Chapter 489 - Carrot and the Stick (1/2)

Within an hour, everyone regained their powers.

The first thing the Flaming Qilin did was to march towards Di Danqing. He summoned flames that he focused on his fists, ready to blast Di Danqing into bits and pieces.

“Wait. We need him. He could still be useful,” Chu Xun stopped him.

“Much good he can do us! Just blast him into ashes and be done with it!” The Flaming Qilin grumbled, but he stopped as he was bidden to.

“And what? Place your precious Sacred Maiden in danger? Last time I checked, she’s still in Di Yanjing’s hands. We need his brother as a bargaining chip,” said Chu Xun.

That dissuaded the Flaming Qilin from killing Di Danqing, but not without a round of walloping to vent his anger. By the end of it, Di Danqing was barely alive with his bones almost all shattered.

“All right. So I’ll leave those fiends to you all. I’ll see if I can do anything to that Tree,” said Chu Xun.

“Don’t worry. Just do what you need to do. Leave those filthy creatures to us,” said the Flaming Qilin who could have not been any more anxious for some action.

So were Shi Yifei and the others. For all their power and pride as Immortal-level champions, they had fallen into a trap and were so near to dying. One could imagine how angry they were.

Chu Xun flicked another spurt of Hong Meng Immortal Qi at the barrier enchantment that had kept the demons at bay. It disintegrated and vanished, allowing the Flaming Qilin and Gao Mohan, and the others to attack.

The battle of Man and Fiend barely began when the former side drew first blood all thanks to the Flaming Qilin.

The fiends were all high-tiered Emperor-class creatures, but even such might pale in comparison with the superiority of the Immortal-level champions.

Chu Xun conjured an enchantment to keep himself safe before he tried to communicate with the Divine Tree using his Divine Sense.

“Who are you?” the giant tree’s personification called out to him suddenly.

That filled Chu Xun with joy and relief. The Divine Tree was not yet fully corrupted. He quickly responded, “I am a friend of the Elves. They are in grave danger.”

“I know,” the Tree’s voice echoed in his mind, “but I am impaired. I cannot help them.”

“What’s wrong with you? Is there anything I can do to help?” Chu Xun asked.

“Come in and see for yourself,” said the Tree in a weakened and strained voice.

Chu Xun knew that he needed to look. He could care less about how weak the Tree was, but he needed to find out how the demonic horde appeared.

Chu Xun made sure that his enchantment was strong enough to keep him safe before the spiritual rendition of his own self – his Astral Projection – floated out of his body. With his mind, he conjured layers of shields around himself before he followed the mental link between him and the Tree.

Chu Xun found himself in a strange space in a flash of light that resembled Emperor Ao’s very own spiritual domain of his own creation, his Purple Mansion. This was the Divine Tree’s.

That it could create a realm of its own showed how incredible the Elf Divine Tree really was.

“But how could such a powerful being be under Di Yanjing’s control?” As he thought about this, a humanoid figure fully shrouded in blinding light appeared.

Chu Xun immediately turned wary before he knew it. Lights of different hues – one greenish and the other black and ominous – surrounded the humanoid shape, swirling around each other as if locked in a struggle to drown out one another.

“Elf Divine Tree, are you there?”

“I am here!” The voice sounded very close and he could hear how exhausted it must be.

Roar!

The humanoid shape let loose an angry roar at Chu Xun, the sound wave of its howls battered at Chu Xun like a sledgehammer that he wobbled unsteadily, the force causing his Spiritual Body to crack.

Chu Xun’s face fell. What terrible force was this?!

“GET AWAY FROM ME!” An angry voice reverberated from the midst of the churning lights. It was the Spirit of the Divine Tree.

Chu Xun’s eyes gleamed as looked closely. A foul aura was trying to take hold of the Divine Tree by corrupting its spirit.

Chu Xun dashed rapidly forward, racing towards the humanoid shape that could only be the Spirit of the Divine Tree. Every step he took was a carefully calculated one as purplish energy glowed at his feet.

When he stopped, his fingers weaved several hand seals quickly before he fired spurts of purplish Hong Meng Immortal Qi into the air.

“Purplish Lotus Enchantment of Purification, activate!”

From the tip of his finger, purplish sheets of light burst forth, blossoming into a dome of light that held the Spirit of the Divine Tree inside.

“Make use of the enchantment’s power!” Chu Xun cried to it.

Hum!

The entire dome rocked like an earthquake, causing the surface of its walls to tremble and its glow failing as if its walls could crumble any moment now.

Chu Xun sped around the dome, firing spurts of Hong Meng Immortal Qi into it to strengthen it.

The barrier enchantment shuddered. The Spirit of the Divine Tree was just too powerful and it was drawing too much cleansing magic from the enchantment to help keep the foul aura at bay.

The greenish light never stopped its fierce struggle against the black light that was the foul aura, emitting loud and deafening grunts and howls every now and then.

The enchantment never stopped shaking and Chu Xun scampered around hurriedly to make sure it did not falter.

“GET AWAY FROM ME!” the Spirit of the Divine Tree snarled. A growing light of purple was picking up in brightness and color, looking stronger and radiant as it slowly engulfed the foul aura.

The foul aura swirled and swirled more rapidly as if boiling in rage.

“Help me, boy!” the Spirit bellowed.

Chu Xun knew what to do. The barrier enchantment needed more power. He weaved more hand seals and channeled a huge efflux of Hong Meng Immortal Qi into the enchantment. What was only a purplish dome of lights had turned into a veritable monolithic tower of purplish glitters and effulgence.

That, however, sapped up more than half of Chu Xun’s powers that beads of perspiration mottled his forehead as he turned ashen pale.

“GO AWAY!” the Spirit was shouting again inside, but the lights that represented its powers were growing more blinding by the second that Chu Xun could hardly keep his eyes open.

At long last, the foul aura was condensed into one dark blob of pure malevolence and evil as it was finally, and completely, detached from the green light.

“Get out quickly!” Chu Xun cried, opening a little crack on the wall of the dome.