At this moment, the golden light, suppressed by Li Yanchu’s immense and overwhelming divine aura, began to gradually reveal its true form. It was a fruit, vaguely resembling the face of an infant, just like the legendary renshen fruit[1] from ancient myths. Li Yanchu stepped forward, his eyes blazing with battle intent. "Foolish creature, how dare you play tricks in front of me!?" He slashed forward with his saber. The towering ancient tree suddenly came alive, and a thick, powerful branch whipped out like an enormous arm, striking toward him with crushing force. The incredibly hard branch was cleanly severed, and the golden arc of the saber sliced the ancient tree in half. The tyrannical divine power instantly ignited the tree with holy flame! This millennia-old demonic tree, just awakened to life, was slain on the spot by Li Yanchu before it could even act. Seeing this, everyone present was visibly shaken. Even the white-robed, veiled woman appeared a little stunned. The renshen fruit let out another round of its piercing infant cries, as though it were summoning some ancient terror. From outside the Daoist temple came a tremendous noise, and the ground quaked and rumbled violently. Fear appeared in everyone’s eyes, as this fruit was far too ominous. Could it be about to awaken the unspeakable horror that once destroyed this land of immortals? Li Yanchu’s eyes burned with battle intent, his spirit brave and unyielding. He was completely fearless! "Come on! Show me what you’ve got!" He strode forward in great strides, like a meteor streaking across the sky. Wherever he passed, those eerie corpses were shattered on the spot, reduced to dust and ashes. His divine aura was impossibly heavy, crushing all evil spirits and undead fiends in its path. This was the very meaning of: evil shall never prevail over righteousness! Xiao Ce widened his eyes in disbelief. Holy shit... this Daoist Master Li is actually this overbearing!? He was the only one among the gathered prodigies who had fought Li Yanchu before. Using his Swift Saber Art, he had fought Li to a standstill. He hadn’t expected that Li Yanchu was this ferocious and had such overwhelmingly dominant techniques. Chen Yang also looked shocked. Even with his Innate Five Elemental Qi Constitution, he realized he wouldn’t stand a chance against such divine might. All around them, the unnatural corpses surged forward like a tide! Among them, Li Yanchu could clearly see several Daoist priests, wearing the same robes as the corpse he had seen earlier in the Eastern Azure Dragon Formation. They were undoubtedly former elders of Mount Jinting sect, whose flesh had been possessed by evil spirits, and who had wandered this desolate Daoist ground for a thousand years. A flash of lightning seemed to pass through his eyes, and the divine aura around him grew even more intense. "Kill!" he let out a thunderous shout. The Jiaoslayer in his hand suddenly transformed into a massive golden saber, blazing with dazzling radiance! The saber light swept through the air, and the demonic spirit that had taken over a Daoist’s corpse in the Eastern Azure Dragon Formation was instantly slain and reduced to ashes! The entire scene fell into stunned silence. Everyone stared at Li Yanchu, utterly in disbelief. He looked like a figure from a Celestial Court myth, descended into the mortal world. The renshen fruit trembled violently, no longer daring to emit that strange, evil infant wail. It turned into a streak of golden light, fleeing toward the distant horizon. “Stay!”Li Yanchu’s gaze turned cold, and he pointed a finger into the air. The golden light was instantly frozen in place, unable to move. Immobilization Spell! Such immortal-level techniques left everyone awestruck. Surrounded by overwhelming divine aura, Li Yanchu reached out his hand, and the renshen fruit flew straight into his palm. A wave of chilling energy emanated from it, and it was cearly unnatural. This was supposed to be an immortal fruit of longevity! “The Dao heart breeds demons... I didn't expect even an immortal's fruit to be corrupted.” Li Yanchu spread his fingers wide, and a surge of pure yang divine energy enveloped the renshen fruit. Waves of cold, sinister qi began to rise, but were forcibly purged by his divine light! Suddenly, the surrounding corpses erupted into a frenzy. Not only did they charge at Li Yanchu, they also turned on Master Jiekong and the others. Explosions and violent clashes echoed all around them. Xiao Ce and Chen Yang were both bleeding, clearly suffering serious injuries. Ding Rou, being close to Li Yanchu, was in an area where the demonic spirits had already been cleared out, so the pressure on her was much lighter. As for the white-robed, veiled woman, she wielded her sword qi with incredible precision, cleaving a path through the tide-like onslaught of corpses. A sharp gust of wind suddenly tore through the air. The tall and imposing Master Jiekong, with a fierce aura, launched a heavy punch from behind, targeting Li Yanchu directly. Li Yanchu’s eyes turned cold. With a single motion, he slashed downward with his saber. A sound like a great temple bell reverberated through the heavens and earth, and Master Jiekong was sent flying backward by the force of the saber. Check latest chapters at 𝗇𝗈𝗏𝖾𝗅✦𝖿𝗂𝗋𝖾✦𝗇𝖾𝗍 He skidded across the ground for dozens of zhang, his feet gouging deep furrows before he finally came to a halt. Half of his body was buried into the earth from the impact. He looked down at the bloody gash across his chest, stunned. That blow just now... Had it not been for the protective power of the Buddhist śarīra, he would have surely died! He cut through my Vajra body with one strike!? Master Jiekong was shaken. Seeing Li Yanchu’s icy gaze sweep toward him, he suddenly had a flash of clarity and shouted loudly, “Daoist Master! Wait! I withdraw from the fight for the Fruit of Immortality!” This so-called Buddha’s Son of Great Xiangguo Temple was clearly far more calculating and shrewd than his outward appearance suggested. Li Yanchu remained expressionless. That punch from Jiekong just now had been lethal, charged with aggressive Buddhist techniques and clearly meant to kill him. And now he was shamelessly claiming he no longer wanted to fight? Li Yanchu had no intention of letting him off. Suddenly, a terrifying figure descended from the sky. It was a monstrous creature with a human face and tiger’s body, and it was sinister and savage. Its eyes were cold and indifferent. The moment it appeared, the air around them froze solid. Patches of ice formed on the ground and in the air. Xiao Ce and the others instantly felt their inner force turn sluggish, as if their meridians were being clogged and frozen. This was a terrifying great demon! The human-faced, tiger-bodied monster suddenly opened its massive mouth wide. In that instant, strange phantom-like shadows emerged from the bodies of Chen Yang, Xiao Ce, and the others. They all looked shocked and confused. “What was that just now?” “Why didn’t I sense anything?” Only now did they realize that they had fallen into some hidden trap. The monster’s eyes were also a ghastly gray-white, and with a deep inhale, it sucked all of the phantoms into its mouth. A horrifying chewing sound echoed from its throat as it devoured all the phantoms completely. Li Yanchu’s eyes darkened as he understood exactly what those phantoms were. They were heart demons, planted within them when they entered Mount Jinting’s Blissful Land. Even within the renshen fruit Li Yanchu held, a similar phantom had just been forcibly expelled. With the divine power of the Spirit Officer Wang, which he had temporarily borrowed, Li Yanchu was able to completely purify the renshen fruit. Before its vast, vigorous life force could even begin to radiate, he had already tucked it safely into his Universe Pouch. Li Yanchu, whose soul was now incredibly strong, could clearly sense that there was no lingering spirit inside the fruit anymore. Could this monster be the guardian beast of Mount Jinting? the young elites present couldn’t help but think this absurd thought. “It almost feels like it’s... on our side?” But in the very next moment, the monstrous creature’s aura became even more condensed and fierce. Just one glance from it caused the heart to stir with visions of terror. Its gray-white eyes locked onto Li Yanchu, and now, the killing intent was undeniably clear! 1. The renshen fruit is a legendary immortal fruit, shaped like a child, with moving facial features and limbs. Its head is connected to the tree branch, and it smiles when it sees people. The tree has a red trunk and green leaves. If the fruit is picked, the child will die. ☜
