Chapter 1723: Exterminating the Demon Tree Translator: Exodus Tales Editor: Exodus Tales Translated by XephiZ Edited by Aelryinth — The winged beasts were preparing for the ceremony, including the powerful creatures of the Ashwood Wind Layer. For them, it meant the winged beasts residing on the Giant Purple Linden had all left to join the flying marathon. It greatly reduced the difficulty of Mo Fan and his crew’s objective of taking down the demon tree! “Let’s pretend to climb the Giant Purple Linden. The demon is a cunning hunter. It won’t bother wasting its time on just one or two prey, nor would it reveal itself,” Mo Fan said. Mo Fan began climbing the Giant Purple Linden. Zhao Manyan stopped him when he was on the trunk after recalling something. “By the way, won’t it recognize you?” Zhao Manyan said. “Recognize my ass, it’s just a f**king tree, I don’t believe it has the ability to recognize someone,” Mo Fan said. “Ugh... you’re right, we Asians think Africans all look alike, too,” Zhao Manyan admitted after giving it some thought. 2 Mo Fan boldly climbed the tree, recalling seeing a huge cave just below the treetop in the past. He would have a hard time believing the sacred Giant Purple Linden was the evil demon tree if he had not seen it transform in person. The Giant Purple Linden only had its main trunk left. He remembered how lofty it used to be, back in the valley of Mount Kunyu, but it was forced to hide in Mount Baiba among the rest of the towering trees. It must be holding a strong grudge since then, having to pretend it was just a little kid among the younger trees. “Old demon tree, aren’t you good at disguises? You must have drunk a lot of fresh blood and eaten a lot of fresh meat recently, but this is your end!” Mo Fan looked up and noticed he was very close to the tree cave. The cave was closed right now. It looked just like an ordinary crack on the tree. It must have devoured many creatures while they were enjoying some moon baths on the branches and turned them into its nutrition. The most disgusting about the Giant Purple Linden was its disguise! The Giant Purple Linden would only reveal its true nature as a last resort. It would stick to its disguise as a sacred tree offering little creatures protection, so they would form a small ecosphere around it. Once the population of the creatures reached a certain level, it would provoke them to kill one another. When the last creature standing thought it could finally claim the throne, the Giant Purple Linden would eat it and slowly digest it. Only then would the creature realize it had been prey all along. The Giant Purple Linden’s patience was unbelievable. It was willing to spend ten, twenty, or even thirty years slowly laying down its plan. If Yan Shi had not exposed it, it might lay its hands on a human city next. After all, humans were easily deceived by appearance! Mo Fan could already feel the stronger Wind of Sorrow blowing through the gaps between the branches at his current height, and could still see the colorful feathers of the winged beasts filling up the sky. They were well-behaved, as if they were awaiting further instructions from their god. They might not even care if their nests were invaded. After all, every ambitious winged beast had been waiting for the ceremony to secure a better house or mansion! “Are you sure you can find the Sacred Linden Leaves?” Mo Fan asked Yu Shishi, who was climbing the tree with him. “I can locate them when the demon tree starts to attack with the Devil Tree Spikes after you tear off its mask. The Sacred Linden Leaves are the source of its energy,” Yu Shishi said confidently. “Very well...” Mo Fan nodded. “But you have to be extremely careful. It is still a terrifying demon, despite its current state!” Yu Shishi reminded him. Even a Totem Beast like the Moon Moth Phoenix had almost died to the demon tree, let alone a group whose combined strength was not even comparable to a tenth of a half-Forbidden Mage like Yan Shi. It would not be easy to kill the demon tree! “Don’t worry, those people of the Violent Imperial Battalion are with us. Li Dexin might be an annoying jerk, but he is still quite strong,” Mo Fan said. “Alright, you can start once I’m in position. If I can pluck the Sacred Linden Leaves, it will greatly weaken the demon!” Yu Shishi said. — They waited until Yu Shishi had climbed higher up the tree. Mo Fan asked Bai Hongfei to go with her to look after her. The winged beasts might be busy with the ceremony, but there was no guarantee the fliers would not intervene with their business. They had to be careful at all times! “We’re in position!” Bai Hongfei signaled them. Mo Fan ignited a small fireball, signaling the rest of the group to proceed with the plan. “Keep up the disguise, have a taste of my Mount Lu Rise Dragon!” Mo Fan stomped his foot and engulfed himself in the flames of the Meteor Scarlet. {TL Note: Mount Lu Rise Dragon is Shiryu’s skill, a character from Saint Seiya.} 1 At the same time, Little Flame Belle, who was lying on Mo Fan’s shoulder transformed into Flame Belle and Possessed Mo Fan. The flames of the Calamity Fire and the Ardent Sunset engulfed him! “Fiery Swamp!” The surfaces below Mo Fan’s feet were covered by blazing flames, reaching over a hundred meters away. The flames devoured all the leaves around him. The Giant Purple Linden did not show any reaction. Its body was very resistant to fire. Mo Fan might be casting a powerful spell atop it, but it was unsure if the spell was targeting it. Who would bother attacking a tree? The winged beasts and other creatures would only bother killing one another! Mo Fan shoved his fist into the air, as if he was trying to mess up the winged beasts’ ceremony! “Rise and shine!” Fiery dragons sprang higher into the sky from the flames, dying his surroundings red. The winged beasts roaming nearby were terrified by the strong magic, and immediately fled for their lives! The fiery dragons made up of the Meteor Scarlet and the Ardent Sunset flew across the sky. They gradually enlarged as their flames grew stronger! “Come back here!” Just as the Giant Purple Linden assumed Mo Fan was attacking the winged beasts, the fiery dragons returned and slammed down heavily on the tree cave! The destructive flames spread wildly. The Giant Purple Linden was enjoying the competition between the winged beasts, while waiting to reap some long-awaited harvests. It did not expect there to be a maniac that would bother attacking a tree! The branches of the Giant Purple Linden shook vigorously. It was able to use it Demon Tree Spikes to set up a perfect defense, but the problem was, it did not expect the humans to be after it in the first place! It was only a tree, after all, and so was not as intelligent as most creatures. More precisely, it did not have a real brain. It happened to taste the fresh blood of demon creatures once after a huge battle happened between two tribes, so it kept using the same trick to nurture itself into a demon! With a huge blast, the fiery dragons penetrated the weak defense the demon tree had set up in a panic, and slammed into the tree cave on the Giant Purple Linden. The Giant Purple Linden shuddered suddenly, but it was useless, since it did not have any chance to dodge the attacks. The tree’s bark was extremely thick, yet the flames still managed to scorch it and leave a huge hole in the Giant Purple Linden’s forehead! The Giant Purple Linden realized its identity was exposed. It stopped disguising itself and turned its branches into deadly weapons, pouring them down at Mo Fan! Even though it only had a main trunk left, the Devil Tree Spikes covered a huge area, with almost no gaps between them. Mo Fan thought he was prepared, yet he still had no chance to escape to safety with Blink! “Old Zhao!” Mo Fan yelled. “Titan Hug!” Zhao Manyan responded instantly. 𝑓𝓇𝘦ℯ𝘸𝘦𝑏𝓃𝑜𝘷ℯ𝑙.𝑐𝑜𝓂 An enormous silhouette backlit by a brown light expanded rapidly. It had grown to the size of a small mountain by the time it reached Mo Fan’s position. Its actions were synchronized with Zhao Manyan. It leaned forward and spread its arms to protect Mo Fan with its back. The Devil Tree Spikes left countless tiny holes in the sturdy back of the titan. Some of the thicker branches even punctured it and attacked Mo Fan! It gave Mo Fan a huge fright. He quickly dodged the branches, but they kept pouring down, and destroyed Zhao Manyan’s spell! “Damn it, is that thing made of diamond!?” Zhao Manyan was startled at the outcome. The Titan Hug was one of his strongest defensive spells, but the Giant Purple Linden had punctured it like it was something made of Play-do. The giant figure was beyond recognition in just a brief moment! Mo Fan turned into a shadow bird and fled to the edge of the cliff. He heard Bai Hongfei yelling before he could set down, “Teacher, look out!” A massive elastic branch swept at Mo Fan like a powerful tentacle, fierce and brutal! The rocks were smashed into pieces, shattered like mere bubbles. Mo Fan’s figure faded away amid the dust that had been swept into the air. He reappeared on top of an ancient tree three hundred meters away. The tree was like a little sapling compared to the Giant Purple Linden. The demon tree was able to track Mo Fan’s location with ease. The truth was, a distance of three hundred meters was like a little hop compared to its enormous size, which had shrouded the whole sky!