Ultimately speaking, his own strength was his greatest advantage. So while Sun Zifu had shrunk away and all of his arrogance had deflated, Qin Yu actually didn’t feel any fear at all.

Zhou Fenghuang revealed a look of surprise. She didn’t know if Qin Yu was fearless because he was clueless, or simply didn’t feel fear at all.

But his performance drew a sharp distinction with Sun Zifu’s actions. A bit more appreciation shined in her eyes.

Of course, this appreciation didn’t have any meaning behind it. If she could obtain the wonder stone in Qin Yu’s hand, she didn’t mind personally breaking his neck.

Zuo Lanyue…there was still immense value in recruiting him. Compared to a Blue Sea powerhouse that was over a hundred years old, Zuo Lanyue’s value to the Zhou Family was much higher.

Dong Hanzhu diabolically grinned. He stepped forward, his aura tumbling all around him. Space distorted as if a demon god was descending. His slaughter intent was astonishing.

He raised a great hand and billowing demonic energy rolled out. It twisted into demon heads that reared backwards and howled into the heavens.

Qin Yu was expressionless. He lifted a hand and pointed a finger. At this time, strong winds were whipped up and clouds rolled in the skies.

One finger and the Boundless Blue changes. One finger and the Boundless Blue falls to chaos!

The world seemed to fall silent and space and time seemed to come to a standstill. Time less than a hundredth of a breath long was stretched out to a seemingly infinite period. Then, with loud earth-shaking rumbles, all of the roaring demon heads collapsed and the demonic energy that gushed out into space melted away like frost beneath the sun.

One finger fell, all supernatural arts came to rest!

Dong Hanzhu furrowed his eyebrows. He suppressed the tumbling blood energy in his chest. His eyes started to flush red and there was a strange serenity to his brutality.

But before he could make another move, two figures fell down from the lonely peak.

Xu Guzi loudly called out, “Fellow daoist Dong, please assuage your anger.”

Zuo Lanyue was without expression. But when he looked at Qin Yu, there were several more fluctuations in his eyes. It was unknown just what he was thinking.

Dong Hanzhu looked up. “Xu Guzi, give me a reason not to attack.”

Xu Guzi was silent for a moment. Then he said, “The ancient tree monster has begun to awaken.”

The entire scene fell silent!

On Dong Hanzhu’s face as well as everyone else’s, there was a sudden appearance of shock.

Mu Qingluan paled. “That’s impossible! When the Demon Ascension Gate opens, the ancient tree monster will be suppressed by the entire small world. How could it possibly have woken up!”

Zuo Lanyue lightly said, “Everyone might find this hard to accept, but this is the truth.” He turned and said, “Brother Xu, please take out the evidence so that our fellow daoists here can see for themselves.”

Xu Guzi nodded. He flicked his sleeves and there was a flash of light. A tree root fell to the ground. It was crimson-colored all over and when it came into contact with the earth, it violently awakened and tried to drill deep into the ground.

“Humph!” Xu Guzi stamped his foot and the ground shook, sending the tree root flying back up. The tree root twisted into a person’s face, shrilly screaming at everyone present.

A dull pain stabbed into everyone’s minds. Xu Guzi grasped out a hand and the tree root shattered into pieces in the air. He swept his eyes around, a dignified look on his face. “Everyone here is extraordinary, so before you entered this small world, you should have been given some information related to the ancient tree monster. Do you all think that if it hadn’t awakened and dispatched an avatar to hunt us down, that I would have managed to obtain this tree root?”

Mu Qingluan’s lips moved. She seemed to want to argue back but in the end she didn’t say anything.

Qin Yu instantly thought back to the tree monster he killed. Could that have been an avatar of the ancient tree monster? But what was this ancient tree monster that the mere mention of it caused everyone here to have such a grief-stricken look of despair?

It had to be known that these people could be called some of the most outstanding juniors within the younger generation of the demonic path. Each and every one of them was unfathomably strong. Unless it was a Calamity Immortal realm existence, if these people were to join forces there was nothing they would fear.

Qin Yu’s heart suddenly shrank. Could it be that this ancient tree monster was at the Calamity Immortal realm? His lips moved and he hurriedly sent a sound transmission to Sun Zifu. It was only when he asked again that Sun Zifu suddenly regained his composure, but there was still a dazed look on his face.

From his sound transmission, Qin Yu learned some information about the ancient tree monster.

Simply put, this tree monster was the foundation of the Demon Ascension Gate’s small world.

It was indeed at the Calamity Immortal realm.

A long time ago, almighty beings of the Demonic Path had discovered a crack in the world, one that connected to the completely unknown Demon Region. Although it was impossible for cultivators to pass through, there was actually a massive amount of demonic energy that continuously passed through, leading to the appearance of numerous demon beasts with tyrannical demon blood in their bodies.

And to the Demonic Path, this demon blood was a most precious treasure.

In order to seize control of this world crack, the Immortal Sect and Demonic Path fought for a thousand years. In the end, the Demonic Path used every means at their disposal to create an independent small world and thoroughly take it for themselves.

In the past, when forging this small world, an unsurpassed being of the Demonic Path threw down a tree from beyond. The root system was forced to proliferate and spread out. With the trunk supporting it, the crown lifted up against the vault of the heavens and thoroughly rammed down and solidified the foundation of this small world.

This tree was the ancient tree monster. It came from the extreme northern snowy regions.

The Land of Divinity and Demons was vast and boundless. The Seven Great Empires spread from sea to sea, from sky to sky. But, this wasn’t the full and complete territory of the Land of Divinity and Demons. North, beyond the Qin and Zhao Empires, there was an extremely cold land. Snow fluttered about all year round and the sun rarely made an appearance. There was deep chilling air that wildly wreaked havoc and it wasn’t something that could be resisted without great strength. Even cultivators didn’t dare to easily tread into that land.

This was a region that was completely forgotten by the common people…there, the monster race barely managed to maintain a feeble existence.

The ancient tree monster itself was a Monster Emperor of the monster race. It was hunted down and killed by the Demonic Path almighty being and then suppressed here.

Monster race Great Emperor…

Qin Yu’s heart shook. He took a deep breath before he was able to calm himself.

Fortunately, this Great Emperor had been slain and all that was left over was its remnant body and instincts.

Moreover, its main body was being suppressed by this small world. Even if it regained consciousness, its strength was drastically reduced.

If it weren’t for that, killing them would have been easy. It wouldn’t have allowed them to safely survive until today.

The blood red color in Dong Hanzhu’s eyes faded away. He coldly glared at Qin Yu. “I will forgive momentarily today.” He looked up. “Xu Guzi, you were the one who didn’t hesitate to open the watchstone, so tell us all your plan.”

Xu Guzi had a light expression. “Simple. Today, I gathered you all here today because I hope that with our combined strength, we can hunt down this ancient tree monster!”

Sun Zifu shouted out loud, “How is that even possible!?”

Everyone’s eyes widened. Although they didn’t speak yet, their attitude was clear.

Xu Guzi said, “The ancient tree monster regained consciousness and has blocked the channel used to pass in and out of this small world. As time passes and it gradually adapts to the suppression of this small world, it will grow increasingly strong. Do you think we can wait until the outside world comes to save us?” His eyes were icy cold. “If you don’t want to die, the only option is to take the initiative and kill the ancient tree monster before it kills us. There is no other way!”

Everyone was silent. Then, Zuo Lanyue slowly said, “It is true that the ancient tree monster is terrifying, but in reality, it is nothing but a remnant body. It is also being suppressed by this small world, so its strength cannot even be at a tenth of its past peak state. If we all join forces, we might just have a chance of killing it.

“Of course, this matter involves significant events, so it's normal if you are all hesitating. We are still waiting here for another friend to arrive. Everyone, please think things over tonight. It’s not too late to make a decision tomorrow.”

Xu Guzi nodded. Not saying anything else, he headed toward the mountain summit with Zuo Lanyue.

Beside Mu Qingluan, that sword-wielding youth was whispering into her ear, as if comforting her.

Her complexion became a bit better. She nodded and the two of them turned and left.

Although they had travelled here as a group, that was only as a means to protect themselves from danger; they weren’t really close to each other. Now that they had arrived somewhere that was temporarily safer, people began to split up among friends and strangers.

Dong Hanzhu glanced at Qin Yu and walked away.

Zhou Fenghuang said in a low voice, “Brother Dong, please wait a moment. I am going to go over and say my greetings first.”

Dong Hanzhu didn’t turn his head. He waved his hand and soon vanished from sight.

Sun Zifu relaxed. He immediately had an awkward expression. He self-mockingly said, “I showed Miss Zhou my foolish side.”

Zhou Fenghuang had a gentle appearance. “A wise man knows when to submit to circumstances. If Brother Sun can adapt to the situation, those are the actions of a true man. There is no need to care about it too much.”

This attitude caused Sun Zifu’s heart to warm, a sudden sense of closeness swelling up in him.

That was Dong Hangzhu! Hell, what idiot would dare to provoke him? At least he wasn’t that brave.

This lady from the Zhou Family is such a good person. She truly understands my heart…

Zhou Fenghuang smiled. “Alright. It was merely a misunderstanding. In the future we can find an opportunity to resolve it and that will be it.” Her eyes flashed. “Brother Sun, I have some words I would like to speak to you in private. Would you be willing?”

Sun Zifu hesitated for a moment. He looked over.

Qin Yu said, “Fellow daoist Sun, don’t forget that there is an agreement between you and I.”

He turned and walked away.