Chapter 1 The Shadows of Rain and Mist

In the shadows brought by the dark clouds, heavy rain, and mist, the light of raging fire spread through the city, burning away all the eerie demonic shadows.

From atop the Divine Tree, one could see that the blazing flames representing the Hundred Schools' Righteous Army had already reached the edge of New Southern Heavenly Capital. Seven tall, dark figures and their armies were retreating in disarray, abandoning the nearly-incinerated Heavenly Capital and falling back to hold the city.

And driving them to such straits were the surging human tide and the eight Zhenqi airships that had risen once more from the ground.

The Demonic Dynasty’s Zhenqi airships… With their scant numbers, how could the Demonic Dynasty compare to the Hundred Schools' Righteous Army in terms of artisan numbers? Their stockpiles had long been depleted during the National Teacher’s raid on Mount Taibai.

And not only that, too many Demonic Generals had died – someone had single-handedly held back the reinforcements and then slain five Demonic Generals. In that situation, with the Hundred Schools launching a sudden assault on the Southern River Heavenly Pass, the collapse of the front lines was inevitable. After all, the National Teacher was dead, and no one could stop the three Grandmasters of the Hundred Schools when the Demonic Emperor didn't act.

But compared to the advancing armies at the bottom, the decapitation squad was facing a tricky problem.

They were blocked by the animated branches of the Divine Tree midway to the Heavenly Palace in the clouds.

Just as Su Zhou noticed a martial artist falling behind, and roared with his spiritual power, shaking the atmosphere, the Divine Tree’s aerial roots and branches immediately changed from their previous tranquility and began to writhe like living things, rapidly extending and lashing out at the martial artists like tentacles – in an instant, it was as if they were surrounded by thousands of troops, and everyone was immediately plunged into a bitter battle, shouting and using various weapons to protect themselves, chopping down the wooden branches.

"Hahaha, where did this dog come from, actually admitting it himself!"

But at this time, while wielding the Blade of Annihilation, easily turning all the approaching aerial root vines into ashes, Su Zhou was still laughing loudly, spouting nonsense: "I called you and you actually responded, doesn't that mean you admit you're a dog? Who is it, come out and bark a few more times!"

Although he was uttering completely third-rate taunts and provocations, Su Zhou was using his heightened spiritual vision to scan the surroundings, searching for a possible manipulator.

However, because the Divine Tree’s own spiritual light was too brilliant, using spiritual vision here would not only reveal nothing but would instead dazzle the eyes.

"No... this should be part of the Demonic Emperor’s control of the Divine Tree to attack. Slaying the vines here is meaningless."

The most important thing in battle was to seize the key point. Su Zhou was obviously good at this. His mind raced, and then he held the blade tightly with both hands, pouring spiritual power into the Blade of Annihilation like crazy: "I can only use a range attack to temporarily open a path."

Boom! Flames erupted – Su Zhou’s power triggered the power of the divine weapon, and volcanic-like, substantial light and flame spiritual fire was born on the blade, but he did not wave this blade to kill the vines, but instead gripped it upside down.

Su Zhou inserted the Blade of Annihilation, blade-down, directly into the bark of the Divine Tree beneath him – then, crimson-gold patterns rapidly spread in the gaps of the bark, and the erupting flames instantly dispelled all the surrounding gray mist, and generated a ring of spreading fiery nova, incinerating all the approaching aerial roots and vines.

Intense crimson spiritual light replaced the azure wood Qi in this area, and Su Zhou sheathed his sword, his expression solemn.

"Grandmaster Tian, Zhou Buyi, don't continue to approach. There is something strange about this gray mist. It is absorbing the moisture from all life around it, and it also has extremely strong toxicity and corrosiveness."

Taking advantage of this brief safe period, he turned his head and said to the rest of the decapitation squad: "You retreat out of the range covered by this gray mist, and then go help Grandmaster Liu and the others – don't look so unwilling, the next battle is probably not something you can participate in."

"But that doesn't mean you can't help me. Zhou Buyi, do you remember our plan? In the non-gray mist area, clear out an area, and then wait for my instructions."

"Is it really necessary to do this?"

As the leader of this operation, Su Zhou’s orders were absolute. The remaining four members of the decapitation squad immediately turned around, but Zhou Buyi still looked worried and subconsciously confirmed: "That plan is very dangerous – we already have a great advantage. Later, waiting for the grandmasters to gather, a dozen people will besiege the Demonic Emperor. That is the safest method."

"No." Su Zhou had already turned his head and started walking step by step towards the Eternal Peace Heavenly Palace. He said calmly: "You can't see it, but I know that on this Divine Tree, I'm afraid it would be useless even if a few grandmasters came… Go, just do as I say."

"Later, I will bring down the head of that dog emperor for you to see."

In the next instant, Su Zhou’s figure suddenly accelerated. He turned into a wisp of green smoke and disappeared into the increasingly dense gray mist, and the remaining four members of the decapitation squad no longer hesitated, retreating back to the normal Divine Tree area before the surrounding aerial roots and vines closed in again.

At this moment, Su Zhou had already passed through the clouds.

The height of the Banyan Undying Tree was roughly described by the Hundred Schools' Righteous Army as 'thousands of zhang', and even the sunlight was blocked at a height of 'hundreds of zhang' – but to be accurate, it meant that the bottom layer of its canopy was about three hundred and seventy zhang from the ground, which was one thousand two hundred meters high.

The Banyan Undying Tree was a giant tree similar to a banyan tree. The size and height of its canopy could even exceed the visible trunk by three to five times, and because of the existence of aerial roots, its horizontal expansion ability far exceeded that of ordinary trees. It could even cover an area of ​​more than a thousand miles with the strength of one tree.

The Eternal Peace Heavenly Palace, located at the top of the Banyan Undying Tree’s crown, was a cloud-top palace built three thousand eight hundred meters above the ground.

Gravity meant nothing to Su Zhou. When he stepped on the surface of the Divine Tree’s bark, he could step into a pit. A height of three thousand eight hundred meters was just a straight line of three thousand eight hundred meters for him. He could cross this distance in just a few minutes.

At this time, Su Zhou was alone. He flew over the rain-soaked branches, over the storm and cloud-swept leaves. He silently ascended, and finally, crossed the clouds and arrived at the empty, gray-mist-shrouded wooden palace.

"What a waste… Although I also want to have this kind of house, I don’t want to get it this way."

Staring at the palace supported by layers of Divine Tree branches and leaves for a moment, Su Zhou couldn't help but sigh. Yala smiled and said, "Is this also considered extravagant? Enlarge your heart and vision a bit. For transcendents, this kind of house is shabby."

"Nonsense, I was raised poorly since I was a child. I could only freeload off my friends’ meals to get enough to eat. How would a great existence like you understand!" After complaining, he retracted his spiritual vision from the palace. Su Zhou wasn't a fool, of course he wouldn't enter the palace under unknown circumstances – he directly climbed and leaped along the outer layer of the wooden palace, rushing towards its highest point.

Even in the spiritual vision completely filled with the Divine Tree’s spiritual light, the light shining there was the brightest point, like the sun.

Ten seconds later, Su Zhou jumped high and flipped over the last wall.

He had already seen the Heavenly Altar towering above the cloud-top Divine Tree before him, beneath the moonlight and starlight.

The top of the entire Eternal Peace Heavenly Palace was essentially a square of about 40,000 square meters, and in the center of the square was a circular, three-tiered Heavenly Altar platform with a radius of about twenty meters.

The platform seemed to be built of jade-like bricks and stones, with azure wood Qi flowing within it and gray mist lingering above it.

The platform was empty, with only a tall, upright, and jade-like wooden pillar with a radius of seven meters standing in the very center, serving as the beam of the entire Heavenly Palace.

– That was the treetop of the Banyan Undying Tree, the protruding tip of the entire Divine Tree.

"Aren't you coming out yet? If you don't come out, I'll blow up your altar and chop down this pillar!"

Su Zhou shouted loudly, the huge voice echoing around the silent Heavenly Altar, and he did not wait even half a second, directly starting to stride towards the center of the Heavenly Palace.

As he rushed forward, Su Zhou took down the large spear he was carrying on his back with his left hand, with the spearhead pointing down, dragging it on the ground. The sharp spearhead instantly broke open the wooden ground of the Heavenly Palace, splashing wood chips while also making a piercing friction sound.

Then, he raised the spear, and spiritual power and lightning gathered in his hands at the same time. Su Zhou threw his entire body into a lunge, and thrust the spear towards the giant wooden pillar.

Although this wooden pillar was large, it probably couldn't withstand a few blows from Su Zhou, who possessed the power of a Grandmaster, and a spear that could be called a spiritual weapon.

Therefore, an angry voice rang out.

"Arrogant junior, step back!"

Beneath the starlight, the gray mist flowed like a living thing, and a tall figure emerged from the hazy, dead mist, condensing into a giant phantom more than five meters tall, with a cyan robe fluttering on its body, and a hand with heavy wooden scales extended from the sleeve, blocking the spear in Su Zhou's hand.

After being doubly enchanted, the Scolopendra spear, made of Purified Water Centipede Wood, had always been unstoppable. Even the armor on the Demonic Generals could be split with a single chop. With the addition of Su Zhou's enormous strength, it was almost unbreakable.

But today, this strike, which was enough to pierce giant rocks and easily pierce through steel plate armor, was caught by this large hand, making a sound like a bell ringing – it was as if the spearhead was unwilling to hurt the opponent, and the incomparably sharp spear tip dulled, stopping in place after piercing the opponent's surface, constantly vibrating and buzzing.

And the next moment, the giant figure stretched out its other hand, seemingly wanting to grab the spear shaft, but Su Zhou shook the spear at this time, shaking the spear out and taking it back into his hand.

"You actually used a weapon made from Purified Water Centipede Wood to deal with me."

Not paying attention to this, the blue-robed figure retracted its hands, and a low voice sounded: "You are the Dragonborn who killed my National Teacher, right…" Saying this, its face emerged from the shadows, sizing up Su Zhou.

This was a human figure that seemed to be made of layers of tangled tree roots. Most of its body was shrouded in gray mist that could not be penetrated by sight. Something was vaguely tumbling in the mist, revealing only the head with two dragon horns erected, and a face that could barely be considered 'human'.

That was not a form that humans could have – leaves, roots, vines, wooden branches, fungi, moss, wooden thorns, and more bizarre things made up a face that could be called majestic.

These things wriggled, giving people the impression that it was 'human' at first glance with a delicate combination and movement, but if you looked at the paused picture alone, you could realize that it was just a pile of mixed and disgusting wood whiskers.

But they would not stop. The surface of this face was changing, rolling, and the wood grain that looked like eyes the moment before was replaced by bulging leaves the next moment, and the wood whiskers that were thought to be eyebrows the moment before were rolled over by moss the next moment.

But no matter how the composition changed, the strange and majestic human face, and the brown horns erected on both sides of its head, would not change.

The Demonic Emperor.

Without a doubt, the other party was the Demonic Emperor who ruled the Demonic Dynasty’s army and wreaked havoc on the world.

And… this spiritual power reaction, this aura…

While Su Zhou was cautiously sizing up the other party, the Demonic Emperor was also sizing up Su Zhou. Its gaze finally focused on the knife at his waist, and then it sneered: "I thought the Dragonborn would have some strange things, but in the end, he still looks like a human, boring."

"Are you done?"

Su Zhou didn't care about the other party's attitude. He waved his spear and smiled: "You've been poisoned."