Chapter 2040, Nemesis Translator: Silavin & Ashish Editor and Proofreader: Leo of Zion Mountain & Dhael Ligerkeys This scene wasn’t surprising. Even though this Wood Spirit Clone had advanced to the First-Order Dao Source Realm after devouring Han Leng’s physical essence, the Monster Insect Queen could display strength equal to a Second-Order Dao Source Realm master, while the Blue Flame Thunder Wolf wasn’t weak either and used Fire Attribute energy attacks, which was the bane of the Wood Spirit. Coupled with Yang Kai, it would be strange if the Wood Spirit Clone wasn’t suppressed. Under the cooperation of one man and two Blood Beasts, the countless vines of the Wood Spirit were cut to pieces rapidly, scattering vines and green blood across the ground that continued to wriggle, as if they were still alive. However, after these cut-off vines bled out all their green blood, they swiftly shrivelled up and withered into dust that was swept away by the wind. The Wood Spirit screamed again and again, pushing its own energy in anger and re-growing its vines constantly, making it seem like a futile effort to even try to kill it. Yang Kai couldn’t help but be in awe a little at the sight of this. He always felt that this Wood Spirit Clone was a little different from the ones he had dealt with before, and because it was seemingly more difficult to handle, he became more vigilant. Wrapping his Fire Sword Qi around his entire body, Yang Kai made sure the Wood Spirit didn’t have a chance to infect him as well. A quarter of an hour later, the fight raged on as Yang Kai and the two Blood Beasts seemed to have the upper hand, but still failed to give any fatal injuries to the Wood Spirit, locking the two sides in a kind of stalemate. Suddenly, the Blue Flame Thunder Wolf that had been using its Fire Attribute attacks to suppressed the Wood Spirit, seemed suddenly lose strength and paused its barrage. *Chi Chi Chi Chi...* With piercing noises, roots suddenly sprang out from below ground and bound the Blue Flame Thunder Wolf. These roots were naturally the ones the Wood Spirit had stuck into the soil before. The Blue Flame Thunder Wolf whimpered as it struggled hard but was unable to free itself. Taking advantage of this opportunity, a vine stabbed straight into the Blue Flame Thunder Wolf and in the next instant, a familiar sucking sound rang out as the vine began to devour the physical essence of the Blue Flame Thunder Wolf. The Blue Flame Thunder Wolf was originally an Eleventh-Order Monster Beast, possessing strength on part with a First-Order Dao Source Realm cultivator, and even after being killed and refined into a Blood Beast, its physical essence had not been lost. Rather, its vitality had become stronger because it was being supported by Yang Kai’s Golden Blood Thread. Swallowing the Blue Flame Thunder Wolf’s vitality rapidly made up for the damage the Wood Spirit had suffered until now, and a clear look of joy and surprise filled the distorted facial features on its trunk. Yang Kai’s heart sank when he saw this and immediately shouted, “Return!” With his shout, the Blue Flame Thunder Wolf that had been tied down by the roots shook and turned back into a Golden Blood Thread that rapidly flew over to Yang Kai. As Yang Kai secretly checked its condition, his face immediately turned ugly when he realized that about one-third of the vitality in this Golden Blood Thread had disappeared in that short moment. In other words, one-third of the Blue Flame Thunder Wolf’s vitality had been devoured. If he wanted to supplement it, Yang Kai would have to use his own Golden Blood. On the other side, the Wood Spirit became enraged after failing to swallow the Blue Flame Thunder Wolf. It no longer cared about Yang Kai and instead turned its attention to the Monster Insect Queen. Having gained huge benefits after swallowing the Blue Flame Thunder Wolf’s vitality just now, it naturally wanted to repeat its trick. The ground under the Monster Insect Queen suddenly split as untold roots flew out like snakes, trying to trap the Monster Insect Queen. But how could it be that easy to tie down the Monster Insect Queen? The blue and purple dual swords glowed faintly as bitter cold Sword Qi waves flew out in all directions. Ice Principles swirled through the air around the Monster Insect Queen’s body, greatly reducing the speed of these roots, resulting in them not only failing to trap the Monster Insect Queen but also suffering serious damage in the process. Yang Kai regained his confidence at the sight of this. If the two Blood Beasts couldn’t be used in this battle, it would definitely become much harder for him, but now it seemed that the Monster Insect Queen’s performance was much better than Yang Kai had expected. The Monster Insect Queen was born from the fusion of a Sentient Sword Intent and a Blood Beast, so the strength it could unleash in combat was far superior to the Blue Flame Thunder Wolf’s. Yang Kai was about to charge in again, teaming up with the Monster Insect Queen to besiege the Wood Spirit, when his brow suddenly rose as he sensed a kind of anxious call. This summon came from the sealed Liu Yan! Even though Liu Yan was sealed inside that strange bowl, she seemed to have sensed the battle outside and was now stimulating the Soul Mark Yang Kai had left in her Divine Sense many decades ago. Startled for a moment, Yang Kai quickly slapped his forehead as he scolded himself for being an idiot. He had only been thinking of teaming up with his two Blood Beasts to fight just now and had forgotten about Liu Yan’s existence. Liu Yan was a Fire Attribute Artifact Spirit, a pure amalgamation of Fire Attribute Energy, so even if her cultivation wasn’t as high as the two Blood Beasts, her role in this particular battle might be even stronger than them. As long as Liu Yan came out, what would there be to fear about a trivial Wood Spirit? Thinking so, Yang Kai immediately focused his gaze on Han Leng’s corpse, which lay near the Wood Spirit. He gave an order to the Monster Insect Queen and had it suppress the Wood Spirit on its own while Yang Kai directly soared over to Han Leng’s corpse, reached down, and picked up the two Space Rings. Of the two Space Rings, one belonged to Han Leng and the other to Ning Yuan Cheng. The round bowl in which Liu Yan was sealed was stored in the latter’s Space Ring. After having acquired them, Yang Kai immediately withdrew. Right at that moment, the Wood Spirit seemed to notice Yang Kai’s movements and sent out countless vine whips at him, as well as a faint streak of green light which struck his body and disappearing in a flash. Yang Kai was shocked as he quickly blocked the attacking vines while withdrawing, a confused look appearing on his face once he reached a safe distance. He had clearly seen that faint beam shooting out from the Wood Spirit but he couldn’t see where it went. He quickly scanned his own body with his Divine Sense but he couldn’t find anything strange, causing his expression to turn unsightly. He carefully scanned himself again but was still unable to find anything. Short on time though, Yang Kai grit his teeth and ignored this anomaly temporarily and took out the bowl sealing Liu Yan from Ning Yuan Cheng’s Space Ring. As he poured his Divine Sense into the bowl, he immediately sensed Liu Yan. “Master!” Liu Yan’s voice reached him, “It’s good to see you again, I knew you wouldn’t abandon me.” Yang Kai chuckled and said, “Of course I wouldn’t abandon you, but now isn’t the time to reminisce about. I’ll find a way to unlock this seal quickly, as there’s an enemy here I need your help dealing with.” “En!” After replying, there were no other movements from Liu Yan’s side. Yang Kai flew to the distance and meticulously checked the seals on the round bowl. This bowl was clearly a special kind of sealing artifact, one that wasn’t of much other use or of great value. It was mainly used to seal energy bodies like Liu Yan’s and after being trapped inside, Liu Yan clearly couldn’t unlock the barrier. Fortunately, it seemed that unlocking these seals from the outside was relatively straightforward. As Yang Kai’s Divine Sense was far stronger than an ordinary Origin King’s, it only took the time it takes to finish a cup of tea for him to find some clues. Pouring his Divine Sense into the bowl, Yang Kai swiftly unlocked one seal after another. When the last seal broke, Liu Yan’s joyous shout came from the bowl, “I’m free!” Liu Yan swiftly turned into a fiery beam of light and flew out of the bowl with a loud, joyous cry. With her advent, the temperature in the surrounding air rose dramatically. Liu Yan spread her wings and her enormous body seemed to cover half of the sky, her eyes burning with intense flames as she stared down towards the Wood Spirit which was engaged in battle with the Monster Insect Queen. Immediately, a sharp, crisp cry escaped from her mouth as she swooped down like a meteor falling from the sky. At this moment, the Wood Spirit was locked in combat with the Monster Insect Queen. Despite being a Minor Realm higher in cultivation, and having mastered Ice Principles, the Monster Insect Queen was barely holding her ground against the Wood Spirit. Without Yang Kai’s help, she was now locked into a stalemate. This made it quite clear just how strong the Wood Spirit was. When Liu Yan, wrapped in her intense flames, swooped down from the sky, however, the hideous face on the Wood Spirit’s trunk finally showed a look of fear and panic. It had not even shown this kind of look when it was up against Yang Kai and two Blood Beasts. Countless vines shot straight out at the oncoming Liu Yan from the ground, each one like a powerful spear throw with extraordinary strength. But Liu Yan didn’t care to pay these vines any mind, simply opening her beak and spewing out a jet of crimson flames wrapped in arcs of purple lightning. Almost all of the vines were reduced to ashes by its scorching flames while the few that made it through simply passed through Liu Yan’s body without causing any damage to her. It could be said that she was the ultimate nemesis for this Wood Spirit! All the Wood Spirit’s abilities had no effect on her while her abilities greatly restrained it. Not only that, the power of thunder and lightning mastered by Liu Yan travelled back along the Wood Spirit’s vines, causing it to freeze up in shock. Most of Liu Yan’s flames were refined by devouring the Sun’s True Essence, while her lightning came from the sentient Heavenly Thunder Fire she had devoured in the past. In terms of ferocity of flames, while Liu Yan’s might not be comparable to the Luan Feng’s World Extinguishing Black Flame, it was definitely quite extraordinary. How could Wood Spirit resist? After Liu Yan’s body of flame passed through the Wood Spirit, more than half of its vines were burned to coke and its originally hideous and distorted face filled with panic. It didn’t dare to remain and immediately uprooted itself, using its roots like tentacles as it scampered across the ground towards the distance. It had actually decided to flee.