Inside the Blood Corpse Cave, silence reigned.
A large tree stood in the center, its branches full of leaves, and on its trunk hung a fruit resembling a Golden Core, shaped like a human with arms and legs, and a terrified human face on top.
In just a few breaths, Zhou Qing had turned into a tree-man.
Nine blood-colored flying swords fell to the ground.
If he were at his peak, he might have been able to expel the pill from his body. But now, with his life force nearly extinguished and a desperate desire for longevity, he didn't consider the risks and instead absorbed the medicinal power with all his might.
He had pursued immortality his entire life, taking great risks for the Longevity Pill, and now, he had finally achieved his wish!
He had become a tree and no longer needed to worry about his lifespan.
As long as no one cut him down, he could live as long as he wanted.
Eventually, Zhou Qing stopped thinking altogether.
Xu Hei hovered in front of Zhou Qing, his eyes wide, his mind buzzing, completely stunned.
This late Core Formation ancestor had turned into a tree right before his eyes!
Even witnessing it firsthand, Xu Hei still found it hard to believe.
But now wasn't the time to be in a daze. Xu Hei took out a thousand-year-old Spirit Medicine, bit off a corner of a leaf, swallowed it in one gulp, and used the Demon God Cauldron to refine it.
The surging Spiritual Power quickly filled his body, allowing Xu Hei to recover at the fastest speed.
This was a star-shaped leaf with eight corners, each capable of providing a massive amount of Spiritual Power, making it one of the relatively common Spirit Medicines Xu Hei had collected.
Of course, "common" was relative here, as every Spirit Medicine he gathered was extremely rare and priceless. Xu Hei wouldn't consume them unless it was a critical moment.
A corner of the leaf entered the Demon God Cauldron, rapidly refining into pure Spiritual Qi, filling his body and restoring about thirty percent of his strength.
In the perilous Blood Corpse Cave, Xu Hei couldn't afford to let his True Qi run dry.
"Even if you've turned into a tree, I must eradicate you completely!"
Xu Hei summoned the Black Dragon Pagoda, and with a thought, he directed it to crash into the tree.
The earth and sky resounded with a thunderous noise as the pagoda's tip struck the tree's trunk.
The tree that Zhou Qing had become shuddered violently, leaves rustling down, and the trunk was dented, with the Golden Core-like fruit knocked away.
Xu Hei's newly recovered True Qi was once again depleted.
He stared intently, his eyes widening.
Xu Hei found it hard to believe. At this moment, the tree's trunk had a dent and was slightly tilted, but overall, it wasn't significantly damaged.
At this rate, unless Xu Hei could continuously strike it a dozen times, he might not be able to break it completely.
With Xu Hei's current cultivation level, it was like a fool's dream.
"A late Core Formation cultivator is so difficult to deal with. Even standing still, I can't do anything to him," Xu Hei's face darkened as he had to admit the gap between them.
He put away the Black Dragon Pagoda, his eyes flashing as he sent a puppet forward to retrieve the Storage Bag from the dent.
It was Zhou Qing's Storage Bag.
He also picked up the nine blood-colored flying swords from the ground, storing them in the Void Stone.
Each of these nine flying swords was extraordinary, at least top-tier third-grade Magical Treasures, and together they could form an extremely terrifying sword formation.
The Mountain-Covering Mud was instantly obliterated, not even leaving a trace, showcasing its power.
The blood-colored armor was still on him, but without Spiritual Power to activate it, it had lost its luster.
Xu Hei didn't let it go either, fiddling with it for a while before stripping it off. The armor shrank into a palm-sized bead, hovering in front of him.
A sound of wind breaking came from afar.
A woman with butterfly wings on her back flew swiftly, hovering in the air, staring blankly at Xu Hei in the distance, and... the tree that Zhou Qing had become.
This woman was Zhou Wendie, who had rushed over.
From afar, she had sensed the battle fluctuations from this side. To avoid being caught up in it or being captured by Xu Hei as a hostage, she deliberately waited for a while. Only when the battle's aftermath completely dissipated did she come to investigate the situation.
When Zhou Wendie's gaze swept over the ten-meter-tall tree, her mind buzzed as if struck by lightning, leaving her dumbfounded.
Especially at this moment, Xu Hei was manipulating a puppet, fiddling with the tree trunk, removing a blood-colored armor.
This scene was like a thunderbolt, shocking Zhou Wendie to her core, as if she had seen a ghost.
Being a very intelligent person, the scene before her quickly played out in her mind, and she immediately pieced together most of the situation.
"That's the ancestor's Blood God Armor, and that face is the ancestor's face... This snake is still alive... Could it be..."
Zhou Wendie felt her scalp tingle with just a bit of imagination.
Had Xu Hei actually taken down the late Core Formation second ancestor?
Although it seemed impossible for someone at the Foundation Establishment Stage to accomplish this, the evidence was right in front of her!
The second ancestor, Zhou Qing, was dead, and Xu Hei was still alive and well!
"How is this possible? How did this happen? How did he do it?"
Zhou Wendie trembled violently.
Seeing her appear, Xu Hei's gaze turned cold, and he took out a Metal Puppet.
Without a word, he casually inserted a Golden Core into the puppet's abdominal cavity.
This Golden Core belonged to Tie Xiong.
With the Golden Core inside, the ancient Metal Puppet activated, its eyes glowing with a ghostly light. Xu Hei grabbed the puppet with his tail, swung it around twice, and hurled it with all his might toward Zhou Wendie.
The puppet tore through the sky, its eyes shooting out cold beams, its fists raised, and its feet spewing a hot air stream, charging straight at Zhou Wendie.
Zhou Wendie hesitated no longer, her wings fluttering as she fled at full speed. Being naturally cautious, she knew that facing such a strange demon, which had even taken down the second ancestor, would be suicidal.
Initially, she had considered testing to see how much strength her opponent had left.
But when the opponent casually sent a Core Formation stage puppet to attack, Zhou Wendie immediately abandoned the idea of testing. Who knew what other tricks the opponent had?
At this moment, with the Golden Core installed, the Metal Puppet had lost control, but it instinctively pursued the nearest target, which was the woman before it.
Flames spewed from its back, doubling its speed, just like when it had pursued Zhou Wenjun, now chasing after Zhou Wendie.
Xu Hei pretended to chase for a while, shouting from behind, "Little wench, why are you running? If you have the guts, fight me!"
These words only made Zhou Wendie run faster, as if she had activated some kind of Magical Artifact, turning into a purple meteor and disappearing without a trace.
Seeing this, Xu Hei breathed a sigh of relief and retraced his steps.
He was already exhausted, and earlier he had just been putting on a show. The Metal Puppet was his last resort.
If Zhou Wendie had decided to fight him to the death, Xu Hei wouldn't have known what to do. Despite her being only at the Foundation Establishment Stage, such a Chosen had plenty of lethal moves.
Xu Hei could only strike first, creating the illusion that he was unafraid, scaring her away.
The opponent was also extremely cautious, unwilling to take any risks, which is why she fell into the trap.
However, Xu Hei did have one more trump card he hadn't used.
It was the Demon Mirror left behind by Hei Huang.