Chapter 451: Phoenix Blood Tree

"We're assigned to guard the city gate, is that a job for the strong? While others are inside the city, grabbing all the treasures, resources, and valuable elixirs they can, we'll get nothing."

"They're all feasting, and we, the Huangjiang lineage, are just standing by like fools."

"I think you're too cowardly; they pick on you because they see you as an honest demon."

Water Weasel Immortal roared in fury.

Prince Baba was also furious: "Don't bare your teeth at me. Guarding the East Gate was the Princess's instruction."

"What's so special about the Princess? What are you afraid of? Why don't you dare to fight her?" Water Weasel Immortal scoffed.

The two demons walked into the boneyard hill, resentment etched on their faces.

"What's happening, gentlemen? Why did the battle suddenly erupt?" Li Weiyi stepped forward to ask.

Prince Baba replied, "It was the forces of Rice Palace and Lingxiao Rice Cult who made the first move, breaking through the North Gate. Now, all factions have converged there; we should also depart immediately."

The Huangjiang lineage had a limited number of demon beasts, only about a hundred, all meticulously chosen and brought along.

*Whoosh!*

Li Weiyi stood atop the giant python skeleton, using it as a mount, and unleashed his psychic energy. Each ray of light formed a thread, controlling over a hundred powerful skeletal puppets, which then marched grandly towards the old Yuzhou Prefecture City.

This, in turn, amplified the might of the Huangjiang demon lineage.

By the time Li Weiyi, Water Weasel Immortal, and Prince Baba reached the moat outside the East Gate, Princess Lantern Phoenix had already breached the gate. Even the city wall had a hundred-meter-long gap, with rubble strewn across the ground.

Through the breach, shades and lingering spirits continuously escaped, riding on black mist and smoky clouds.

They were intercepted by the skeletal puppets under Li Weiyi's control and the demon beasts of the Huangjiang lineage.

Princess Lantern Phoenix issued a kill order: leave no one alive; eliminate them all.

Yang Qingchan participated, absorbing soul energy.

Yang Qingxi stood atop the giant python skeleton, holding a sword behind Li Weiyi, resembling a stunning sword attendant in green.

Li Weiyi held Yu'er's hand, his Heavenly Sight eye between his brows opening to observe the chaotic and fierce battle within the city. He then looked towards the endless darkness outside, detecting the aura fluctuations of numerous human martial cultivators.

They were both inside and outside the city.

A priest of the Jiuli tribe appeared, an old man in his seventies or eighties with white hair, carrying a clay soul bottle as he glided along the city wall. Each time he cast the soul bottle, he collected hundreds of spirits.

Elders from the Thundercloud Sect also unleashed lightning magic, clashing with powerful lingering spirits; the electrical flashes were blinding.

The humans from the Lingxiao Realm dared to participate in this struggle, naturally backed by Chan Hai Guanwu and Yu Yaozi. They had surmised that all the ancient elders of the East Sea demon race and the lingering spirits who were beyond the Grand Longevity realm had gone into hiding, leaving them with no fears.

The Longevity Realm giants from various factions had already convened, formed alliances, and engaged in confrontations in an unknown location.

Water Weasel Immortal stood on the back of a skeletal puppet, watching with growing impatience, scratching his ears and cheeks, desperately wanting to enter the city and reap benefits.

It began to speak sarcastically again: "You said you'd help Lu Cangsheng capture some lingering spirits with Longevity Realm skeletal bodies. Well, now we can't even get into the city. Go ahead, catch ghosts here, dammit, we won't get any benefits at all!"

Li Weiyi said, "Actually, I believe that given your strength, the Princess wouldn't place you in a useless position. Why would the Princess order all escaping lingering spirits to be killed?"

"What do you mean?" Prince Baba and Water Weasel Immortal asked in unison.

Li Weiyi explained, "I believe that if the lingering spirits within the city knew it couldn't be defended, they would likely have packed resources and treasures into spatial bags, harvested them early, and then escaped amidst the chaos. To the west, only a few thousand miles from the East Sea, they would easily be intercepted by powerful demons. Escaping through the East Gate is the most probable route; once out, they could flee eastward, deep into the Nether Realm, where no one would dare to pursue them easily. Look at that hundred-meter-long gap in the city wall; I suspect the Princess deliberately blasted it open."

Upon hearing Li Weiyi's analysis, Prince Baba's spirits lifted dramatically, and his gaze towards Water Weasel Immortal was no longer submissive: "Lu Cangsheng makes perfect sense. The Princess must have entrusted this crucial interception mission to her most trusted demon—me, of course! Cousin, all you do is complain; how could you understand the Princess's profound intentions?"

"So you understand again?" Water Weasel Immortal was speechless.

Prince Baba declared, "The facts are right before us; no explanation is needed. My Huangjiang demon cubs, perk up! Don't let a single lingering spirit escape!"

The first powerful lingering spirit appeared.

It had been hidden among a group of ferocious lingering spirits by the moat. After being intercepted by seven skeletal puppets, it was forced to reveal its cultivation strength and forcibly push through.

"Roar!"

It was a four-armed lingering spirit commander, possessing two dishevelled heads and an eye in the palm of each of its four hands. Each eye released different powers, pulverizing the seven skeletal puppets into bone dust.

"You East Sea demons, remember this day's city-destroying grudge. I, this old one, will return eventually to repay it!"

The four-armed, four-eyed commander transformed into a greenish-black shadow mist, soaring into the sky and swiftly escaping into the distance.

"Its strength is formidable, comparable to a martial cultivator at the eighth heaven of the Dao Seed Realm. It must be carrying a spatial bag; I'll pursue it!"

Water Weasel Immortal was very eager and excited. Holding back Prince Baba, who was about to give chase, it stepped on dark red cloud mist and pursued.

Li Weiyi glanced at Second Phoenix in his sleeve but did not give chase.

Second Phoenix had sniffed the scent of Phoenix Blood Tree leaves, and any lingering spirit that had recently come into contact with the Phoenix Blood Tree could not escape its perception.

The Phoenix Blood Tree could not have been carried off by a Longevity Realm lingering spirit. If a Longevity Realm lingering spirit had taken the Phoenix Blood Tree, would the demon race have ever let it escape alive?

*Clang!*

A blood-red giant sword, over ten meters long, flew out from the city wall breach, crossed the moat, cleared a path through Li Weiyi's skeletal puppets, and swiftly soared into the night.

A gray-clad spectral figure stood upon the blood-red giant sword.

"This Shadow Ghost Commander is very famous in Yuzhou, one of the foremost existences below the Longevity Realm. Any good items must be on it; I'll pursue!"

Prince Baba burrowed into the earth to give chase.

Li Weiyi used his Heavenly Sight eye to observe the dense ghost clouds and black mist within the city. He then carried Yu'er on his back and telepathically informed Yang Qingxi and Yang Qingchan: "Those two powerful lingering spirits earlier lingered inside the city wall breach for a long time, constantly conspiring. They were likely intentionally luring Water Weasel Immortal and Prince Baba away. Next, if you encounter a lingering spirit commander that isn't overly powerful but is very fast, you can pursue and intercept it; you might find an unexpected gain."

*Whoosh!*

A house-sized gray mist, like a phantom sphere, carrying a violent hurricane, burst forth from the city wall breach.

Three powerful demon cultivators from the Huangjiang faction unleashed their magic artifacts and immediately rushed to intercept it.

*Bang! Bang! Bang!*

All three magic artifacts and the three powerful demon cultivators were sent flying.

Strangely, with just a single impact, the three powerful demon cultivators lost all their vital energy. Upon landing, they withered into three desiccated corpses.

"There's a very faint aura of the Phoenix Blood Tree," Second Phoenix telepathically informed Li Weiyi.

Li Weiyi had already affixed a Divine Movement Talisman to his body. Activating it, he burst forth with incredible speed, wielding the Staff-Spear of All Things, and gave chase.

After leaving the city, the spherical gray mist swiftly burrowed into the ground and vanished.

Li Weiyi used his psychic perception to lock onto it, pursuing above ground. Wielding the Staff-Spear of All Things, he channeled the earth's Yin energy, attacking the underground entity through the layers of soil.

He pursued it for hundreds of miles.

Far from the old Yuzhou Prefecture City, the gray mist underground finally lost its patience.

"With your level of cultivation, you dare to pursue me?"

The spherical gray mist dispersed, revealing a three-meter-tall corpse commander. It resembled a giant ape, covered in gray corpse fur, with a mouth full of jagged fangs.

Its speed was astonishing.

Li Weiyi's vision blurred as a fist, the size of a human head and reeking of decaying corpse energy, landed on him.

Li Weiyi, a veteran of countless battles, had already activated the defensive scriptures of his Blood Handprint Demon Armor and Governor's Official Robe. He instantly unleashed the Fusang Divine Tree Spirit God and his Dao Heart Manifestation.

*Bang! Bang...*

The Gray Corpse Ape's punch shattered the Fusang Divine Tree Spirit God, the Dao Heart Manifestation, the blood mist scriptures, and his protective spiritual energy. It then collided with the Staff-Spear of All Things, which Li Weiyi held horizontally before him.

Li Weiyi was sent flying backward like a cannonball for dozens of meters, his feet carving a crater over a meter deep where he landed.

"Terrifying speed, and astonishing strength."

The moment he regained his footing, Li Weiyi pulled the Longevity Corpse from his spatial bag, slit his wrist, and splattered blood onto it.

As the Gray Corpse Ape attacked again, the Longevity Corpse's eyes snapped open. Like lightning, it and Li Weiyi charged forward, one on each side.

*Boom!*

From within the spherical gray cloud mist, two massive arms emerged, relentlessly forcing Li Weiyi and the Longevity Corpse backward.

With every step backward, the ground would visibly sink.

"Clear mind, banish evil, *Zhe*!"

Li Weiyi roared aloud, and a burst of crimson-golden psychic energy erupted, surging into the gray cloud mist.

The Gray Corpse Ape's gaze momentarily froze.

Seizing this chance, Li Weiyi soared into the air and violently slammed down with the Purple Sky Thunder Seal.

"Roar!"

The Gray Corpse Ape instantly regained its senses, spewing forth torrents of corpse energy from its mouth as it swung a fist to meet the Purple Sky Thunder Seal head-on.

Thunder boomed, the impact sounding like crashing metal and stone, causing the ground beneath the Gray Corpse Ape's feet to heave and crack outwards.

Its body was completely enveloped in lightning.

*Thump!*

The Longevity Corpse was exceptionally formidable. Seizing the opportunity, it landed a powerful four-colored palm strike directly on the Gray Corpse Ape's chest, sending it flying over a hundred meters away and crashing into the side of a mountain.

It should be noted that the Longevity Corpse's combat prowess was in no way inferior to a martial cultivator at the ninth heaven of the Dao Seed Realm. If Li Weiyi and the Longevity Corpse teamed up, utilizing combined attack formations and heavy artifacts, they wouldn't be without a fighting chance against an existence like Qiongji Daozi.

Of course, the Longevity Corpse lacked sustained endurance and heavily consumed Li Weiyi's blood.

Inside the mountain, the Gray Corpse Ape roared in fury, and the gray corpse energy surging from its body immediately caused large sections of the mountain to collapse, sending shattered rocks tumbling down.

"That didn't critically wound it?"

Li Weiyi knew the Gray Corpse Ape's speed was terrifying. He intently watched the collapsing mountain, released the Seven Little Ones, and plunged the Staff-Spear of All Things into the ground. Within the spiritual realm, he etched array patterns, activating the Sun, Moon, and Stars Combined Attack Formation.

*Whoosh!*

The Gray Corpse Ape burst from the earth, shooting directly into the sky, its pupils blood-red and surrounded by steaming blood mist.

It swooped down, striking out with two palm-print clouds of scriptures that collided with the Grand Sun, Moon, and Stars Formation Li Weiyi had erected.

The formation's array disk and star-track patterns blocked its palm strikes. On the Gray Corpse Ape, the hand struck by the Purple Sky Thunder Seal had lost all its fur and flesh, revealing golden bones.

Its corpse was no ordinary Longevity Realm demonic ape. Of course, even if it had been powerful in life, it was merely a new spirit born from a corpse, and its physical strength had long since greatly diminished.

With a rumble, the ground for dozens of meters around Li Weiyi sank down.

At that very moment, a spine-chilling sense of crisis assailed Li Weiyi from an unidentifiable direction.

Before him, a cluster of purple misty light appeared.

*Pfft!*

From within the purple misty light, a paintbrush shot out, striking Li Weiyi directly in the chest.

It was too fast. The opponent's cultivation was exceptionally high, and its speed surpassed even that of the Gray Corpse Ape. It was a spatial ambush, executed with extreme precision.

*Crack.*

Two of Li Weiyi's ribs shattered, his internal organs cracked, and he was sent flying, blood gushing uncontrollably from his mouth and nose. The bronze brush was originally aimed at his heart, but he narrowly managed to shift, avoiding a fatal blow. Moreover, because he was wearing the Blood Handprint Demon Armor and the Governor's Official Robe, his body wasn't completely pierced. Any other Dao Seed Realm martial cultivator would have died on the spot.

"Master..." Yu'er cried out, heartbroken.

She also suffered a considerable fall.

The array disk of the combined attack formation naturally disintegrated, and the Seven Little Ones were struck by the Gray Corpse Ape's palm print, sent deep underground.

Fu Wenyan, clad in the Governor's Official Robe, emerged from the purple misty light. He held the Governor's official seal in one hand and idly twirled the bronze brush in the other, glancing at the heavily wounded Li Weiyi. "How does the cicada catcher know he, too, is prey?"

"Roar!"

From the embroidered patch on the chest of his official robe, a white misty dragon soul flew out, sending the Gray Corpse Ape hurtling away.

"The Governor's official robe is truly effective! You haven't even condensed your Dao Fruit; your spiritual energy level isn't sufficient to summon a dragon soul as powerful as I am."