The huge gates were actually a giant transportation formation, and the black channel they had seen beyond it was a projection.

Long Chen and the others had already entered, so Di Xin didn’t tarry. He walked in, followed by Han Feifei, Shen Bijun, Wang Shan, and dozens of other powerful Empyreans.

Only after those experts had entered did the rank eight and rank nine Celestials follow. That was to be safe.

However, this safety measure meant that they were leaving the first opportunities for the first group. They would always be one step behind.

…

Long Chen had just walked through the gates when space twisted around him. A dark and sinister aura crashed down on him.

They had yet to even land on the ground when the withered trees on the ground sprang to life. Countless roots shot out of the ground at them.

“Endless Wind Waves.”

Tang Wan-er formed a hand seal, and a sea of wind blades exploded, cutting those roots to pieces.

“Don’t get entangled with them. Their true bodies are underground, and it’s difficult for us to do any real damage to them if they only use their roots to attack. Moving on is more important,” said Chu Yao.

The Skywood Divine Palace had to deal with these tree demons all year round, so Chu Yao knew how crafty and difficult to deal with they were.

Suddenly, Cloud summoned the true body of a Cloud Chasing Heaven Swallowing Sparrow. With a single flap of her wings, the roots were blown to bits.

The terrifying astral winds tore through the ground, making Long Chen jump in shock. This was Long Chen’s first time seeing Cloud use her real power after advancing to the tenth rank.

She was truly worthy of being a legendary existence. Her power was not inferior to Hu Xiaolin’s at all. It was just that Cloud didn’t have a divine item.

Carrying the four of them, Cloud transformed into a ray of light that shot deeper into these lands.

Tree roots continued to spring out of the ground and attack them, covering the sky with their numbers. However, Cloud charged straight through them in the most direct, most barbaric method.

Cloud was incredibly fast. Due to her speed, the space around her twisted, and just the shockwaves were enough to blow away those roots. They weren’t able to touch Cloud.

“Cloud, you’re amazing!” praised Long Chen. He had thought that when he used his lightning wings plus his new Lightning Flash Step, he had reached a kind of pinnacle in speed. However, now he found that he was a far cry from Cloud.

“Long Chen, do you want to charge straight through or first find a place to hide? If we charge straight through, we’ll end up disturbing all the tree demons in the black channel. That will only benefit the people behind us,” said Chu Yao. She was worried about them charging too far forward and being the focus of all the tree demons. That would increase the pressure on them.

“No need. Let’s charge straight through with absolute power. Their schemes are pure nonsense. Chu Yao, are you sure there’s something Wan-er needs in the Jade Lake?” asked Long Chen.

“Yes, I’m sure. We’ve been guarding the black channel all this time. One reason is because we are wood cultivators, so we’re the best people to counter the tree demons, but the other reason is that the Jade Lake Sacred Land doesn’t have anything that the Skywood Divine Palace’s disciples need, so there’s no need to worry about us occupying it for ourselves or abusing our position. In truth, that Jade Lake Venerate was extremely terrifying. She was in possession of four kinds of energy: earth, water, fire, and wind,” said Chu Yao.

“Four types?!” Long Chen sucked in a cold gasp of air. Those who could control two kinds of energy were already few and far between. He had never heard of anyone capable of controlling three kinds. However, the Jade Lake Venerate could control four types!

“That’s not all. It is said that the four elements, earth, water, fire, and air were the foundation of the birth of this world. When they are combined, their power is terrifying. However, her ability to control four kinds of elemental energy is definitely related to her magical arts. Or perhaps that level of magical art should be called divine art. Our cultivation civilization has declined, and there’s no way anyone in the present era can control four kinds of energy. Just trying to control water and fire, two opposing elements, is enough to cause someone to explode. We called you over because we’re worried about competing with Di Xin and him taking the opportunity Wan-er needs, but the other reason is that you should have an affinity with the fire element. It’s a win-win,” explained Chu Yao.

“There’s an opportunity for me too? That is really good. Do you know what kind of flame is inside?” Long Chen began to grow excited. If there was a powerful flame, Huo Long would be delighted.

Chu Yao shook her head. “It’s unknown what flame it is. All we know is that there is a flame beast inside, and everyone who has entered its territory has been killed. In all these years, the fire region is the only place that no one has managed to gain an inheritance from. Many people have entered the earth, water, and air regions and gained their own special opportunities, but those who entered the fire region all died.”

BOOM!

As the four of them were conversing, the ground in front of them exploded, and a huge figure appeared before it. It was a giant tree demon blocking their path.

It looked like a wooden giant with a saber in its hand. Its entire body emitted a bronze color.

“It’s a bronze tree demon,” explained Chu Yao. “Bronze tree demons are true members of the tree demons’ fighters, not like the weak ones we just charged past. They have about the power of ordinary Life Star experts.”

Cloud opened its mouth as soon as the tree demon appeared, and a black light ray shot out. The tree demon’s saber had just been raised when the black ray pierced its body, blowing it apart.

“What a powerful divine ability!” Long Chen was shocked at Cloud’s power. Even he had sensed danger from her attack just now.

“Don’t underestimate Cloud just because she’s still a child. Her killing moves are all frightening, and even Hu Xiaolin with a divine item wouldn’t be a match for Cloud. She has already inherited a portion of the Cloud Chasing Heaven Swallowing Sparrow’s divine abilities that have vanished from the rest of the world. When Cloud advances to the eleventh rank, she’ll even be able to challenge Netherpassage experts.” Meng Qi smiled proudly. The Myriad Spirit Diagram that Long Chen had given her was a priceless treasure.

“Amazing. This is definitely good. No wonder the Xuan Beasts want the Myriad Spirit Diagram so much.” Long Chen nodded. Hu Xiaolin had participated in the Dragon Slaughtering Convention specifically for the Myriad Spirit Diagram.

“Long Chen, we’ll have to be careful in the future. After that battle, Hu Xiaolin completely exposed the existence of the Myriad Spirit Diagram. The complete inheritance of the Xuan Beasts exists inside it, and much of that inheritance has already been lost in the outside world. They probably won’t let us off,” warned Meng Qi.

“No need to worry. Whether it’s a blessing or a calamity, it can’t be dodged. We’ll just have to counter whatever they try. Speaking of which, Little Snow’s crystal core is still being nourished inside the Myriad Spirit Diagram, right? What’s the situation?” asked Long Chen.

“Little Snow’s soul is being nourished and is getting stronger with every passing moment. If you want to, Little Snow could probably manage to take over the body of a tenth rank Xuan Beast. If you find a suitable race, you can try it. If we could awaken Little Snow, we could all rest easier.”

“Then let’s keep nourishing Little Snow’s crystal core until Little Snow’s soul grows to the limit.”

“But… the Myriad Spirit Diagram is extremely powerful. Little Snow’s soul in the crystal core has already gone through three mutations. I don’t know how many months or years it would take to reach the peak.”

“That’s fine. It just means that this isn’t a good time to do it. Even if I captured a talented Xuan Beast, it wouldn’t be perfect. There would definitely be flaws in the possession, and then Little Snow’s cultivation base would fall behind again. I’m going to find a body that will allow Little Snow to walk to the peak of the martial path along with me,” said Long Chen firmly. Thinking about Little Snow made his heart ache.

Long Chen knew that Little Snow had felt aggrieved at not being able to help him in the end. So he would either find a perfect, powerful body for Little Snow, or he would wait until he found one so that Little Snow could accompany him forever.

Cloud sped through the sky. More and more tree demons appeared ahead, and they were also growing stronger. However, they couldn’t stop Cloud. After advancing to the tenth rank, Cloud had become a true expert.

“Based on Cloud’s speed, we should reach the Jade Lake in an incense stick’s worth of time. There will be true experts of the tree demons there, so everyone be careful,” warned Chu Yao.

BOOM!

Suddenly, a huge silver tree demon appeared in front of Cloud, and the two crashed together. The tree demon was smashed apart, but Cloud’s momentum instantly dropped. As a result, Long Chen and the others almost flew off her back.

“It’s a silver tree demon! And there are so many of them!”

Chu Yao was startled. There was a mass of silver tree demons ahead.

In the past, each time the black channel began to act up, the silver tree demons had been the leaders of the insurrection. They had been very rare, but now they were everywhere.

“Cloud, be careful. The silver tree demons are very powerful!” called out Chu Yao.

Hundreds of silver tree demons attacked with their silver blades. Those huge blades whistled as they slashed down at them. They were truly terrifying.

“Windmoon Slash!”

Tang Wan-er summoned another sea of wind blades, but she was disappointed to see that her sharp wind blades shattered on contact with the silver tree demons. They were only able to leave some tiny, unremarkable marks on their bodies. They couldn’t even count as wounds.

Cloud spread her wings. Runes lit up, and she slashed her wings at the tree demons like sharp blades. However, she was only able to knock them back, not kill them. There were too many of them.

“Long Chen, I’ll make you kneel and beg for forgiveness for humiliating me before!”

Having been held back by the silver tree demons, a voice rang out from behind, one fuming with rage.