7: A demonic halberd descends from the sky, and the forbidden zone is initially formed.
Time passed, and Liu Qingtian spent another period of time in vigilance and hard Cultivation.
The passage between the two realms showed no further anomalies, as if the violent energy and fragmented information from before were merely a dream. Yet, he dared not relax in the slightest; the "Spiritual Ripple" vortex operated day and night, greedily devouring death origin and natural spirit essence.
His growth rate far exceeded the past. His main trunk had become as thick as a small hut, and profound patterns naturally formed on the dark bark, sometimes flowing with gloomy, dead black light, and other times radiating emerald green vitality. Thousands of willow branches hung down like chains of order, covering a range of nearly a hundred zhang.
Every willow branch was incredibly tough, difficult for ordinary blades to injure in the slightest, and the leaves upon them were even more miraculous, with the Qi of Life and Death circulating endlessly. Those tiny embryonic cave heavens also seemed to have stabilized slightly.
With him as the center, the scenery of this barren mountain became increasingly eerie. Half of the land was lush with vegetation, brimming with Spiritual Qi, where exotic flowers and herbs sprouted, permeated with refreshing vitality; while the other half of the land was dead silence, with gray soil and weathered rocks, as if any life that stepped into it would be stripped of its vitality, leaving only eternal withered silence.
Two completely different Domains of life and death intertwined here, forming a contradictory scene that made one feel awe-struck.
Liu Qingtian knew that the anomalies he caused were becoming increasingly difficult to hide. He could only hope that this Borderland was remote enough to allow him to develop for a longer time.
However, the cruelty of the Sumeru Spirit Realm never shifted due to an individual's will.
On this day, the sky was torn apart once again.
A powerful aura, filled with violence and greed, galloped from the distant sky without any concealment, its target clear: the hilltop where Liu Qingtian resided!
"Hahaha! There really is a treasure! Such rich Dao rhyme of life and death intertwined, it must be an extraordinary Heaven And Earth Treasure emerging! It is destined to be mine, Jiumolu!"
The voice was like thunder, shaking the mountain rocks until they rattled down. The visitor was a middle-aged Cultivator in luxurious black robes with a sinister expression, Devilish Qi surging around him. He was clearly a powerful expert of the Demonic Path whose Cultivation far exceeded that of the previous alien warrior. He had obviously been attracted by the increasingly obvious anomalies here and had come to seize the treasure.
Liu Qingtian's tree soul tightened, and all his branches silently gathered strength, with Wither and Flourish Finger Force secretly stored. The incoming enemy was extremely strong; he felt immense pressure, and he feared today would not end well.
Jiumolu hovered in mid-air, greedily scanning the peculiar scene below. His gaze finally locked onto Liu Qingtian's main body, and a shocking brilliance erupted in his eyes: "It is actually such a miraculous Demon Willow! Wonderful! Wonderful! If I refine you into a Clone or a Magic Treasure, my Dao path will be promising!"
He no longer hesitated and sneered. His thin, withered palm reached out, and the Devilish Qi instantly condensed into a giant ghost claw that covered the sky, carrying shrill Soul-wails and a terrifying aura that corroded all things, fiercely grabbing toward Liu Qingtian's trunk! The power of this claw was enough to crush a small hill!
A warning alarm blared in Liu Qingtian's heart. All his willow branches instantly straightened, preparing for a desperate strike!
Just at this critical moment—
Swoosh!
A piercing sound of air being torn, extremely sharp, as if it had pierced through the Nine Nether and torn the firmament, suddenly descended from an indescribably high distance!
It was a purple-black stream of light! Its speed was so fast that it surpassed the reaction of thought!
One could not see what it was at all, only feeling a tyrannical, god-slaughtering, devil-destroying, and cold, terrifying killing intent descend with a boom!
Pfft!
There was no earth-shattering collision, no stalemate or struggle.
In the instant before either Liu Qingtian or Jiumolu could react, that purple-black stream of light arrived first despite starting later, piercing the giant ghost claw of Devilish Qi with extreme precision. Like a hot knife cutting through butter, the ghost claw instantly disintegrated and vanished!
The momentum did not stop!
In the eyes of Jiumolu, which shifted from greed to extreme horror and fear in an instant, the stream of light flashed past and directly pierced through his glabella!
The expression on his face completely froze, the surging Devilish Qi around his body dissipated suddenly like a punctured balloon, and the brilliance in his eyes instantly dimmed.
He didn't even have time to let out a scream before his entire vitality was completely annihilated by that tyrannical killing intent in an instant!
The corpse fell straight from the air like a puppet with cut strings, hitting the ground with a "bang" and splashing up a cloud of dust.
Only then did the purple-black stream of light reveal its true form. With a "clang," it landed steadily on the ground less than three feet beside Liu Qingtian's main trunk, embedding itself deep into the earth!
It was a great halberd with a primitive and ferocious design!
The halberd body presented a deep purple-black color, as if forged from solidified dark blood, or perhaps abyss magic gold that devoured light. It was covered in dense and profound patterns; those patterns sometimes coiled like dragons and snakes, and sometimes moved like stars, exuding a fierce and baleful aura that made one's heart and gallbladder split.
The halberd blade was long, narrow, and sharp, flashing with a cold, gloomy light. Just by looking at it, one felt as if their Soul was about to be severed. The halberd shaft was thick, and a carving of an unknown Vicious Beast crouched where it was held, its beast eyes scarlet and lifelike.
The entire great halberd stood quietly there, without any brilliance flowing, yet it possessed a terrifying aura of suppressing all directions and slaughtering all spirits, causing the Domain of intertwined life and death around Liu Qingtian to seem to freeze for a moment.
Liu Qingtian's tree soul was stunned, and all his ready-to-strike willow branches froze in mid-air.
Dead?
That Devilish Cultivator with such a powerful aura was just like that... killed by a single strike of this halberd?
He didn't even see where the halberd came from!
His consciousness cautiously probed toward that purple-black great halberd. As soon as it made contact, he felt an incredibly terrifying sense of resistance. It was a kind of high-and-mighty, extremely cold intent similar to an artifact spirit, containing endless killing and destructive will! It was as if it were warning him: "ant, do not approach!"
In the face of this will, Liu Qingtian felt himself as small as dust.
At the same time, he clearly perceived that this great halberd was not an ownerless object.
Deep within its core, there was an incredibly powerful Soul imprint. The aura of that imprint was of the same origin as the killing intent of the halberd itself, yet it was deeper and more vast, unfathomable like the starry sky. It was the existence of this imprint that dominated everything about the great halberd.
"An object with an owner..." Liu Qingtian immediately understood. This terrifying great halberd had flown here on its own to kill the intruder; perhaps its master sensed the anomaly here and did it casually? Or perhaps this halberd itself had extremely high spirituality and protected its master autonomously?
Attempt to refine it? He immediately dismissed this suicidal thought. With his current strength, touching that Soul imprint would be no different from seeking his own destruction.
The killing intent and resistance of this halberd clearly indicated that it did not belong to him, nor would it be used by him.
But regardless, this Fallen Demonic Halberd had accidentally solved a huge problem for him, and... it was just stuck right beside him.
Liu Qingtian retracted his consciousness with complex emotions. He manipulated his roots to drag Jiumolu's corpse and the broken remnants left by the previous alien warrior underground, converting them into nutrients.
The essence of a powerful Devilish Cultivator was enough to advance his Cultivation by a small step.
Then, he continued to Cultivate, only there was an extra "neighbor" with sky-high Evil Qi beside him.
That purple-black great halberd just stood quietly there, without any further movement, as if it were just a dead object.
But the invisible killing field it emitted strangely intertwined with Liu Qingtian's own Domain of life and death, causing the danger level of this area to rise geometrically.
Days passed by.
The anomalies around Liu Qingtian, because of the existence of the great halberd, not only did not weaken but became even more astonishing.
The purple-black evil aura mixed with the dark green and gray-white Qi of Life and Death, forming a more eerie and daunting force field.
Sure enough, others were attracted.
This time, it was three Cultivators who came together, with uniform clothing, appearing to be Disciples of some Sect. Their Cultivation was not too high, but the greed in their eyes was the same.
They saw the anomalies of this place and the miraculous Demon Willow from afar, and then saw the ferocious great halberd stuck beside the tree. They were first shocked, and then even more excited.
"Senior Brother! Look! Not only is there a treasure tree, but there is also a divine weapon!"
"It must be a supreme Opportunity! It is destined to be ours!"
"Be careful, that halberd seems strange!"
They were much more cautious than Jiumolu, sacrificing their Flying Sword Magic Treasures from afar, tentatively attacking Liu Qingtian, attempting to cut off the branches remotely or force back the great halberd.
However, the moment their Flying Swords entered the hundred-zhang range of the great halberd—
Hum!
That motionless purple-black great halberd suddenly emitted a low hum! The scarlet eyes of the Vicious Beast carving on the halberd body seemed to light up for an instant!
Without the great halberd making any movement, a subtle purple-black ripple spontaneously rippled out from the halberd blade.
The incoming Flying Sword Magic Treasures, the moment they touched the ripple, were like encountering a nemesis. Their spiritual light instantly dimmed, they let out a wail, countless cracks appeared on their surfaces, and then with a "crack," they shattered in mid-air, turning into ordinary iron and falling!
"What?!" The three Cultivators were terrified. Their Magic Treasures, which were connected to their minds, were destroyed, and they all spat out a mouthful of blood.
Before they could react, the purple-black ripple had already spread to them, gently sweeping across their bodies.
The look of horror on the three faces instantly froze, their eyes became empty and dull, and then they fell straight backward, their vitality already severed.
There were no wounds on their bodies, but their Souls had been completely shredded by that tyrannical halberd intent in an instant!
The great halberd returned to calm, as if nothing had happened.
Liu Qingtian silently "watched" all of this, his tree soul speechless.
This Fallen Demonic Halberd, while killing enemies for him, was also like an invisible shackle, stuck beside him, declaring that this place... had an owner.
He did not know if its owner was good or evil, friend or foe. But at least for now, the existence of this halberd blocked many unnecessary troubles for him, allowing him to continue to lie low and develop.
"Fine, I'll just treat it as a free bodyguard and gatekeeper..."
Liu Qingtian collected his thoughts, no longer paying attention to the fierce halberd, and continued to immerse himself in his great undertaking of stealing from the myriad worlds.
His roots spread quietly deeper and further away.