nie Xiaoqian", it had no reason to maintain the magic, and the rain naturally dissipated.

Sunlight streamed into the room through the window lattice. "Nie Xiaoqian" opened her eyes, feeling the increased power in her body from devouring nine living corpses, and a satisfied smile appeared on her lips.

Refreshing!

Last night's battle with the Tree Demon Granny, though it didn't result in a clear winner or a loser, was still very rewarding.

The essence of the nine living corpses greatly increased her physical strength. With a single swing of her arm, she possessed the strength to move nearly a thousand pounds. Without using any true energy, she could cleave men and horses to pieces with a single strike.

More importantly, she later went to the tree spirit and coerced it into giving her the method for making living corpses.

The old monster was initially hesitant, saying that this was the result of his hard work and that humans couldn't use it even if they learned it, so he refused to give it to him.

But when she proposed a 50/50 split, he immediately became understanding. He not only explained the refining method in detail, but also generously shared a lot of his own experience, afraid that she wouldn't be able to learn it.

The Tree Demon Granny naturally believed in the deal involving technology as an investment and a 50/50 profit split.

Clearly, it still underestimated the cunning of "Nie Xiaoqian". From the very beginning, "Nie Xiaoqian" had no intention of getting a share of its profits later.

Now that she has the technology, the tree spirit is no longer of any use. Why should the tree spirit share the technology that she obtained through deception?

I bet the old monster is thrilled about finalizing this deal.

"I hope you learn from this experience and won't easily believe what people say in the future." She stretched and got out of bed.

I pushed open the door, and the sunlight shone on my face, warm and comforting.

Then she saw a ruin.

Last night, she fought with the Tree Demon Granny. Although she didn't use her full strength, the flying swords crisscrossed and the tree roots danced wildly. This temple, which obviously had no magical protection, couldn't withstand such a disturbance and collapsed more than half of it.

The main hall collapsed, several side halls were reduced to rubble, the bluestone slabs in the courtyard were torn to pieces, and there were deep ravines and broken tree roots everywhere.

The servants of the Nie family, who had just gotten up, stood amidst the ruins, dumbfounded and at a loss for what to do.

"What... what's going on?"

"She was perfectly fine last night..."

"It's a ghost! It must be a ghost!"

Nie Xiaoqian stood under the corridor, watching this scene, her heart unmoved, and she even felt a little amused.

They didn't see a ghost, but rather a thousand-year-old demon.