Chapter 172: Male and Female Teamwork, Insta-Killing a Heavenly Ranking Expert

“What the Kung Fu Panda, that tree demon is so vicious! Taking that much bombardment and it’s still fine?”

Shangxin Xiaojian’s hands held only a pure sword light. Each of his strikes was like a storm, causing the Bodhi Tree’s branches and leaves to fall piece by piece.

Master Xunhua, meanwhile, had a golden banner of victory manifest behind his head. The Buddhist pestle in his hand transformed into countless staff shadows, desperately striking the Bodhi Tree. Of course, that precious parasol still hovered above his head, rotating continuously, sprinkling down wisps of Buddha Light.

These two, one was a Heavenly Ranking expert, while Master Xunhua, though his fame wasn’t prominent and he wasn’t on the Heavenly Ranking himself, was clearly recognized by Shangxin Xiaojian as possessing strength that met the Heavenly Ranking standard. Yet, even with them attacking together, they couldn’t do a single thing to the Bodhi Tree.

“This Bodhi Tree is absolutely suitable as material for a Seventh-Rank ship! We absolutely cannot let it go! If I can get this Bodhi Tree and give it to the Senior Martial Sister, she can find someone to forge a ship. Yi Jing, disciple of Pure One Ascendant, has a good relationship with the Senior Martial Sister and often visits Miaozhen Temple – it’s definitely possible!”

The Long-Legged Lady said excitedly, already eager to jump into action and make her move.

In her eyes, only Bodhi Wood of this caliber was worthy of her attention and capable of stirring her interest.

Goddess Infant Yi Jing, daughter of Yi Zhou, Lord of the Southern Sea Xuan Turtle Hall, though she couldn’t compare to her father in shipbuilding techniques, was still rare talent in the world.

Furthermore, this woman was also the key figure tied to opening the Holy Maiden’s Remains at Fantasy Wave Pool. Unexpectedly, the Long-Legged Lady had already established a connection with her. This was enormously beneficial.

If no Player managed to open Fantasy Wave Pool ahead of time later, when the game’s predetermined time arrived, Yi Jing would naturally go to open it. At that time, simply following by her side meant plenty of treasures could be easily obtained.

“Alright! Let’s grab this Bodhi Tree!”

If anyone else obtained this Bodhi Tree, it would only be stored away as raw material; its value would be greatly diminished. But once it landed in Graceful Dream Butterfly’s hands, it meant a fully-formed warship, practically within easy reach – though other costs might still be involved.

But that was still worth hundreds or thousands of times more than just a cold chunk of raw material. Even the assets of the Shushan Sword Alliance weren’t capable of letting go of a Seventh-Rank ship. Their division leader himself was only using a Fifth-Tier Large Annihilating Truth Transmitting Boat…

Unexpectedly, before Ye Rong and the others could act, the three Mount Mao Shangqing Temple disciples couldn’t hold back any longer. They struck first, targeting Master Xunhua directly.

Perhaps they felt he wasn’t a Heavenly Ranking expert and was busy dealing with the Bodhi Tree, making him a much easier target than Shangxin Xiaojian.

The three joined forces, unleashing a thick Shangqing Immortal Light about the width of a forearm. It thundered forward, carrying the momentum to utterly dissolve anyone in its path.

“Grain-sized pearls!”

Master Xunhua snorted coldly. He met the Shangqing Immortal Light with his precious parasol. A faint “sizzling” sound was heard, followed by a wisp of blue smoke as the parasol actually began to melt slowly!

This parasol, which could withstand Shangxin Xiaojian’s ultimate strike, appeared fragile under the Shangqing Immortal Light jointly unleashed by the three Mount Mao Shangqing Temple disciples, no longer seeming invincible.

Seeing the precarious situation, although Shangxin Xiaojian had a cooperative agreement with him, it was based on their comparable strength. Watching his partner struggle now, Shangxin Xiaojian had no intention to help. He continued fiercely bombarding the Bodhi Tree, only diverting a sliver of attention.

“Go!”

A vicious glint flashed in Master Xunhua’s eyes. He rubbed his hands together, causing a swirl of pale golden flame to rise from his palms. With a flick, it separated into dozens of pale golden fire blossoms, dancing and rolling around him, their pure yang fire energy blazing like the sun.

Pointing remotely at the three Mount Mao Players, these dozens of pale gold fire blossoms howled as they pounced forward, targeting each individual.

The three flusteredly summoned several Defensive Magical Treasures. But the pale golden flames nimbly dodged them. Once they made contact, the flames seemed impossible to extinguish, clinging like maggots to bone, causing continuous fire damage.

“This fire… it looks a bit like your Pale Flame?”

“Boluo Divine Flame! The signature Dao Spell of Divine Monk White Brow. It seems he’s a disciple of Monk Cai Bi Zhu Youmu!”

“Then just insta-kill that Shangxin Xiaojian first!”

A frost-white sword light coiled, its speed in that single instant exploding forth so fast it was shocking. Ye Rong, in a state of Body-Sword Unity, shot fiercely towards Shangxin Xiaojian. He slammed directly into this person, who was doggedly attacking the Bodhi Tree, sending him flying dozens of meters away.

This only happened because Shangxin Xiaojian reacted in time, blocking Ye Rong’s strike with a strange sword sheath; otherwise, it would have been an instant kill.

When Ye Rong channeled all the strengthening spells he possessed into the Cast Snow Sword, the radiance erupted from this Flying Sword far exceeded its original Rank, allowing it to rival higher-tier blades.

Coupled with it being a genuine Qingcheng Sect Flying Sword, driven by Qingcheng Heart Method and Qingcheng Sword Art wielded by a Qingcheng Disciple himself – though the properties weren’t explicitly stated textually – as the user, he could feel that distinctive resonance.

Body-Sword Unity. This was the true Body-Sword Unity, indistinguishable from one another, a sensation he never felt while controlling the sword Black Phoenix.

That strange sword sheath possessed astonishing cold energy. Even from just one collision, a stream of grayish qi flowed over, layering thin ice onto the Cast Snow Sword’s blade. It almost froze his hand solid.

Surviving the initial strike, disbelief and fury bloomed on Shangxin Xiaojian’s face. He hadn’t expected a Player he’d previously overlooked to possess such strength. Just as he tried to draw his sword to counterattack, the Long-Legged Lady’s attack arrived.

A burst of Pale Flame slammed down on him. Simultaneously, she wielded five Flying Swords in her hands, each brightly colored, dazzlingly brilliant. With a wave, they transformed into five large multicolored butterflies, dancing gracefully.

Among them, the purple butterfly flying sword was the very same she had previously used for Flying Sword Messages with Ye Rong.

Each large butterfly spat out a thin beam of light, each a different color. This caused Shangxin Xiaojian’s movements to freeze for an instant, just long enough that he couldn’t dodge the Pale Flame bombardment. He was completely shattered into motes of light.

When two Players, each strong enough to beat him on their own, attacked simultaneously – partly taking advantage of near surprise tactics – it would be strange if Shangxin Xiaojian didn’t die. This Heavenly Ranking sixty-first powerhouse, belonging to the strongest contingent among the scattered Players gathered for the Yellow Emperor’s Tomb exploration, met his end here, taken out without even reacting.

Those five butterfly flying swords, Ye Rong had also heard the Long-Legged Lady mention, were a set she particularly liked, all of the Fifth-Rank.

Though their stats were just average, being able to transform into five large, elegant and beautiful butterflies, and especially when all five were gathered, they could unleash a special spell that inexorably froze the target for an instant, bypassing all defense.

On the other side, Master Xunhua had already finished off the three Mount Mao Shangqing Temple disciples. Turning around, the unbelievable scene he witnessed was Shangxin Xiaojian dying!

“You people…”

“Yijian, take him out or what?”

Ye Rong waved his hand. “Master Xunhua, I trust you see the situation clearly now? You alone have no way to resist us both. But we won’t kill you, nor will we monopolize the Bodhi Tree. We still share the Merit Fruits with you, only changing your partner from Shangxin Xiaojian to the two of us. How about it?”

“Why should I trust your word?! What if you renege after subduing this tree demon?”

Master Xunhua instantly grasped the situation. Opponents capable of instantly killing Shangxin Xiaojian would have little trouble doing the same to him.

Being able to still share in any gains, even a smaller portion, was actually a pretty good outcome.

“Because you have no other choice. Right now, the two of us are the ones holding the initiative.”

“Fine. Then I want half the Merit Fruits!”

“Impossible. A third, at most. That’s the limit!”

…

After establishing a fragile cooperative partnership, the three each employed their techniques, attacking the Bodhi Tree with all their might to subdue it.

“Yijian, why give so many Merit Fruits to that bald guy? Isn’t it better we claim them for ourselves?”

“Time! This Bodhi Tree is too strong. If it’s just us two trying to defeat it, it would take far too long. If a few more groups come along, it’d risk causing complications. Plus, defeating that monk is easy enough, but finding a chance to immediately kill him once he’s on guard is tricky. If he runs off and lets the information spread, attracting hordes of Players, we’ll still get nothing from the Merit Tree either.”

“It’s better to share some benefits, binding him firmly to our side, so we can secure the Bodhi Tree faster!”

Ye Rong explained calmly to the Long-Legged Lady. Of course, if possible, he wouldn’t have given away so many Merit Fruits. Each one less meant he needed to spend significant time on quests and monster hunting to accumulate Merit Points afterward.

With these three working together, their offensive surpassed its intensity when Shangxin Xiaojian was around, becoming stronger wave after wave.

This was also due to Master Xunhua going all out, including employing that Boluo Divine Flame. Each bombardment completely incinerated some branches and leaves.

The damage he caused almost matched the Long-Legged Lady’s Pale Flame, both racking up significant wins.

As for Ye Rong, he found himself somewhat frustrated in this situation. His usually unstoppable sword light became extremely limited against the Bodhi Tree.

Even Chongxu Sword Qi, and even both types of Divine Thunder, had the same minimal impact, only managing to blast off a few fallen leaves.

But no matter how formidable the defense, if it only endures attacks without retaliating, unless it’s utterly beyond the Player’s damage capacity, its endurance will eventually wear out. Especially when facing attacks equivalent to three Heavenly Ranking Players.

Bang!

Countless branches exploded. An extremely potent stream of Wood-Essence Qi pierced straight into the sky, soaring into the clouds. The Bodhi Tree had vanished!