The two of them looked at each other and saw some urgency in each other’s eyes. Li Tianyan couldn’t help but laugh and raised his hand to scratch the tip of his nose. “Let’s go.”

“Well, let’s go quickly,” Cheng Qi urged. The little shuanger wriggled free from Li Tianyan’s arms and struggled to stand up.

Arriving at the entrance of the valley again, Li Tianyan took another look at the location of the flower demon’s true form, then asked Cheng Qi, “Can you handle this on your own?”

“Yes,” Cheng Qi nodded. “I’ll stay close.”

After hearing his response, Li Tianyan wasted no time. With one palm, he opened the entrance to the illusion, and they instantly entered the valley.

After two months of investigation, Li Tianyan knew the valley well. This time, he didn’t proceed cautiously. As soon as they entered, he swiftly flew toward the flower demon.

The flower demon noticed them the moment they stepped into the valley. Remembering its previous lesson, it had been lurking and waiting instead of rushing out. When they reached the deeper part of the valley, hundreds of tree roots suddenly protruded from the ground, surrounding them.

Li Tianyan and Cheng Qi reacted swiftly. Their flying swords did not pause; one activated divine fire to carve out a path while the other unleashed yin fire to attack the tree roots closing in.

The flames from the divine fire were just enough to restrain the flower demon. When Li Tianyan invoked them, they were more than ten times stronger than those used by Xie Haocui. The flower demon recoiled in fear as the flames approached, dodging repeatedly. The flames seemed to burn not just its roots, but its very soul.

After Cheng Qi reached the Foundation Establishment, his Yin Fire surpassed anything from his Qi condensation period. At his command, the flames split into dozens of strands and surged toward different tree roots. Each strand turned the roots into soft cotton, swiftly eroding them with purple fire.

The flower demon’s broken branches struggled to keep pace with the flames; several times, the fire nearly reached the flower demon itself along its roots.

Meanwhile, as they battled the flower demon, they advanced steadily. The flower demon quickly discerned their objective and launched a frenzied attack, trying to intercept them.

Tree roots began sprouting in increasing numbers, attacking from almost every direction. Cheng Qi’s face paled slightly, but he continued to channel his energy without slowing down, though he was clearly stretched thin.

Seeing the imminent danger of being overwhelmed by the tree roots, Li Tianyan raised the Divine Fire Chisel, concentrating his true spiritual energy into the magic weapon. The chisel burst into flames in mid-air, surging in layers like ocean waves.

The surrounding tree roots either recoiled or burned under the flames, allowing Li Tianyan and Cheng Qi to break free from the encirclement. The constant activation of the Divine Fire Chisel had depleted most of Li Tianyan’s true spiritual energy. In that critical moment, he drew energy directly from his Dantian.

Not wanting to give the flower demon a chance to recover, Li Tianyan pushed his flying sword faster using his spiritual energy. Cheng Qi followed closely behind, though with greater effort.

The true form of the flower demon was almost separate from the Thousand-Faced Man-Eating Tree, connected only by a slender stem buried underground. The tree itself grew aggressively, adorned with flower buds resembling ghostly faces.

Yet, these appearances could be deceptive. Some forms transformed into harmless flowers or even weeds, entirely depending on the man-eating tree’s whims.

Even if the tree body was destroyed, as long as its true form remained intact, a new body would sprout swiftly. Cultivators unfamiliar with the Thousand-Faced Man-Eating Tree’s nature often fell prey to its illusions upon entering its domain.

Li Tianyan discovered an inconspicuous little yellow flower hidden under the leaves, just as the real man-eating tree noticed him. It immediately sprayed a mouthful of pollen at them. Li Tianyan swiftly gathered his spiritual energy into a transparent shield, covering both himself and Cheng Qi. Sacrificing the Soul-Destroying Bell, he ensnared the true body of the man-eating tree inside the copper bell.

As soon as the man-eating tree was sucked into the Soul-Destroying Bell, it devoured its spiritual consciousness in one bite. With the death of the flower demon, the roots that had aimed to kill them fell limp and rapidly decayed, returning to the earth.

A group of spiritual lights hiding near the Thousand-Faced Man-Eating Tree witnessed the flower demon’s demise. Horrified, they swallowed nervously and attempted to retreat underground.

Li Tianyan, determined not to let it escape, unleashed his mental power to capture and ensnare them.

“Nooooo, don’t catch me! I don’t want my consciousness to be wiped out! I don’t want to be devoured! Wuwuwu, don’t!”

The Spirit of Earthly Essence realized it couldn’t escape and burst into tears, though its voice was inaudible, causing discomfort in Li Tianyan and Cheng Qi’s consciousness.

Hearing the Spirit of Earthly Essence’s pitiful cries, Cheng Qi felt an inexplicable familiarity and couldn’t help but feel a twinge of sympathy.

Seeing it being drawn into Li Tianyan’s sea of consciousness, Cheng Qi hesitated but didn’t voice his thoughts aloud. He silently acknowledged in his heart that the Spirit of Earthly Essence was crucial to Li Tianyan, and he couldn’t allow it to slip away.

Once Li Tianyan captured the Spirit of Earthly Essence, he immediately sat down to meditate on the spot, preparing to integrate it into his Dantian using the Five Elements Yin and Yang technique. Observing this, Cheng Qi also sat down beside him, assisting in maintaining vigilance and ensuring he wouldn’t be disturbed.

“Please, let me go. I don’t want to revert to being soulless earth. That’s not the entirety of who I am. Wuwuwu.”

“It had taken a lot of effort for me to gain intelligence. I just wanted to stay in this pure land. You go find another Spirit of Earthly Essence, we are not suitable, wuwuwu.”

The Spirit of Earthly Essence’s cry never stopped, but after being taken away by Li Tianyan, he was the only one who could hear it. Li Tianyan frowned at the noise. This was the first time he had encountered such a spiritual creature that could cry. He felt helpless for a moment and could only try his best to ignore the voice in his sea of consciousness.

Note

Another foreshadow about Cheng Qi’s past life