118: Chapter 118 Sword Slaying the Evil Tree

After sensing that the Evil Tree's attack speed and strength had both weakened, Qin Ling continued to maintain his full-force activation of the Divine Technique: Exorcism.

Furthermore, he did not forget to hurl the Seven-Kill Demon-Slaying Sword infused with Exorcism at the Black Flowers on the canopy and roots to gain incense points.

Coupled with the significantly slowed speed of the Evil Tree's canopy and roots, it became even more effortless for Qin Ling to wipe out the Black Flowers.

In just this short moment, Qin Ling had burned away another 1000 incense points.

If not for the Black Flowers being sent his way, his incense points would probably have burned dry long ago.

Qin Ling felt somewhat fortunate about this, while also not expecting that a tier-five evil spirit would actually be this difficult to kill.

But finally, at this moment, the Evil Tree let out a wail.

That wail exploded from the very center of the county city, shaking the tiles on the half-collapsed roofs so that they rattled down, and startling the people hiding under the wall roots into covering their ears and squatting down.

That wail carried a fear like no other.

In front of Qin Ling, the Evil Tree finally felt fear.

The entire Evil Tree was trembling, from the canopy to the trunk, from the trunk to the roots, and from the roots to the roots and vines extending in all directions.

Qin Ling naturally sensed that the Evil Tree was also reaching its limit, and even the evil qi on the curtain had become negligible.

Judging by this momentum, the curtain would likely shatter at any moment.

And before that, he still had one sword strike to return to the Evil Tree!

Qin Ling withdrew his hand from the edge of the curtain and no longer activated the Divine Technique: Exorcism.

He glanced once more at the incense points number on the system panel.

[ incense points: 1180 ]

It was not much, but it was enough for him to unleash his final sword strike.

When those roots and aerial roots attacked him earlier, they had delivered quite a few incense points to him.

These incense points would also converge into this final sword strike.

Qin Ling moved, transforming into a streak of golden light as he swooped down toward the Evil Tree, like a shooting star falling from the sky.

The golden light swooped down from the edge of the curtain.

During the dive, Qin Ling raised his right hand, his five fingers gently clenching into a void grip.

A sword condensed in his palm, and seven fiendish patterns lit up one after another, each brighter and heavier than the last.

He pressed his left hand onto the sword body, and golden light poured out from his palm—it was the Divine Technique: Exorcism powered by burning 1000 incense points.

The full amount of 1000 incense points was added entirely into it.

With just this single sword strike, life and death would be decided!

The sword body shook violently, and the seven fiendish patterns lit up—not one after another, but simultaneously, as a blinding white light exploded from the blade.

That Evil Tree was trembling, the eyes on its trunk opening to look at that streak of golden light; from this light, it sniffed out the aura of death.

Clearly, it was a tier-five evil spirit, which should have been immortal and indestructible in this world.

But when it saw that light drawing closer and closer to itself, and smelled that increasingly thick aura of death...

It would die.

This sword strike would truly kill it!

The Evil Tree did not want to die, so it mobilized its final power, and the canopy and roots rushed toward the golden light once again.

Determined to block that light outside.

Watching the approaching canopy and roots head-on, Qin Ling did not dodge.

Those roots and canopy crashed head-on into his divine technique Undying Numinous Light, shattering themselves into powder.

Qin Ling thus transformed into a streak of golden light, directly shattering the obstacles composed of roots and canopy before him.

...

In Guanhai County City, all the surviving commoners raised their heads.

Men stood up from beneath the wall roots, women poked half their bodies out from cellar entrances, elders leaned on crutches at alley entrances, and children were lifted high above adults' heads.

They gazed at that streak of golden light swooping down from the edge of the curtain.

The direction of the golden light's dive was precisely the direction of the Evil Tree at the center of the county city.

Tie Lanshi stood at the entrance of the blacksmith shop, both hands gripping the doorframe, his knuckles turning white.

His breathing was heavy and rough, like a bellows being pulled.

His eyes stared fixedly at that streak of golden light without blinking once.

The two martial artists beside him also raised their heads; the middle-aged man wearing a grey short jacket had his mouth open and unable to close, while the young man wearing a black martial outfit almost forgot how to breathe.

Tie Lanshi's hand slid down from the doorframe, hanging at his side, his fingertips still trembling.

He took two steps forward, then another step, walking out from under the eaves of the blacksmith shop, walking out of the shadow of the alley, and standing under that patch of sky illuminated by the golden light.

He tilted his head back, watching that streak of golden light.

"Old Ancestor, is this going to decide the real outcome?"

The middle-aged man wearing the grey short jacket walked over to Tie Lanshi's side and asked, swallowing a mouthful of saliva.

"Mn, the real outcome is about to be decided."

Tie Lanshi murmured.

"Old Ancestor, that streak of golden light—no, Lord Qinling will win, right?"

The young man wearing the black martial outfit had trembling lips.

"Only the heavens know that."

The corners of Tie Lanshi's mouth twitched.

...

Shattering all the blocking canopy and roots, Qin Ling finally arrived before the Evil Tree.

And the long sword in his hand had also finished condensing.

That sword in his hand had all seven fiendish patterns lit up, and after channeling the Divine Technique: Exorcism, it emitted an aura of purification.

The eyes on the Evil Tree's trunk stared at this sword, filled with terror.

Then Qin Ling swung his sword.

That sword swung down, the sword light breaking away from the blade and transforming into a huge golden blade of light that cleaved down from midair, hacking onto the Evil Tree's trunk.

"Boom——!!!"

The trunk of that Evil Tree split open.

This crack extended all the way from the canopy to the roots, splitting the entire tree in half.

That terror-filled eye also split down the middle, black sap spurting out from the pupil.

This Evil Tree that had covered the entire Guanhai County underneath and devoured countless lives was finally thoroughly chopped into two halves.

The canopy began to disintegrate first.

The pitch-black branches and leaves that originally blotted out the sky simultaneously lost support, hanging down limply as if their tendons and bones had been pulled out.

The leaves began to curl and wither from the edges, shattering into countless tiny black fragments that fluttered in the air like a silent black snow.

The roots surged up from beneath the ground, making a final struggle.

They twisted frantically on the ground, smashing stone slabs and overturning soil.

But their movements grew slower and slower, their range smaller and smaller, the black evil qi on their surfaces extinguishing one by one.

Soon, a root stopped twitching, lying stiffly across the ruins, beginning to decay from the base and transforming into soft black mud.

The entire Evil Tree began to collapse inward, its trunk shattering from the inside, large chunks of black wood peeling off from its body and slamming onto the ground with a muffled sound.

The canopy collapsed, smashing onto the trunk; the trunk shattered, smashing onto the roots.

That Evil Tree that had once shrouded the entire county city was now like a pile of hollowed-out remains, shattering and peeling away layer by layer.

With the disintegration of the Evil Tree, that sky-blocking black curtain also began to sway.

A tiny crack appeared out of thin air at the highest point of the curtain, like a drop of ink falling on rice paper, rapidly spreading in all directions.

The cracks grew more and more numerous and dense, like a spider web.

Finally, unable to hold on any longer, the curtain began to peel away.