Enduring humiliation for three years, seizing the elixir, the treasure, and the holy maiden.

The six legs, which had been pressed almost flat against the stone, slowly but surely straightened up again.

One of them even tilted its flat head back.

Heading in the direction of Su Chen.

He scoffed.

Good guy.

Su Chen stood with his hands behind his back.

These beasts can use the power of the spiritual veins to withstand the pressure of the Void Refinement stage.

They are far more troublesome than those Nascent Soul stage cultivators outside.

No wonder they've managed to survive in this place until today.

"Fellow Daoist, how is it?"

Meng Yuan, standing behind him, asked a question.

The tone of his voice sounded concerned.

Su Chen did not answer.

A thought crossed my mind.

A streak of dark light flew out from between his brows.

The calligraphy brush hung three feet in front of him.

On the pen holder, the marks belonging to Su Chen lit up one by one.

Su Chen raised two fingers and lightly touched the pen holder.

"The judge's stroke of the pen."

The pen tip makes a stroke in the air.

A black character for "slay" appeared out of thin air on the stone beam.

That word is complete.

Suddenly, all the dozen or so demonic beasts on the stone beam exploded.

I don't know what it sensed.

One by one, they opened their mouths and spat out white spiritual pillars in the direction of the character "斩" (cut).

The spirit pillar struck that word.

scoff.

The words haven't scattered.

Instead, it absorbed those spirit pillars one by one.

Su Chen pressed his fingertip down.

A sword aura shot out from the tip of the pen.

Within that sword energy, there was a purplish-black aura of heavenly tribulation.

Wherever it passed, even the void seemed to distort.

Above the stone beam.

At first, there was no sound.

Then, the protective spiritual mist surrounding the two leading demonic beasts exploded simultaneously.

Flesh and blood rolled up.

The two objects were sent flying by the sword energy, crashing heavily against the abyss wall.

A large amount of rubble was knocked down.

Gravel fell into the ravine.

There was no echo.

Su Chen stopped.

The sword energy dissipated.

On the stone beam, only a one-inch-deep ink-black scratch remains.

Meng Yuan stood three zhang behind Su Chen.

He didn't say a word.

He had been gripping the folding fan in his hand tightly, without anyone noticing.

The fan ribs were squeezed, making a soft sound.

This stroke.

Meng Yuan went through it in his mind.

If I were to take it by force...

With a cultivation level at the mid-stage of the Void Refinement realm, the protective spiritual light can only last for about half a breath.

Half a breath later.

The power of that heavenly tribulation would seep into your meridians, causing your soul to scatter.

Even at the late stage of Void Refinement.

They might not be able to withstand it all.

broken.

A direct confrontation is not advisable.

This approach needs to be changed.

"good!"

The seriousness on Meng Yuan's face vanished instantly, replaced by a smile.

He clapped his hands and took two steps forward.

"Fellow Daoist Su's move is truly remarkable!"

"I'll say it now."

"With you here, fellow Daoist, there is hope for this journey."

Su Chen didn't take the bait.

His eyes, however, were fixed on the stone beam.

The two severely injured demonic beasts tumbled down the abyss wall and lay panting beside the stone beam.

Logically, the first thing a monster should do after suffering such a severe injury is to flee.

But these ten or so things.

None of them ran away.

Instead, they retreated three zhang (approximately 10 meters) and huddled together.

He stood with his back to the other side of the bridge, completely blocking his view.

Su Chen's gaze followed the direction they blocked and fell behind him.

Beyond the stone beam, on the cliff face, there is a dark opening.

A passageway.

Spiritual energy flowed out from that opening in streams.

It is denser than anywhere else in this abyss.

Su Chen's lips curled into a slight smile.

That one stroke could have killed all ten-odd beasts.

He didn't.

They spared lives.

See which way they retreat.

Then you'll know where the old tree's entrance is.

Now I understand.

"Fellow Daoist."

Su Chen casually put the pen away.

"Let's cross the bridge."

...

The dozen or so demonic beasts ultimately did not dare to stop them any further.

When Su Chen stepped onto the stone beam, they all moved aside and buried their heads on the stones.

The way they looked was like they were worshipping.

Su Chen walked over slowly.

This not only intimidated the monsters.

Even Meng Yuan was stunned at this moment.

Even demonic beasts know not to oppose the strong.

This time, I've brought a troublesome person with me.

The passageway was darker than the outside.

Patches of spiritual moss grew on the stone wall, emanating a very faint blue spiritual energy.

They walked about a hundred feet.

Suddenly, a bright light appeared ahead.

It wasn't firelight.

It's the kind of white stuff that's soaked in milk.

Su Chen raised his hand to shield his eyes.

When you put your hand down again.

That scene was completely captured in my eyes.

A pool of spiritual water.

Not big.

The area was no more than twenty zhang in circumference.

The water in the pool was so white it almost didn't look like water.

It was so thick it looked like melted ointment.

There wasn't a single ripple on the water's surface.

The spiritual energy rose from the pool, reaching mid-air, then crashed against the rock wall above, dispersing and flowing in all directions.

It flowed into the Spirit River outside.

The source of spiritual energy.

Su Chen stood by the pool, hands behind his back, gazing at it for a long time.

Across from the pool.

A tree.

That tree, its height was impossible to say.

The tree trunk is so thick that it takes more than a dozen people to encircle it.

Countless roots sprouted from under the tree, penetrating the bottom of the pool, the stone walls, and the crevices that flowed with spiritual energy.

The tree canopy droops down, layer upon layer, like dozens of curtains hanging down.

Those curtain-like branches remained motionless.

But Su Chen's divine sense had only approached it by three zhang.

It was forcefully pushed back by something.

What a beautiful tree.

Su Chen withdrew his divine sense.

Cluck cluck...

A crack appeared, running along the grain of the tree.

It does look a bit creepy.

It looks like a mouth no matter how you look at it...

"here we go again."

A voice slowly emerged from the crack.

"I will guard this pool."

"I've kept this up for so many years, I can't even remember how many."

"Come drink from this pool."

"I have killed countless people."

The tree canopy swayed slightly.

A leaf fell into the pond.

There was no sound.

The leaf dissolved as soon as it touched water.

Those who drink from this pool.

"It will damage my very foundation."

Therefore.

"Those who come, shall die!"

It must be said that this ancient tree only opened its mouth once.

The oppressive aura swept over the surroundings.

Even cultivators at the Void Refinement stage felt a sense of unease.

Su Chen stood still.

Meng Yuan, on the other hand, took half a step forward and cupped his hands in greeting.

"Senior."

"I have come here with sincerity."

Upon hearing Meng Yuan's words, Su Chen became interested.

He simply stood aside with his arms crossed, wanting to see how Meng Yuan would continue his performance.

The ancient tree seemed to laugh in anger at those words.

The laughter sounded like an entire forest echoing in the wind.

"Sincerity."

"You little brat."

"The last two times, you brought two cultivators at the Void Refinement stage to feed me."

"This time."

"You got another one?"

"They simply want to seize this opportunity!"

Upon hearing this, Su Chen finally understood what was going on.

Meng Yuan wasn't here to share in any opportunities.

They were clearly using Su as a third whetstone.

Those two Void Refinement cultivators in front.

It's obvious that we've fallen for this guy's trick.

But speaking of which...

A cultivator at the Void Refinement stage?

two?

That's really strange!

How many Void Refinement cultivators are there in the entire lower realm?

There are very few people on both the Black Mountain Continent and the Xuanhuang Continent combined.

Where did these two Void Refinement cultivators come from that Meng Yuan tricked into coming here?

If that's really the case...

That leaves only the Void Refinement cultivators within the Star Luo realm.

...