"This is a divine wood reborn; you must treat it with care."
Xu Yi looked at the green seedling, less than a finger's length, in her hand, her eyes filled with emotion.
Speaking of which, the appearance of this seedling was truly a coincidence.
She had been struck by a tribulation lightning down to the bottom of a pit, and coincidentally, there was a root of a divine wood beneath her.
She was in a daze from the tribulation lightning power within her body. She bit down on the divine wood's root, and unexpectedly, part of the tribulation lightning power in her body was transferred to the divine wood.
The tree demon had unfortunately perished due to failing its tribulation. However, as a thousand-year-old tree demon, its vitality was extremely tenacious, and a last wisp of life force remained in its roots.
And the tribulation lightning power that Xu Yi had inadvertently transferred had become the catalyst to spur that wisp of life force.
Lying in the pit, Xu Yi watched as a new sprout emerged from the deepest part of the divine wood's root.
It was only then that Xu Yi took the action of damaging the divine wood and digging out the new sprout.
"This is really... this is really a divine wood?"
Zhan Fei's voice trembled, filled with disbelief.
One must know that the divine wood was a deadwood left from a thousand years ago, and it had also endured lightning strikes and fire. It had long lost its vitality, and even if it were used to refine magical artifacts, it would be the lowest grade material.
Before Xu Yi triggered the fortuitous encounter, he had always thought that the enlightenment received by his ancestor from the divine wood was just a legend.
But then, one day, someone suddenly appeared, holding a seedling of an unidentifiable species and claiming it was the divine wood. How could he accept this so quickly?
Seeing his disbelief, Xu Yi simply recounted the divine wood's past and the process of this seedling's birth.
"The divine wood was actually a thousand-year-old tree demon!" Zhan Fei exclaimed, then realized something was amiss. "Fellow Daoist Xu, how did you come to know about this?"
"Ahem, my ancestor's handbook had recorded it. I didn't expect to see a tree demon again in your territory." Xu Yi's gaze flickered slightly, but the people of the Fire Talisman Sect, engrossed in their excitement, did not notice.
Zhan Fei carefully took the seedling from Xu Yi's hand, exchanged a few polite words with her, and prepared to leave with the seedling.
He had already thought it through. He would plant the descendant of this divine wood in the place with the most abundant spiritual energy in their Fire Talisman Sect, and then have Little Stream personally tend to it.
After a thousand years, this seedling would undoubtedly also become a tree demon, protecting the Fire Talisman Sect.
"Sect Leader Zhan, wait a moment."
Jing Qiu, who had been ignored for a long time, called out to Zhan Fei in a cold voice. Now that everyone was present, she was determined to get an explanation for the Bright Moon Pavilion.
Zhan Fei stopped in his tracks. He wanted to say something, but seeing Jing Qiu's displeased expression, he quickly threw a few defensive formations around the seedling, fearing it might be accidentally harmed later.
"Sect Leader Jing Qiu, if you have anything to say, please speak directly."
"Very well. My purpose for coming today is to ask Elder Xu Yi of your sect a question, and I hope Elder Xu Yi can answer truthfully."
Jing Qiu's gaze fell on Xu Yi, her hostility undisguised.
Xu Yi's thoughts raced. She glanced at the anxious Xiao Yi and then at Wang Biyun, who was still looking down with her head bowed. She roughly understood what was going on.
Since they had come to pick a fight, she didn't need to be overly polite.
She let out a soft hum and said indifferently, "Ask away."
Jing Qiu: !
What was with Xu Yi's tone?
How could she hear it as if it were charity?
Was she mistaken, or did the other party deliberately say it like that?
She suppressed the rage brewing in her chest and asked coldly, "You injured my disciple Wang Biyun at the Jian family banquet and directly expelled her from the residence. Is this true?"
"Master, no..."
"Wen Yi, if you dare to say another word, you will be dealt with according to sect rules."
Xiao Yi was frightened into tears by her master's chilling voice.
What was wrong with her master?
Even if she was mischievous, her master had never spoken to her like this before. Could it be that her master truly didn't like her anymore?
Big tears streamed down, and Xiao Yi cried her heart out.
Jing Qiu felt a pang in her heart and forcibly turned her head away, no longer looking at Xiao Yi.
The dignity of the Bright Moon Pavilion could not be tarnished by anyone.
This was her bottom line.
She expected Xu Yi to explain, or to quibble and refuse to admit it. To her surprise, Xu Yi readily nodded and uttered a single word, "Yes."
Yes? Yes to what? Yes to this matter!
Xu Yi admitted it!
For some reason, when Jing Qiu heard the answer, all her anger seemed to vanish in that instant.
She nodded calmly. "Since that is the case, I must seek justice for my disciple. Make your move."
With that, the whisk in her hand moved as if by an unseen force, and a terrifying chill emanated from her.
"Wait." Xu Yi looked at her with a half-smile. "Don't you want to ask me why I did it?"
It was rare for her to show kindness and help a young girl, only to have the other party's sect not only ungrateful but also pursue her to seek justice.
Xu Yi found it absurd and amusing at the same time.
In fact, if it were any other time, Xu Yi could have calmly explained.
But she had just broken through to the Integration stage, and there was a fighting spirit within her that had nowhere to vent. Therefore, she was not bothered by Jing Qiu's threat and was even vaguely looking forward to it.
The reason she asked this question was to gauge whether she should go all out or hold back when she made her move later.
"I don't need to know the reason. I only need to know if it indeed happened."
Jing Qiu finished speaking, lunged forward, and waved her whisk at Xu Yi.
The long hairs on the whisk instantly grew, transforming into countless fine threads that coiled towards Xu Yi.
Xu Yi originally intended to use her disciplinary ruler to fight back, but the moment those threads approached, she suddenly changed her mind. She channeled the fire spiritual energy within her body to her palm and then fiercely grabbed forward.
Several threads, almost invisible to the naked eye, were caught in Xu Yi's hand.
Jing Qiu sneered and formed a hand seal with her right hand, "Twist!"
The threads suddenly tightened inwards.
The long hairs on Jing Qiu's whisk were actually the silk of a creature called a Human-faced Demonic Spider. This silk was a Grade Seven material, exceptionally tough, and could easily sever the bodies of Split-Soul stage demonic beasts.
If Xu Yi did not have a Grade Seven defensive magical artifact, these silk threads could have directly severed her palm.
From this, it could be seen that Jing Qiu had shown no mercy towards Xu Yi.
Upon realizing Jing Qiu's intentions, a cold glint flashed in Xu Yi's eyes, and the scorching power in her palm erupted.
Boom!
Before the Human-faced Demonic Spider's silk threads on Jing Qiu's whisk could complete their constriction, a ball of green flame began to spread outwards along the threads.
The Earth Core Green Flame could ignite all things, and the silk of the Human-faced Demonic Spider was naturally among them.
The spacing between all the silk threads was very short, so the moment the fire spread, almost all the threads were ignited.
Jing Qiu's expression changed drastically.
Xu Yi had actually managed to harness the Earth Core Green Flame to her advantage.
A resolute expression flashed across her face, and without hesitation, she used her spiritual power as a blade, severing all the silk threads just as the fire was about to spread to the whisk handle. At the same time, she retreated rapidly, increasing the distance between herself and Xu Yi, her heart filled with apprehension towards Xu Yi.
"Fellow Daoists, there might be a misunderstanding between you. Why don't we sit down and talk, and avoid any unpleasantness?"
As soon as the two began fighting, Zhan Fei had used his spiritual power to shield the other disciples and retreat to a safe distance.
Seeing that the two had stopped, Zhan Fei quickly stepped forward to play the role of a peacemaker.