After leaving for more than half a step, Du Qian fled all the way and arrived at the place where the Iron Tree Immortal was at a speed far exceeding Xu Xian's.

It was a beautiful valley, surrounded by lush green mountains and green waters. On the cliff where clear springs flowed, there was a cave dotted with vines, and inside was the residence of the Iron Tree Fairy.

Du Qian stepped into the cave and went deeper. Wherever he looked, he saw vines climbing the rocks, with flowers blooming on them, emitting a lingering fragrance.

Du Qian looked at the fluorescent flowers and smelled the lingering fragrance. He couldn't help but mutter, "It's quite romantic..."

At this moment, the vines on the surrounding rock walls began to creep quietly, surrounding Du Qian in the center from all directions, and then -

"call out--"

Accompanied by the sound of whistling through the air, dozens of vines shot out from all directions.

Du Qian glanced sideways, drew out his sword with his right hand like lightning, and calmly pointed it to his side.

“Hua La La—”

The sound of waves like the sound of waves in the blue sea rang out in the empty cave.

An extremely broad silver river burst out from the void, like the Milky Way falling from the sky, surrounding Du Qian's body.

Amid the surging waves, the shadow of the Milky Way surged in, easily crushing the vines that were shooting from all directions into powder.

This is the immortal sword technique that Du Qian is most proficient in at present - the Styx Sword Technique!

“Rustle…”

After just one exchange of blows, the broken vines shrank back into the rock wall and squirmed in the corners of the walls and ceiling.

Du Qian held a long sword in his hand, surrounded by the phantoms of silver rivers, and looked indifferently at the deeper cave ahead.

"Iron Tree Fairy, is this your way of entertaining guests?"

“…”

The being deep in the cave was silent for a moment, then asked, "Who are you, and why did you break into my cave?"

"Haha, who am I? You'll know when you see this token..."

Du Qian smiled slightly, took out a token and threw it forward.

The jade token drew a parabola in the air and was about to fall to the ground when a vine suddenly sprang out, caught the token in time, and then rolled up the token and retracted deeper into the cave.

Seeing this scene, Du Qian dispersed the virtual shadow of the Milky Way around him, sheathed his sword, and waited calmly.

Seeing his goodwill, the vines wriggling around him also calmed down and lay quietly in the corners or on the rock walls.

Not long after, a sigh with a very complicated tone was heard from the cave.

"I see……"

Along with a sigh, the vine stretched out from deeper into the cave, with the token wrapped around the tip, and reached in front of Du Qian.

Du Qian took the token, put it into his personal space, and then said with a smile: "Fellow Daoist, won't you invite me in?"

The voice in the cave was silent for a while, and suddenly it controlled all the vines to retract, and said in a complicated tone: "Please come in..."

Du Qian nodded, then took a step forward and followed the vine into the deeper part of the cave.

After a while, Du Qian reached the end, and the view in front of him suddenly became clear. A cave with a wide space and beautiful scenery appeared in his eyes.

In the huge cave, an extremely tall and sturdy iron tree stands in the center of the cave. Its thick roots are deeply embedded in the rock strata, and the root system covers every inch of the cave.

All the rock walls are covered with a strange vine with small fluorescent flowers blooming on it.

Although the fluorescence was not bright, there were too many of them and they piled up layer by layer like a sky full of stars, illuminating the entire cave.

Du Qian looked at the wonders in the cave with great interest, and then turned his gaze to the only iron tree in the center of the cave that had not bloomed.

He noticed that many of the iron tree's roots had protruded from the ground, intertwining like vines to form an egg-shaped oval arch.

Du Qian's eyes were shining with golden light. Through the thick iron tree roots, he could vaguely see two stone tablets wrapped by the roots, as well as the unclear words "my wife" on the left stone tablet...

At this moment, a figure appeared in Du Qian's eyes and stood in front of the two stone tablets.

Du Qian was stunned and looked up, only to see a white-haired old man standing in front of the oval bulge, holding an iron tree cane, looking sternly at Du Qian, whose eyes were shining with golden light.

Sensing the hostility in the white-haired old man's eyes, Du Qian blinked and said a little embarrassedly: "Sorry, sorry, I didn't mean to pry into your privacy..."

"snort!"

The white-haired old man snorted, paused his cane, and said calmly: "Tell me, what do you want from me?"

At this point, the white-haired old man paused and asked hesitantly, "Is it...was it that immortal who sent you here?" Du Qian shrugged and said with a smile, "I really want to say yes, but after all, you have met that immortal, so you should know his temper."

"What a coincidence! What I'm going to do doesn't suit the temperament of that immortal. If I use his name, you will definitely see through me, and it will be unpleasant if something happens!"

"So, I won't hide it from you and will just get straight to the point..."

Du Qian paused for a moment, then said in a serious tone, "I want your Iron Tree Fruit and Iron Tree Flower."

The white-haired old man's eyes moved slightly. After a moment of silence, he turned around with his cane, and said to Du Qian with his back to him, "Since you are here for the iron tree flower, please forgive me for being unable to help you. You should choose another wise one!"

Du Qian smiled and said, "Don't worry, I haven't finished yet!"

The white-haired old man stopped and tilted his head slightly, indicating that he was all ears.

Du Qian smiled and said, "To be honest, I am just a pioneer. The one who really asked for the Iron Tree Fruit and Iron Tree Flower was not me, but a mortal who fell in love with a monster."

“…”

After hearing Du Qian's last words, the white-haired old man's hand holding the cane trembled slightly.

Du Qian noticed this and said with a smile: "How about it, it sounds familiar, right?"

"Coincidentally, I also heard another story about a human and a demon falling in love from an elder."

"It is said that a long time ago, there was an iron tree. It was gifted with intelligence, practiced diligently, and had good luck, so it quickly became a spirit. But when it transformed into a human form and traveled around the world, it suddenly fell in love with a mortal woman."

"The Iron Tree Demon had previously practiced alone and had never known what love was, so he could be indifferent to loneliness and practice with peace of mind."

"But when he came to the human world and experienced the seven emotions and six desires, he could no longer endure the boredom of cultivation. Naturally, he soon fell in love with the mortal woman, married her and had children..."

"But one day, a great immortal passed by this place and discovered the Iron Tree Monster."

"The immortal felt that it was not easy for the iron tree to become a spirit and that it was difficult to practice, so he kindly enlightened him and said that as long as he bloomed once more, he would be able to ascend to heaven."

"The Iron Tree Demon wanted to become an immortal, but he couldn't let go of his beloved wife and son, so he fell into great pain."

"This pain was a necessary calamity for the Iron Tree Demon on his way to becoming an immortal. He should have gotten through it by himself, but what he didn't expect was... no, even that powerful immortal didn't expect that the Iron Tree Demon's wife saw her husband in so much pain that she actually jumped into the lake with her son in her arms on a rainy night in order to help him."

At this point, Du Qian turned his gaze to the oval protrusion and whispered, "Afterwards, the Iron Tree Demon was heartbroken. In order to atone for his sins to his family, he has been guarding the graves of his wife and children in a dark cave ever since, vowing never to bloom again!"

"What a sad story..."

Du Qian sighed, then looked at the back of the white-haired old man and said softly, "I learned my story from that immortal, so it is a little brief, but fellow Taoist should have a more detailed story, right?"

“…”

The white-haired old man sighed, turned his back to Du Qian, and looked at the two tombstones wrapped by roots. He said softly: "Since you have learned everything from the immortal, why do you still embarrass me?"

Du Qian shook his head: "You are wrong, my friend. I am not making things difficult for you. The one who is really making things difficult for you is you!"

"In this story, the immortal was kind enough to enlighten the younger generation, which was not wrong. The iron tree demon wanted to become an immortal, which was also not wrong. The wife wanted to help her husband, and although her actions were a bit reckless, how could the iron tree demon have the heart to blame her."

"It is precisely because it is difficult to judge right from wrong for everyone in this story that the Iron Tree Demon puts all the blame on himself."

Du Qian looked at the white-haired old man calmly and said, "You are punishing yourself... But have you ever thought that everyone in the story is working hard to help the Iron Tree Demon become an immortal? Are you worthy of the immortal's guidance, the sacrifice of your wife and children, and yourself for the past thousand years of hard work?"

Hearing Du Qian's words, the white-haired old man slowly turned around and said calmly: "I have heard what you said from several old friends over the years, but... it's not that easy to let go."

"Fellow Daoist, please leave now. Don't waste your breath on me..."

Is it really not possible?

Du Qian sighed, feeling somewhat disappointed that his empty talk had failed to accomplish anything.

But then, he cheered up again, looked at the white-haired old man and said with a smile: "Don't worry, I just said it below, I am just a pioneer, the one who really wants to ask you for the iron tree flower is a mortal who fell in love with a monster."

"He will be here soon. If you have any hesitation, you may as well be more patient. It won't be too late to make a decision after he arrives!"

“…”

The white-haired old man fell silent. After a long while, he said softly, "Then... I will wait a little longer."

Sure enough, what dad said was right, we have to use magic to fight magic.

If you want to convince a stubborn love-brain, you have to get another love-brain to do the trick.

The Iron Tree Demon has guarded the tomb of his wife and children for hundreds of years and will never be easily shaken by words. Only a human-demon love affair, and a mortal with the opposite stance to his, can arouse his interest.

Du Qian smiled and said, "It's too boring to just wait. If you are interested, why don't you cooperate with me and put on a show in front of that mortal?"

The white-haired old man was silent for a moment, then asked, "How do you want me to cooperate?"