368: Chapter 368 Defection

"I'm alive?"

A moment later, the resurrected experts of the Nine Heavens were all filled with amazement.

Soon, they learned from Yan Feng that Lin Yang had saved them, and they stepped forward excitedly to express their thanks.

Following that, many people turned their heads and looked angrily at Qin Wuliang and Hua Wuyan.

Facing those gazes, panic appeared in Qin Wuliang's heart for the first time; even the silver-tongued Hua Wuyan shut her mouth now, her face deathly pale.

If only they and Lin Yang, the three of them, had returned alive this time, then as long as they stubbornly denied everything and had the protection of the Boundless Great Venerable, the experts of the other heavens, no matter how indignant, wouldn't be able to do anything to them without evidence.

But now, the situation had suddenly changed; the people they had caused to die had actually all come back to life.

It was foreseeable that when these people unanimously accused the two of them in front of everyone in the Nine Heavens, even if the Boundless Great Venerable stepped forward, he wouldn't be able to quell the crowd's fury.

...

Wuliang Heaven.

Deep within the manor, Chaos surged as nine blurry figures sat cross-legged like nine statues, utterly silent, yet faintly emitting terrifying Auras as steady as mountains and deep as the abyss.

They were precisely the leaders of the Nine Great Heavens.

"Boundless Great Venerable, do you not intend to give us an explanation?"

Finally, someone spoke, their tone somewhat cold.

They had already learned part of the truth: the Boundless Great Venerable had long ago made a deal with the Heavenly God Demon Tree. Many years ago, he had been secretly using the blood of Nine Heavens experts to nourish the demonic heavenly god tree, rather than it being an accidental discovery as previously claimed.

"What kind of explanation does Fellow Daoist want?" the Boundless Great Venerable asked indifferently.

The development of events had completely exceeded his expectations. According to the original plan, after sending another batch of "nutrients" to the Heavenly God Demon Tree this time, the tree would have been able to break through the suppression of the Life and Death Time Realm and relocate to their Wuliang Heaven.

By then, with the heavenly god tree in Wuliang Heaven, even if the other eight heavens had objections to his previous concealment, they wouldn't be able to cause any significant trouble.

But who would have thought that the Heavenly God Demon Tree would be obliterated by a junior and turned back into a seed?

As a result, almost all of his previous deals with the Heavenly God Demon Tree were nullified. It was all for naught, and with the Great Venerables of the Nine Heavens coming to hold him accountable, his mood was naturally terrible, and his tone was somewhat gloomy.

In the end, by having Wuliang Heaven independently bear forty percent of the resources needed to cultivate the heavenly god tree seed and confining Qin Wuliang and Hua Wuyan for ten thousand years, he barely managed to appease the anger of the other Great Venerables.

"Let the heavenly god tree seed be placed in my Wanmu Heaven!"

Afterward, the Supremes of the Nine Heavens decided on the recovery site for the heavenly god tree seed, choosing Wanmu Heaven, which possessed the strongest vitality among the Nine Heavens.

It was extremely suitable for the growth of all kinds of wood, and with the influx of resources from the Nine Heavens, the heavenly god tree would surely grow in the shortest time possible.

Therefore, no one had any objections to this proposal.

Half a day later, Lin Yang and the others returned. Upon learning the decision of the Great Venerables of the Nine Heavens, although they were somewhat dissatisfied with the punishment for Qin Wuliang and the other, they couldn't say much.

After handing the heavenly god tree seed over to the Great Venerable of Wanmu Heaven, Lin Yang and the others left together.

After leaving.

"I really can't accept that those two scoundrels, Qin Wuliang and Hua Wuyan, were let off like this," the Immortal King of Chiming Heaven grunted, clearly dissatisfied with the punishment.

"These two are, after all, the top talents in the Nine Heavens, especially Qin Wuliang, who is a figure with the potential to become an Emperor. Unless absolutely necessary, the Great Venerables naturally wouldn't kill them easily," Yan Feng sighed softly.

"Pah! He has no potential at all. If we're talking about the Prodigy in our Nine Heavens most likely to become the next Emperor, it has to be Brother Lin!" said the Immortal King of Leiming Heaven.

But as soon as he finished speaking, he noticed the expressions of those around him becoming a bit awkward.

Because everyone knew that Lin Yang's path forward had been severed to save Shen Youchu, and it was impossible for him to continue improving.

However, Lin Yang just smiled quite freely regarding this.

Rumble!

Just as everyone was about to disperse, the world suddenly roared. From beyond the world, a pitch-black mist surged forth, rolling in like a river bursting its banks.

As the black mist invaded, ten terrifying fluctuations erupted from its depths, so intense that they were like ten black suns rising.

Behind them, endless demonic mist surged, suppressing all the light in Wuliang Heaven.

At the same time, the Supremes of the Nine Heavens appeared together, followed by nine terrifying Auras rising from within their bodies.

"Eerie Venerable Lords, how dare you invade my Wuliang Heaven Territory!" the Boundless Great Venerable bellowed, his voice echoing through the world.

Ten Eerie Great Venerables suddenly descended. Their boundless and terrifying Aura instantly turned the surrounding billions of miles of mountains and rivers into a dead zone, and countless living beings perished.

Fortunately, the nine Great Venerables appeared in time, preventing further slaughter of living beings.

At this moment, Lin Yang and the others, who had just dispersed, also looked up at the sky with drastically changed expressions. Almost every blurry black figure in the black mist was even more powerful than the Heavenly God Demon Tree they had seen before.

Just a single wisp of Aura emanating from high in the sky made them feel somewhat suffocated.

"Those are... the Eerie Venerable Lords!"

"Ten of them appeared all at once!"

Everyone was horrified. There were only thirteen Eerie Venerable Lords, not much more than the number in the Nine Heavens. Furthermore, with the Earthly and Heavenly Venerables in slumber, at least one Venerable Lord had to stay behind to guard them.

Thus, it could be said that this time, the Eerie Venerable Lords had almost come out in full force.

"Hand over the heavenly god tree seed!"

A voice came from the black mist, concise and clear; they had come specifically for the heavenly god tree seed.

The experts of Wuliang Heaven were all too familiar with that voice. It was the super-powerful clan ranked fourth among the One Hundred and Eight Clans of the Weird, which had fought a war with their Wuliang Heaven not long ago—the Black Demon God Clan!

"Black Demon God Emperor, are you daydreaming? The Great Venerables of our Nine Heavens are all gathered here. Even if your ten Eerie Venerable Lords join forces, don't even think about snatching the heavenly god tree seed!" the Boundless Great Venerable barked coldly.

The other Great Venerables also looked on with unfriendly eyes. Even though the Eerie Venerable Lords outnumbered them by one, this was the home field of the Nine Heavens. If their nine Great Venerables worked together, the opponent wouldn't gain much advantage, let alone snatch the heavenly god tree seed.

For a moment, even the Boundless Great Venerable, Dao Venerable Taia, and others couldn't understand where the Black Demon God Emperor got the confidence to so brazenly demand the heavenly god tree seed from them.

"Could it be that the Earthly and Heavenly Venerables have already awakened?" one Great Venerable speculated.

"Impossible. According to our deductions, the Earth Venerable will wake up in ten thousand years at the earliest, and the Heavenly Venerable will take even longer. They couldn't possibly wake up at this time." Another Great Venerable shook his head.

The other Great Venerables remained silent. If the Earthly and Heavenly Venerables had awakened, then it wouldn't be just ten people coming, but all thirteen Venerable Lords arriving to start the final decisive battle.

While the Boundless Great Venerable and the others were pondering what the Black Demon God Emperor was up to, a flash of light suddenly streaked past them.

Following that, everyone watched in horror as a green-robed figure slowly appeared in front of the black mist.

"Ten Thousand Wood Great Venerable, you...!?"