Chapter 563: I Really Am Not the Stone Dwelling Old Monster
“Never did I expect that in the end I would actually fall into the hands of this little brat!” The Heart Demon Cave Lord was filled with fury and hatred.
His heart was full of unwillingness. If he had not first been struck by the divine ability—Crimson-Heart Swan Arrow, and if he had not just gone through an intense battle beforehand, how could Ning Zhuo possibly have seized the opportunity to attack him while he was weakened?
But the facts were ironclad. No matter how unwilling the Heart Demon Cave Lord felt, he could only let his Nascent Soul escape and flee through space.
“Ning Zhuo, the hatred between us cannot coexist under the same heaven. Just you wait!” Before leaving, the Heart Demon Cave Lord’s Nascent Soul let out a shrill scream, piercing and unpleasant to the ears.
Ning Zhuo let out a deep sigh.
He very much wanted to keep the Heart Demon Cave Lord’s Nascent Soul, but he had no means to do so.
Sun Lingtong sighed with emotion. “This man truly had some methods. He actually placed his Nascent Soul inside his heart, forming a peculiar life-substitution technique.”
“With that, it’s equivalent to having several lives. That’s why even after being struck by the divine ability—Crimson-Heart Swan Arrow, he still managed to survive.”
The Heart Demon Cave Lord’s combat strength was not as great as Grandfather Long’s, but his life-preserving methods were far stronger, surpassing the latter.
No matter how strong Grandfather Long had been, he only had one life.
At the edge of the battlefield, Lin Bufan concealed himself while watching, his face filled with astonishment.
“Ning Zhuo, that kid, actually killed a Nascent Soul cultivator.”
“Although he only delivered the finishing blow, if he hadn’t struck in time, the Heart Demon Cave Lord might have recovered his breath and rallied again!”
“At that time, General Mu Lan would no longer have been able to unleash a second divine ability and would certainly have fallen into an absolute disadvantage!”
“Ning Zhuo is only at the Foundation Establishment stage. With this battle record alone, he has every reason to be proud.”
The scene of Ning Zhuo slaying the Heart Demon Cave Lord in battle was deeply engraved in Lin Bufan’s mind. It completely changed the impression of Ning Zhuo he had held in his heart.
All along, because of the gap in their cultivation levels, he had always felt a sense of superiority toward Ning Zhuo.
Now that he had personally witnessed the fate of the Heart Demon Cave Lord, Lin Bufan’s attitude toward Ning Zhuo underwent a complete transformation deep within his heart.
“Ning Zhuo really deserves to be someone valued by the Southern Dou royal family,” Lin Bufan said sincerely, shifting his gaze to Zhu Xuanji beside him.
Zhu Xuanji nodded slightly and thought to himself, This is the Child of Calamity.
“He has only just begun traveling the world, and he’s merely at the Foundation Establishment stage, yet he has already stirred up so many waves.”
“At just over a dozen years old, he already has the life of a Nascent Soul–level cultivator on his hands.”
“That really is…”
From this point alone, Zhu Xuanji felt he was not much better than Ning Zhuo.
“What?! The Heart Demon Cave Lord actually died in battle!”
“He was killed by Ning Zhuo—damn it!”
“Retreat, retreat quickly!”
Although the Heart Demon Cave Lord’s Nascent Soul had escaped, the fact of his defeat and death had a wide-reaching impact.
Many cultivators who had personally witnessed the scene had already suffered from low morale. Now they completely lost their will to fight and turned to flee.
If this had been a properly organized coalition army, there would certainly have been supervising units to severely punish or even execute deserters.
But first, the Thousand Peaks Forest coalition had only been established recently, and its organizational structure was incomplete. Second, the core leadership was trapped in the mire of the core battlefield zone and unable to extricate themselves, much less attend to other matters.
When the first deserter appeared in the Thousand Peaks Forest army, it quickly drove others to follow—then a second, a third…
Like a spreading plague, the number of deserters grew larger and larger.
Ning Zhuo’s achievement of slaying the Heart Demon Cave Lord in battle caused a qualitative change in morale, igniting the collapse of the Thousand Peaks Forest alliance.
Seeing the enemy fleeing in all directions, the Liangzhu Kingdom army’s morale surged as they shouted triumphantly again and again.
On the Thousand Peaks Forest side, there were also Nascent Soul cultivators who attempted to salvage the situation, shouting loudly to rally the troops. But on such an enormous battlefield, even Nascent Soul cultivators seemed relatively small.
They might be able to kill thousands, but changing the hearts of tens of thousands was extremely difficult.
“The general situation is lost!”
“It’s lost… completely lost…”
“Damn it—who can turn the tide?”
As the tide receded, the backbone forces who still stood firm on the battlefield began to stand out. They all carried the determination to fight to the death while silently crying out in their hearts:
Where is the Dragon King? Why hasn’t Lord Dragon Ginseng King made a move yet?!
In such a dire situation, only the Deity Transformation–level Dragon Ginseng King personally entering the battle could overturn the course of the war.
Deep underground.
Dragon King Secret Temple.
A ritual had already reached its climax.
Incense smoke curled upward, offerings piled up like mountains, and several Dragon King temple priests shouted in unison.
“Reverently recalling when Primal Yellow first divided heaven and earth, when grasses and trees awakened with spirit. A thousand peaks bore excellence, nine apertures contained essence. Born with dragon whiskers to inherit the earth veins, transforming into human form to govern the mountain court. When the roots move, rivers change their course; when the ginseng leaves sway, the stars shift their paths…”
“Revered deity, Dragon Ginseng King: bearing the thick virtue of the Earth element, holding the true form of the Wood element. Your roots pierce the Nine Netherworlds and connect to Yellow Springs; your crown reaches the Purple Star and touches the Jade Purity. Drinking the morning dew to cleanse the miasma of the eight wildernesses, absorbing moonlight to suppress demonic stars across the four seas…”
“Now evil miasma covers the sun, demonic flames burn the forests. Tiger fiends tear the earth, the Serpent Mother devours the clouds. The Stone Dwelling Old Monster steals the lofty demon heart; outsiders boil mountain gods into broth. The three rivers’ spirit springs run dry, the five-colored soil turns foul. Foxes weep among cliffside bones, cranes cry over icy ravines. A hundred beasts lose their dens, a thousand grasses lose their roots…”
“We earnestly pray that the Dragon King unfurl his coiled whiskers to sweep the world, wave ginseng leaves to stabilize heaven and earth. Where the roots arise, split the demon body of the Stone Dwelling Old Monster; where the ginseng fragrance passes, awaken the deluded souls of evils beyond the caves…”
“Let the peachwood of the eastern ridge bloom once more, the spirit springs of the western valley grow warm again. Let crane shadows return to the southern abyss, cloud roots gather on the northern cliffs…”
“We respectfully offer thousand-year He Shou Wu as candles, ten-thousand-year Poria frost as wine. Present three pairs of tiger eyes to forge lightning-like divine vision; offer nine eagle feathers to form demon-slaying blades. We also take the heart’s blood of innocent youths to write this sacrificial scripture of mountains and rivers!”
“We humbly wish that the honored deity unleash the might of creation and exhale the vital breath of ginseng essence. Restore the emerald seas of Thousand Peaks Forest and renew the sun and moon of heaven and earth!”
“With a hundred bows and blood-weeping supplication, we report this.”
Blood sacrifice!
At the instant the sacrificial text ended, countless living offerings were harvested.
Surging vitality, along with the vast divine power provided by many deities, mixed together into an immense torrent that flowed downward into the deeper earth—reaching the earth veins!
After the First Grand Decisive Battle, Dragon Ginseng King had been severely wounded and had hidden within the earth veins to recuperate.
From within the earth veins came faint dragon roars. As the earth energy surged, it even condensed into a vague dragon shape.
This was no ordinary sign.
Dragon Ginseng King had painstakingly cultivated this situation. Using his own blood essence, dragon essence, and an incalculable amount of divine power, he had continuously refined the earth veins until they already displayed the faint form of a dragon.
Once both form and spirit were complete, the vast earth vein beneath Thousand Peaks Forest would ascend into a true dragon vein.
And once Dragon Ginseng King controlled a dragon vein, he would possess the preliminary qualification to establish a cultivation nation.
At this moment, nourished by the immense vitality from the blood sacrifice, his aura surged.
He slowly opened his eyes, a thought rising within his Sea of Consciousness.
“It is time to move.”
Demon Art—Earth Vein Traversal!
Twelve cascades of green vines hung like waterfalls, while the mountain itself spiraled upward. In the swamp below floated vast carpets of luminous fungi, intermingled with fireflies and ghastly green ghost-fires.
This was Coiling Vine Peak.
The once-quiet swamp had now become extraordinarily “lively.”
The ghost-fires blazed high, forming a sea of green flames. Fireflies darted everywhere, countless in number.
The one causing all this disturbance was Gao Cuo.
At this moment he was casting a spell, collecting Firefly Burial Veil buried deep within the swamp mud.
At the bottom of the rotting swamp of Coiling Vine Peak, countless decaying corpses and the dead roots of thousands of green vines had become fertile ground for fireflies to breed and flourish.
Through countless life processes, the fireflies also influenced their environment, unconsciously transforming their living cradle.
A thin veil spread across the surface of millions of rotting corpses, serving as habitat for the fireflies.
This veil marked the boundary between life and death, containing a mysterious Dao rhythm where life and death intertwined.
Large swaths of the veil covered nearly ten mu of land. Almost transparent, under the glow of fireflies it alternated between black and white hues.
Gao Cuo continuously extracted the veil and stored it away.
“Got it!”
“Our strategy was correct. After pretending to be the Stone Dwelling Old Monster, Bi Tengyi indeed did not dare act rashly.”
“Taking away this Firefly Burial Veil is equivalent to stripping the very foundation of Coiling Vine Peak. Yet this Nascent Soul cultivator can only watch helplessly, hiding deep within her lair.”
Gao Cuo felt extremely excited.
This treasure material was extremely important to him. If properly refined, he could disguise himself as a dead object, greatly expanding his survival options and significantly enhancing his combat capability.
“The previous two attempts failed, but this time luck has finally come my way, hahaha,” Gao Cuo laughed happily.
Everything had gone extremely smoothly since he began.
“After extracting this area, we should leave. Leave one or two swamp patches for Bi Tengyi. If we provoke her too much and she strikes in fury, it wouldn’t be worth it,” Sword Elder’s voice reminded him.
Gao Cuo nodded. “Sword Elder, you’re right. That was exactly my thought. There’s no need to wipe everything out and push Bi Tengyi into desperate retaliation…”
Just as they were speaking—
The earth suddenly shook violently!
“What’s going on?!” Gao Cuo was shocked. “Did Bi Tengyi make a move?!”
“No, it’s not her!” Sword Elder immediately denied.
In the next moment, the green vine waterfalls beside him trembled violently, emitting waves of dragon roars.
Powerful dragon aura surged and invaded, transforming the countless vines into vine dragons that lunged toward the stone sphere Gao Cuo had disguised himself as.
Gao Cuo’s heart trembled violently. Maintaining his disguise as the Stone Dwelling Old Monster, he tried to roll into the mountain and escape with an Earth-Travel Technique.
“Don’t! There’s something massive underground!” Sword Elder warned urgently.
Gao Cuo was startled again. Maintaining the disguise spell, he hurriedly flew upward.
But in the next instant, surging earth energy erupted from the swamp. It instantly suppressed the sea of ghost-fire and formed an immensely powerful suction force.
Gao Cuo had already flown into the air, yet he was forcibly dragged down by that force and slammed back onto the ground.
“Who exactly is ambushing—”
Suddenly his eyes widened, his pupils shrinking to needlepoints as they trembled violently.
“Dragon Ginseng King?!!” he cried out in shock.
Never in his wildest dreams had he imagined that the one ambushing him was the strongest existence of Thousand Peaks Forest—the acknowledged leader of its coalition army.
“Dragon Ginseng King!”
“Deity Transformation level?!”
“Specifically here to capture me?”
“Could Bi Tengyi be the Dragon King’s lover?!”
In that instant, Gao Cuo nearly cursed aloud.
This was simply too absurd!
The mighty Dragon Ginseng King ignored the ongoing grand decisive battle and instead paid a huge price to suddenly teleport to Coiling Vine Peak—just to deal with Gao Cuo alone.
“What virtue or ability do I have to deserve this?!!”
If he had known he would receive such treatment, Gao Cuo would never have come to Coiling Vine Peak.
He tried to calm himself.
“Fortunately, I’m disguised as the Stone Dwelling Old Monster…”
The next moment, Dragon Ginseng King transmitted a thought with his divine sense.
“Stone Dwelling Old Monster, you were defeated by my hand in the past, and today will be the same. Even if you have advanced to the Deity Transformation stage, you still have no chance of victory. Surrender now and join me in surrounding and killing Du Tiechuan. I can promise you the position of second-in-command of Thousand Peaks Forest.”
Hearing this, Gao Cuo felt utterly miserable.
Sword Elder was also speechless.
After all that, the one who had drawn the Dragon Ginseng King’s attention was not them, nor Bi Tengyi—but the identity of the “Stone Dwelling Old Monster”!
Gao Cuo wanted to shout:
“Dragon King, you’ve got it wrong! The ‘Stone Dwelling Old Monster’ in front of you is fake, fake!”
But he only dared shout it in his heart.
Even if he were beaten to death, he wouldn’t dare tell the truth.
If he did reveal the truth, the Dragon Ginseng King—who had teleported here for him, ignored the grand battle, sacrificed so much—would discover that the target was just an impostor.
Would a dignified Deity Transformation–level being spare Gao Cuo lightly?
Absolutely impossible.
Spell—Mirage Shadow Seal!
The phantom of a giant mirage clam appeared. As the transformed vine dragons passed through the mirage illusion, they became confused and tangled among themselves, wasting most of their attacks in mutual entanglement.
However, even with Gao Cuo exerting all his strength, he still could not intercept all the vines.
Hundreds of vines were about to pierce through the “stone sphere.”
Sword Elder suddenly made his move.
Sword Art—Thousandfold Piercing of Swords.
Sword qi burst forth, condensing into countless sword tips that struck thousands of times in an instant. The sword tips formed dense barriers, using offense as defense to pierce and annihilate all incoming vines.
Dragon Ginseng King roared in anger.
“You are not the Stone Dwelling Old Monster!”
His roar echoed throughout the entire Giant Tree Mountain.
In just the first exchange of offense and defense, Dragon Ginseng King had already seen through the illusion and discovered the truth.
After all, he had fought the real Stone Dwelling Old Monster before.
Gao Cuo’s face turned pale as paper.
He felt extreme regret and wanted to slap himself several times.
“Why did I disguise myself as the Stone Dwelling Old Monster? Why? Why did I do that?!”
Upon discovering the truth, Dragon Ginseng King roared again.
“A clever scheme! Du Tiechuan has used an excellent stratagem. And you also have great courage—to disregard your own life to carry out such a dangerous mission. Then this deity shall fulfill your wish!!”
“No—no, please don’t…” Gao Cuo cried inwardly. “I wasn’t sent by Du Tiechuan, I really wasn’t!”
Sword Elder shouted, “Little Gao, it’s time to risk everything!”
Gao Cuo snapped back to his senses. His face turned solemn as the pressure of death forced him to abandon all illusions.
“I know, Sword Elder. Possess me!”
In the next moment, Gao Cuo lost control of his body as Sword Elder completely took over.
Sword Art—Star River Shattered Dream!
Sword qi surged in all directions, drawing upon the starlight of the heavens. Each strand of sword qi emitted deep blue starlight, weaving together into a shattered galaxy of sword radiance.
Sword Art—Azure Lotus Transcending Calamity!
The sword qi flowed back and formed countless azure lotus blossoms around Gao Cuo, providing full protection.
One sword art attacked while the other defended. Sword Elder unleashed his combat power to the utmost.
Rumble…
The mountain split apart as Coiling Vine Peak rapidly tilted to one side.
The enormous true body of Dragon Ginseng King burst out from within the mountain. His vast shadow covered a huge stretch of land.
Looking up, Gao Cuo felt as though the entire sky had been eclipsed by Dragon Ginseng King.
Even Sword Elder was momentarily stunned, overwhelmed by the majesty of the Dragon King.