Watching An Kasyapa depart Eternal, the sacred lands’ cultivators felt torn between multiple emotions.

When the god and his four followers extinguished Eternal Divine Nation’s House Yan, that act had been a case of extreme provocation.

Though the investigation afterwards had revealed that it was merely revenge for oppressing his daughter and son-in-law, it’d still left a bad taste in Eternal’s mouth. Such action in their own territory was a blatant slap to the face.

Unfortunately, their divine forefather wasn’t his match in cultivation. Jiang Chen had also personally intervened, eliminating the possibility of overt conflict.

After all, he was grandfather in name to Yan Qinghuang, Jiang Chen’s dao partner. How could they fall out with him?

Thus began the antagonistic relationship between the two parties.

But later on, when Lightford attacked while the main force was away on Sandplain Island, Divine Kasyapa had rushed to their rescue and helped them withstand the first wave. Their alliance against Lightford had continued afterward, easing their troubled relationship. And this time, the antidotes he’d brought at Jiang Chen’s behest had massively alleviated the pressure on them.

Now that they stood between life and death, he’d once again stuck by them. Perhaps this man’s conduct was more admirable than they’d first believed. At the very least, he’d done everything he could in the name of righteousness.

But could he destroy the roots of the demonic plants? It was hard to bear hope. To their knowledge, every single one of the wood demon forefathers was an extremely troublesome existence.

Though he was a fourth level god, such a cultivation level wasn’t enough for a decisive advantage against the enemies he would face.

......

An Kasyapa traveled through the bleak wilderness, seemingly alone in the world.

This piece of land had been just as deserted in the past, but the scenery nowhere near as alien. The omnipresent vegetation had seemingly swallowed it whole. It was difficult now to spot vestiges of its former self.

Plants wrapped around each other or twisted into piles. Even finding a foothold proved to be a challenge.

Vines enveloped the wilderness as far as the eye could see, woven into an inescapable net between heaven and earth that dominated the entire space.

Light as a swallow, An Kasyapa skipped his way past them.

He was rather pleased with his increase in cultivation after reaching fourth level. He might not be able to outright defeat a wood demon forefather, but he was confident he could go toe-to-toe against one of them.

Of course, there was a reason for him to trek amidst this desolation. He wanted to observe the flora and find its core. There was certainly a nucleus controlling the growth of this vegetation.

Destroying it might be a way to put an immediate end to the calamity of demonic plants.

Naturally, the task would be far from easy.

In all honesty, without the Great Veluriyam Talisman he’d obtained from the young lord, he might not have been bold enough to venture so deep inside.

He hadn’t used the talisman yet, but every time he probed it with his consciousness, an ancient power answered him, its energy so boundless that it inspired awe and reverence.

He traveled for roughly eight hours in the area. As the sky began to darken, his mood also became more complicated. His instincts told him he wasn’t far from happening upon the core. In fact, he might well be only a whisker from it.

He brandished his weapon. It wasn’t his usual halberd, but a blade brimming with a harsh aura.

Its edge was streamlined to perfection. Long and slender, it tapered off thinly and was supported by a thick back. It seemed to merge into the wind as he shuttled back and forth.

He suddenly halted. In the next moment, his eyes shone with astonishing intensity as he viciously swung his right arm and slashed behind him in a blinding flash of light.

Swish swish swish!

The weapon’s blade hacked into vines that’d simultaneously appeared out of nowhere. Like a myriad of slender arms neatly sliced off, the vines dropped listlessly on the ground, completely sapped of their energy.

But Divine Kasyapa didn’t lower his guard in the slightest. Instead, he observed his surroundings, the longsword in his hand maintaining a flowing arc of marvelous readiness. At a moment’s notice, he could strike without hesitation in any direction, proof that his skill with the blade had reached a sublime realm.

Sure enough, dense curtains of vines squirmed his way like the arms of numerous evil spirits.

The surrounding vegetation seemed to awaken under the impulse of a mysterious energy. There were flowers and petals resembling bloody mouths opened wide, countless branches punctured through the air like a rain of sharp arrows, tree stumps rammed his way as if gone mad, and vines slithered like vipers, seemingly intent on taking his life...

Demonic plants of every shape and form launched a deluge of attacks in his direction.

But he had little to fear. Lesser cultivators might have been overwhelmed, especially those beneath divine realm, but it wasn’t enough to hamper a fourth level god like him.

Petals scattered with every sweep of his weapon. Its blade bit into every plant, no matter the shape, dicing them and spraying their pieces in every direction.

“Hmph, isn’t it time to get serious? Do you dare to come out and fight?” He sensed the presence of a wood demon divine forefather somewhere in the vicinity.

Silence descended again on the scene as the storm of vegetation died down, as if everything had been naught but a fleeting dream.

But he remained poised, well aware the demon forefather was readying another fearsome offensive.

𝙛𝒓𝒆𝙚𝒘𝒆𝓫𝙣𝓸𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝒄𝒐𝓶

Sure enough, as he waited with bated breath, the shrubs in the local area started to oscillate in a strange rhythm. As if obeying someone’s command, the trees and flowers transformed into metaphorical well-trained soldiers that formed an army several thousand strong, marching forward with a somber momentum that darkened the mountains and the rivers, robbing men of their sanity.

An Kasyapa took a deep breath, an intense glint erupting from his eyes. “Your attacks may be ever-changing, but I will sunder it all!”

He wielded his longsword in a hail of blades. One slash, two slashes. In the blink of an eye, the blade delivered a flurry of thousands of strikes.