Journey to the West: Cultivation Begins at Jindou Mountain

Chapter 320 Fighting Dryads

The noise outside startled Ning Caichen, who was resting inside. When Ning Caichen stepped out of the room, he saw that the people outside were all looking at him, and Ning Caichen froze instantly.

Ning Caichen looked at the black-robed man he had never seen before and the swordsman with a sword at his waist, and subconsciously moved closer to Yan Chixia, forcing a smile:

"Good morning, Brother Guo and Senior Yan."

These two people look rather dangerous, especially the one in black robes; there's something strange about him.
Ning Caichen then remembered that Master Yan should be a member of the martial arts world, and Brother Guo, as a junior, should also have had many experiences.

"Brother Ning, you're up early."

Niu Yi put down the book in his hand and walked towards Ning Caichen. As Niu Yi approached, Ning Caichen seemed to relax a little and smiled:

"I am grateful for the care and hospitality of Brother Guo and Senior Yan, but I have already disturbed you for a day, so I cannot continue to do so. I must say goodbye to you both and prepare to head to Lanruo Temple."

Niu Yi and Yan Chixia exchanged a glance, and after a moment of contemplation, he said:

"To be honest, Brother Ning, there seemed to be some problems at Lanruo Temple last night. It appears that a monster has appeared. I was just about to go and investigate with Senior Yan."

Upon hearing this, Xiahou Jianke's eyes flashed with surprise. He looked at Yan Chixia with an inquiring look, and then saw Yan Chixia nod slightly.

"Monster?!"

Ning Caichen stared wide-eyed at Niu Yi, never expecting to hear such news.

"Brother Guo, are you joking? How could there really be monsters in this world? At least I have lived for so many years and have never seen one with my own eyes."

Niu Yi shook his head slightly and said:
"Brother Ning, you are mistaken. We martial artists have traveled all over the country and have seen many strange and unusual things. Not to mention monsters, we have even seen ghosts with our own eyes."

"As for whether this monster is real, Brother Ning, if you encounter a monster, whether you can survive is another matter entirely. How could these beings be so easily known to you and me?"

When Niu Yi first came to Blue Star, he was also curious. The area around Lanruo Temple was littered with white bones. So many people had been murdered. How could anyone still go to the vicinity of Lanruo Temple?

Looking back now, it's clear that information was the hardest thing to spread in this era. Not only were outsiders unaware of it, but even people in Jinhua City were equally unaware of it.

In the wilderness, one might occasionally encounter jackals, wolves, tigers, or leopards. Even if someone dies, they would never be seen again, and no news would be sent back after they left. This is perfectly normal.

And how could the tree demon and its minions let go of their prey? Very few people managed to leave Lanruo Temple alive.

The biggest problem is perhaps the lack of information and the absence of publicity.

"This"

Ning Caichen was speechless for a moment, but the thought that there might really be monsters in Lanruo Temple made him a little scared.

Xiahou the swordsman looked at Niu Yi with a strange expression. Wasn't this kid a scholar before? How come he now looks so righteous and calls himself a Jianghu person, and he's completely fooled by this pretty-boy scholar.

Niu Yi laughed:

"Please rest assured, Brother Ning, if there are indeed monsters in that place, Senior Yan and I will definitely eliminate them. When we return, if you wish to go to Lanruo Temple, Brother Ning, I will not stop you."

"However, I would like to ask Brother Ning to stay in this courtyard for a while until this matter is resolved before we set off again."

Ning Caichen hesitated upon hearing this, but still nodded and said:

"In that case, please be careful, Brother Guo and Senior Yan."

The Poison Witch had been listening nearby, and only stepped forward after everyone had finished talking. She approached Niu Yi and lowered her voice, saying:

“My benefactor, do you require me to accompany you on this matter?”

The Daoist Guangyi before him was his hope for survival. Although he couldn't figure out the other man's capabilities, he absolutely couldn't let anything happen to him.

"Don't worry, you can't use your magic right now, so just rest in the courtyard and help me look after this place."

Seeing that Niu Yi seemed very confident, the Poison Witch nodded, told Niu Yi to be careful, and then watched Niu Yi and Yan Chixia leave.

Xiahou the swordsman naturally followed.

As for Xiao Hai, that kid drank two ounces of liquor last night, so he'll probably be sleeping until noon today.

As Yan Chixia, Niu Yi, and Xiahou Jianke stepped out of the courtyard, Yan Chixia looked at Niu Yi, about to say something.

“Senior Yan, when I first came to Jinhua, I almost got into trouble at Lanruo Temple. Now that I have mastered the skills, I am going to settle accounts with them. In addition, my father left me some protective items.”

As Niu Yi spoke, he patted his chest, and Yan Chixia knew that Niu Yi was referring to the Divine Mirror in his arms.

"Since you insist on coming along, I can't refuse. You'll likely encounter similar problems when you're out in the world; things have indeed become increasingly chaotic outside these past few years."

"But remember, you must always be cautious and follow my instructions."

"Alright, please rest assured, senior."

At this moment, Xiahou Jianke, who had already walked ahead, turned around and said:

“I say, Yan Chixia, Brother Guangyi is not young anymore, and I think he is quite shrewd, so you don’t need to worry about him.”

"Let's go, the important thing is to see what kind of monsters we'll encounter this time."

Niu Yi and his two companions traveled on foot, and in no time they arrived at Lanruo Temple.

Looking at the plaque that was the first thing Niu Yi saw when his true spirit awakened in this world, the three characters "Lanruo Temple" no longer seemed so chilling under the sunlight. At night, however, Lanruo Temple would transform into a man-eating, haunted temple.
"Come on, let's go in and take a look."

With Yan Chixia leading the charge, Niu Yi also drew his rusty sword from his waist, and followed behind Yan Chixia on either side of Xiahou the swordsman.

The light of the sun and moon flashed in Niu Yi's eyes, and his perception spread rapidly. He could still sense the faint demonic aura lingering in the area.

The thousand-year-old tree demon has not left; it is still here.

Yan Chixia took out a compass from his cloth bag, forced a drop of blood from his finger onto the compass, and as his hand seals changed and he silently chanted incantations, the compass seemed to be attracted by something and began to spin rapidly.

As Yan Chixia watched the compass in his hand spin continuously without stopping, before he could ponder it further, he heard Niu Yi's voice ring out in his ears.

"Watch out, it's down there!"

As Niu Yi spoke, he leaped forward and left the spot. The other two followed suit, taking off just a moment later!

"boom!!!"

In the blink of an eye, several jet-black tree roots, like swimming dragons, suddenly pierced through the ground where the three of them had just stood, and then split into three, wrapping around Niu Yi and the others.

Niu Yi narrowed his eyes slightly, circulating his magic power in his hand. A golden magic power quickly attached itself to the sword, instantly transforming into dozens of sword shadows bursting with crimson-gold flames that appeared beside Niu Yi, all slashing at the black, thick, and ferocious tree root that was attacking!

"what----"

Just as Yan Chixia and the swordsman Xiahou beside him had repelled the tree roots that were harder than steel, they suddenly heard a shrill roar coming from underground in Lanruo Temple.

At the same time, the tree roots in front of the two of them quickly withdrew and soon retracted back into the tree hole, bringing with them a section of tree root burning with crimson flames.

Yan Chixia and Xiahou looked at each other in bewilderment, only to see Niu Yi leap into the underground pit without hesitation.

"Guangyi!"

Seeing this, Yan Chixia dared not delay and quickly followed, leaping down as well.

On the other side, Niu Yi formed a hand seal, his figure enveloped in a gust of wind, almost invisible, closely following behind the tree root, which burst out of the ground and appeared in a mountain forest together with the tree root.

"It's you!!!"

A strange, furious voice, seemingly both male and female, reached Niu Yi's ears, causing him to turn around and look at the towering, dark locust tree before him.

"Alright! It's you, you brat! I let you leave back then, and now you dare to show your face again! Coming to cause me trouble!!"

"You're asking for it!!!"

The strange sound, accompanied by the rustling of leaves and the whooshing sound of vines dancing through the air, kept mingling in Niu Yi's ears, and terrifying attacks were sweeping towards Niu Yi in a frenzied and overwhelming manner.

Niu Yi used a spell, and his longsword instantly split into hundreds, continuously slashing at the attacking vines!
When Yan Chixia leaped out of the cave, he saw Niu Yi using his sword technique to continuously annihilate the vines.

"This boy"

Yan Chixia was shocked by this scene. He never expected that Niu Yi, who had only been cultivating for a month, would have such abilities.

However, considering that the Guo family father and son had many secrets, he reluctantly accepted it for the time being.

"Guangyi! I'm here to help you!"

Yan Chixia quickly realized that this was not the time to think about such things. He bit his fingertip and quickly drew a blood-red Tai Chi symbol on his palm.

"Heaven and Earth are boundless, borrowing the power of Heaven and Earth!"

"Boom!!"

"what------"

Just as Yan Chixia was about to unleash his Palm Thunder, a deafening roar of thunder suddenly rang in his ears!
Yan Chixia subconsciously looked up and saw Niu Yi wave his hand, and a white lightning bolt suddenly appeared out of thin air and struck the trunk of the thousand-year-old tree demon!

The extremely powerful and intense lightning instantly cleaved a hole in the tree trunk, with bright red burn marks next to it!
The tree demon's anger and fear shook the entire mountain wilderness.

"What kind of lightning magic is that?!"

Niu Yi didn't reply. He formed a hand seal and swung it down at the Tree Demon Granny again!

"You bastard!! I'll remember you, brat!"

"Boom!!!"

Even with numerous vines blocking its path, the thousand-year-old tree demon was once again struck by lightning, almost piercing through the trunk.

However, the tree demon's body quickly became ethereal and disappeared from the spot. At the same time, the tree demon transformed into an old woman with silver comb-shaped jewelry in her hair, looking like a demon. She turned back and gave Niu Yi a vicious look before disappearing completely.

Niu Yi clenched his fist, but ultimately gave up on the idea of ​​giving chase.

The tree demon had been severely injured by his two palm strikes of lightning and dared not appear in front of him again for a short time.

"As expected, my cultivation time was too short and my magical power was too shallow. After controlling two bolts of heavenly lightning, my magical power was already depleted."

(End of this chapter)