363: Heavenly Demon Tree

He only suspected Qin Wuliang and never thought that the Great Venerable of Wuliang Heaven might have a problem.

That is one of the leaders of the Nine Heavens!

This Lin Yang is too bold, daring to question even a leader of the Nine Heavens!

...Meanwhile.

Elsewhere in this realm, Qin Wuliang was leading the group in pursuit of another mysterious Immortal King Giant until they chased him into a valley.

They saw the mysterious Immortal King's figure flash and vanish, disappearing into the valley.

"The situation isn't quite right. He seems to be intentionally leading us here!" The Immortal King from Leiming Heaven frowned, his voice deep and rumbling like thunder.

This was an Immortal King's intuition. He vaguely sensed something amiss but couldn't pinpoint where it came from.

Hearing his words, everyone looked toward the valley ahead. A faint mist lingered, and it was eerily quiet, with no special aura emanating from it.

At that moment, Qin Wuliang glanced at him indifferently. "Fellow Daoist, you worry too much. No dangerous aura is coming from the valley."

"That person never stopped the whole way. Why choose to stop here?" The Immortal King from Chiming Heaven was also puzzled.

"Hmph, who cares why he stopped? Let's just charge in together. With my Senior Brother holding the line, that mysterious person will have no choice but to surrender!" Hua Wuyan spoke up, completely disregarding any potential risks within the valley, full of confidence in Qin Wuliang.

Hearing her words, the Immortal Kings from Chiming Heaven and Leiming Heaven exchanged a glance, pondered for a moment, and then nodded.

Indeed, with Qin Wuliang present, unless there were enemies more terrifying than an Immortal King Giant lying in ambush inside the valley, even if that mysterious Immortal King Giant had heaven-defying abilities, he couldn't threaten them.

Thinking this, the two of them also dismissed much of their inner concerns.

Seeing this, Hua Wuyan then said to the two of them, "To prevent that mysterious person from escaping again, why don't we go in first to force him out, and then invite Senior Brother to suppress him?"

"That's fine. Catching him sooner means we can return and regroup with the teams from Lingxiao Heaven and Giant Rock Heaven earlier." Upon hearing this, the Immortal Kings from Chiming Heaven and Leiming Heaven pondered briefly before nodding, having no objections.

Immediately after, Qin Wuliang remained outside alone, while Hua Wuyan and the others each led a team, forming battle formations, and swept into the mist-shrouded valley, intending to force the mysterious Immortal King Giant who had fled there to reveal himself.

"Ssss..."

And not long after everyone entered the valley, at the mist-covered entrance, a thick vine suddenly burst from the ground.

The vine resembled the root of some ancient tree, thick and gnarled like a dragon, displaying a strange crimson color. After breaking through the soil, it turned in a strangely human-like manner to glance at Qin Wuliang outside the valley before submerging back into the earth and slithering toward the interior of the valley.

Watching the strange vine that had suddenly appeared, Qin Wuliang remained expressionless from start to finish, as if he already knew of the crimson vine's existence.

"Ah..."

And not long after the crimson vine disappeared, successive screams suddenly erupted from within the valley.

Hearing those screams, a cold, icy smile finally appeared on Qin Wuliang's face.

"Ah! This Heavenly God Demon Tree has gone mad! Senior Brother, save me!"

A moment later, Hua Wuyan rushed out from the valley, her face covered in blood. Behind her, a blood-stained vine, like a ferocious blood python, coiled toward her delicate body.

"Stop! This is my Junior Sister! She's not on the list I gave you!"

At that moment, Qin Wuliang looked downward and shouted sternly.

With a *shua* sound, the blood vine stopped mid-air and, after a moment, slowly retracted into the valley.

Seeing this, Hua Wuyan finally breathed a sigh of relief, came to stand behind Qin Wuliang, and looked down at the valley with lingering fear.

"The numbers are off."

At the same time, after the blood vine retracted, a hoarse, strange voice came from the valley.

"There were some unexpected issues with the plan. I'll hand over the remaining twenty people to you later." Qin Wuliang said with a grim expression.

"Heh heh, Disciples personally trained by Boundless Great Venerable can't even defeat a mere Heavenly Immortal. This Venerable One truly needs to reconsider whether the deal with your Revered Master is the right choice..."

A voice tinged with mockery came from the valley, clearly aware of Qin Wuliang's earlier defeat by Lin Yang in the competition for commander-in-chief.

"Are you going back on your word?" Hearing the voice from the valley, Qin Wuliang's eyes suddenly turned cold.

"Crack!"

But at that moment, the vanished blood vine reappeared, lashing through the air like a bolt of lightning, sharp and fierce.

Qin Wuliang was greatly startled and reached out to grab it, but the vine struck him, causing him to stagger back several steps. A bloody gash appeared on his handsome cheek, the skin torn open.

Instantly, the coldness in Qin Wuliang's eyes deepened.

"Junior, watch your tone. Even if your Master were here in person, he would have to show This Venerable One some respect!" A cold, eerie reprimand came from the valley, and a huge tree silhouette faintly appeared within the mist.

The tree silhouette was immense, with lush branches and leaves that seemed to press against the sky. Its roots at the base were thick as dragons, numbering in the hundreds. The blood-red vine that had lashed through the air moments ago was just one of them.

Looking at the revealed giant tree silhouette, a flicker passed through Qin Wuliang's eyes before he quickly suppressed all the anger within him. Then, he respectfully bowed toward the valley. "Yes, it was this Junior who was impolite just now, Lord Heavenly God Demon Tree!"

"Keke, that's more like it. Juniors should act like Juniors." The tree silhouette trembled, emitting a strange laugh.

"Creak!"

Qin Wuliang slowly clenched his fist, but a dark smile played on his face.

"Senior Brother!"

Beside him, Hua Wuyan, witnessing this scene, immediately showed heartache in her eyes, then looked down at the giant tree silhouette with anger, though a trace of fear also flickered in her gaze.

"The time is about right."

At that moment, Qin Wuliang waved his hand at her. "Wuyan, go lure Lin Yang and the others over."

Hearing this, Hua Wuyan nodded, took one last look at the misty tree silhouette below, transformed into a streak of light, and sped off into the distance... Meanwhile, on the other side.

"Gone..."

Lin Yang, Yan Feng, and the others were pursuing another mysterious Immortal King Giant. However, upon passing through a swamp, they watched helplessly as the other party merged into the ground and completely vanished.

"Strange, to disappear so cleanly right under our noses..."

Lin Yang and Yan Feng searched the vicinity for a long time, finally reaching a startling conclusion: the other party had truly vanished!

He had escaped right under their watch.

Both of them found it somewhat unbelievable. With their strength, pursuing someone at full speed, they had still let the other party escape.

"Huh? There's a corpse aura..."

But they weren't entirely empty-handed.

At the spot where the mysterious Immortal King had last disappeared, they found a patch of yellow mud and detected a trace of the corpse aura unique to the dead.

And within that corpse aura was clearly the aura of the mysterious Immortal King who had lured them to split up earlier...