"Look! Something seems to have happened over at the Fire Tree Forest!"
The enraged old tree turned its branches fiery red, reflecting the entire sky, and the other adventurers in the Fusang Secret Realm naturally saw this scene as well.
Strange phenomena appearing in the secret realm indicate either a fortuitous encounter or a calamity.
Since the calamity isn't mine to deal with, and if there's an opportunity to seize it, of course I should go and take a look.
Of course, if you're unlucky, you might not get any opportunities, but you could become one of the lucky ones chosen by misfortune.
For example, some people in this group would rush over as soon as they saw the sky filled with red light.
Liu Yunqing and Qiu Zhengping, who were struggling to stay afloat while caught in the branches, hadn't even figured out what was going on when their divine senses detected a large group of people rushing towards them.
"Don't come any closer! It's dangerous!"
Realizing that it was the two of them who had angered the old tree, Liu Yunqing, while forming hand seals to fight against the old tree, also channeled spiritual energy into her voice, kindly reminding those people.
However, trust between unfamiliar cultivators is almost non-existent, and no one listens to Liu Yunqing's words.
The more she tried to persuade them, the more those eager to seize the treasure felt that she wanted to keep it all for herself.
Besides, she was just a Foundation Establishment cultivator. If she could withstand it, what danger could there be inside?
Thinking this way, those people ran even faster.
Liu Yunqing only gave one reminder before withdrawing all her attention. Those who still wanted to die were simply destined to die.
As the old tree turned completely crimson, the temperature of the surrounding air exceeded normal scorching levels.
Those cultivators who ignored all advice and rushed to the front were caught by the flames as soon as they entered the fire forest. By the time they realized what was happening and tried to retreat, it was too late.
"Hahaha! Greedy and foolish humans!"
The old tree split off one half of its branches to deal with Liu Yunqing and Qiu Zhengping, while the other half devoured the cultivators who rushed up.
At first, some people reacted quickly and managed to break free, but gradually everyone realized something was wrong.
"Run! The Fire Tree's power is increasing!"
"Hahaha! Come and become my fuel!"
Hearing the cultivators' screams, the branches of the fire tree danced even more wildly and unrestrainedly.
At this moment, those cultivators who were engulfed in the flames and whose lives began to ebb away realized that the red-clad female cultivator's advice was true, but unfortunately, they no longer had a chance to escape.
Moreover, the pressure on Liu Yunqing and his companion, who were fighting against the Fire Tree, suddenly increased.
Fortunately, those who came later saw that the situation ahead was not good, so they slowed down and dared not rush closer.
Even so, the Fire Tree, whose strength had greatly increased after devouring cultivators, still managed to injure many more people by sending out a shower of sparks from a single branch.
Moreover, those sparks that landed on people did not go out or fall off; they stuck to people and burned, and soon the cultivators with lower cultivation levels were wailing in agony.
Liu Yunqing was already under considerable pressure and didn't want to get involved with those people, but if they died, the power of the Fire Tree would become even stronger, and she and Qiu Zhengping would have little chance of fighting back.
Thinking of this, Liu Yunqing gave Qiu Zhengping a wink, and quickly made hand seals, transforming fire spiritual power into countless ropes to bind the branches of the fire tree.
As Qiu Zhengping swung his hammer, using his golden spiritual power to smash the branch, Liu Yunqing once again channeled his spiritual power into his voice and said:
"Those who wish to live, seal your spiritual power and extinguish the fire."
Upon hearing Liu Yunqing's words, Huoshu was momentarily flustered, then laughed wildly again:
"Ha! Greedy and cowardly humans, do you think they'll listen to you?"
Yes, the fire of the Fire Tree never goes out because it burns along with spiritual energy. As long as the spiritual energy circulates in that person's body, the fire will not go out until they are burned to death.
So sealing one's spiritual power to extinguish a fire is indeed a simple and effective method, but would anyone dare to do it?
At first, no one dared to do it, but most people knew how to choose between dying immediately and being killed by others after temporarily losing their spiritual power.
Once there was a first one, there was a second, and most of the people who were eventually affected survived.
The Fire Tree, enraged by its failure to absorb power, vented its fury on Liu Yunqing and his companion.
Previously, in order to buy time and absorb enough power, it had held back somewhat against the two of them.
Now that absorbing power is hopeless, and with one of these two possessing a unique fire elemental root and the other a metal elemental root that specifically counters plants, it dares not restrain itself any longer.
"Whoosh—"
The fiery tree suddenly shot up, stretching upwards, and the surrounding saplings were instantly sucked in and turned to ashes.
With a flick of the raised branch, two fiery waves, like waterfalls, shot straight toward the two men.
Liu Yunqing and the other exchanged a glance, then led their respective fiery waterfalls to scatter to the sides, intending to defeat them one by one.
Qiu Zhengping's fighting style was simple and brutal. He just swung his hammer and went for it, hammering away with golden spiritual power. The fire tree was on high alert and had no time to mock the humans. It even occasionally couldn't pay attention to Liu Yunqing.
Until it felt its own power flow suddenly increase, and the movement did not come from the hammer.
What did you do to me?
Huoshu barely managed to shake off Qiu Zhengping and focused his attention on Liu Yunqing, only to see the latter smile brightly and say:
"It's nothing, just seeing if your clingy temper will stick to you."
As Liu Yunqing spoke, his hand gesture changed, and the fire that had disappeared from the fire tree now hovered above Liu Yunqing's palm like a giant dragon.
Sensing the power of the fire dragon, the fire tree absorbed the power of smaller trees further away in an attempt to fight against the fire dragon.
But in the next instant, the Fire Tree sensed its own presence on the giant dragon and immediately regained its arrogant demeanor, shouting:
"Hahaha, foolish, trying to use my fire against me?"
As he spoke, without even waiting for Liu Yunqing to attack, he used a branch to actively coil around the fire dragon, intending to absorb it back into his own power.
Liu Yunqing didn't stop him; her pale face even showed a hint of relief.
Only his left hand, which hung at his side, moved slightly.
The next instant, the fire dragon that had been retracted by the fire tree stuck to the branches and trunk of the fire tree like glutinous rice paste.
The previously arrogant and triumphant fire tree suddenly emitted a miserable "sizzling" sound, as if the old tree was burning oil.
"You're lying to me? This isn't my fire at all!"
Huoshu could no longer care about Qiu Zhengping; he was focused on fighting off the sticky, unshakeable flames.
This used to be its trump card. Relying on this characteristic, it devoured countless cultivators in this secret realm and secured a place for itself.
Now, however, he never imagined that he would perish in the inferno he was so proud of.
As the fire tree struggled, the flames that originally belonged to it began to extinguish, and he quickly made hand seals to add more energy to the flames.
Huoshu was right. This was not entirely Huoshu's fire, but rather an upgraded version of sticky fire that Liu Yunqing had collected into his space and modified.
Although it shares the same origin as the fire of the Fire Tree, the quality of its fire is far superior.
At first, Liu Yunqing didn't know if this method would work, but when she saw that the fire could stick to people and burn, she had an idea.
If her fire could also stick and burn, how much more lethal would each arrow she shot be?
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com