Xuantian Immortal Cultivation Record

Just as Du Xiangyuan exerted his strength, Zhang Yuanjing's keen spiritual sense detected a faint glimmer of green light at the lowest part of the tree spirit's main root.

"The wood core! It's right there!"

All plant and tree spirits, upon reaching the Demon Core realm, possess something akin to a cultivator's golden core, which is the wood core. The wood core is the essence of their being and their vital point. Once damaged by an enemy, they will rapidly weaken until death.

However, every plant and tree spirit hides its wood core in a very concealed location and frequently moves it to avoid detection by enemies.

To control this tree spirit, Du Xiangyuan poisoned it, then found its wood core and placed a restriction upon it. This allowed him to control the tree spirit but also limited its power.

However, when Du Xiangyuan slightly loosened the restriction, the wood core struggled, causing not only fluctuations in spiritual energy but also emitting light. This undoubtedly allowed Zhang Yuanjing to locate the wood core's position at once.

If it were any other Core Formation cultivator, even if they found the wood core, they would be unable to utilize it. But Zhang Yuanjing was different. He possessed the Earth Escape technique and, with the assistance of the Source Stone, could penetrate one hundred and twenty feet into the earth to damage the wood core.

Therefore, as soon as he discovered the wood core's location, he put away the Truth-Determining Compass and used the Earth Escape technique to burrow into the ground.

Du Xiangyuan was immediately dumbfounded, not knowing where Zhang Yuanjing had gone. However, the tree spirit's main root sensed the danger and quickly informed him of Zhang Yuanjing's whereabouts.

The tree spirit's branches could extend and move at will, but its roots, once planted, could not be easily moved, otherwise, it would suffer a great loss of vitality and might even wither and die. Therefore, the soil around the tree spirit's roots was actually the safest area.

Du Xiangyuan was furious and immediately manipulated the branches to drill into the soil, intending to capture and kill Zhang Yuanjing before he could destroy the wood core.

However, this was not the tree spirit's forte. The branches moved very slowly in the soil, and the deeper they went, the more strenuous it became.

Zhang Yuanjing quickly penetrated over a hundred feet into the ground. At this point, he felt the earth's force around him like mountains, so he summoned the Source Stone, which transformed into stone armor and attached itself to his body, allowing him to continue drilling downwards.

However, to Zhang Yuanjing's surprise, after the stone appeared, it actually pushed him towards the location of the wood core.

This stone had no spiritual sense and could not transmit divine thoughts, but through this behavior, it clearly conveyed its desire, which was the tree spirit's wood core.

Zhang Yuanjing was overjoyed. Originally, he only wanted to dig out the wood core to refine medicine or supplement his cultivation. If the wood core was useful to the Source Stone, that would be a pleasant surprise. Otherwise, relying solely on cultivating the spiritual herbs that fed the Source Stone, when would it ever advance again!

After a few breaths, he drilled to the section of the main root where the wood core was located. This main root was still about half a zhang in diameter at a depth of over a hundred feet, and it was dark black and looked very hard.

At this moment, a thin layer of green mist suddenly appeared on the surface of the main root, quickly condensing into very small green water droplets on the surface of the root and seeping into the soil. This was obviously the tree spirit releasing poison to "intimidate" Zhang Yuanjing.

Zhang Yuanjing didn't care about this at all. He took out the Heavy Earth Art Sword, raised his magic power, and chopped and pulled at the dark and shiny main root, but only scratched a shallow mark a few inches long.

He tried a few more times, each time striking the same spot, and only managed to create a half-inch deep cut.

This root was indeed hard, and it would be difficult to cut it open in a short time by simply hacking at it with the Heavy Earth Art Sword.

He could clearly "see" through his spiritual sense that Du Xiangyuan was manipulating the branches to enter the soil and chase after him. At this moment, two branches were only thirty zhang away from him, and it wouldn't be long before they extended to him.

Zhang Yuanjing quickly reviewed the magical treasures he possessed in his mind, but he didn't have a more sharp attacking treasure than the Heavy Earth Art Sword. In this case, it would take a lot of effort to cut open the tree spirit's main root.

Just as he was helpless, the Source Stone covering his body as stone armor suddenly moved, shrunk into a tiny speck of dust, and drilled into the wound on the tree spirit's root, disappearing.

Losing the protection of the Source Stone, Zhang Yuanjing was immediately overwhelmed by the earth's force surging around him like a tide, making it difficult for him to breathe. He had no choice but to quickly escape upwards.

At this time, the two branches were very close to him. He had to endure the earth's force that seemed to be flattening him and move sideways until he completely avoided the path of the two branches before continuing to move upwards.

When he reached a depth of seventy or eighty zhang in the soil, Zhang Yuanjing stopped ascending and circled around the pursuing branches in the soil at this depth. In any case, the branches were not as fast as him. The task of destroying the wood core could only be entrusted to the Source Stone.

Du Xiangyuan knew through the tree spirit that the branches below had driven Zhang Yuanjing away from the vital part of the main root, and he breathed a sigh of relief.

Then, his face became a little unsightly, and his mood became depressed. He had finally waited for an early-stage Core Formation cultivator, thinking he could take him down, but he turned out to be an expert in the Earth Escape technique, and his cultivation method was not ordinary, as he could move so quickly in the soil.

He was dejected, but he did not give up. He still mustered his spirits and manipulated the tree spirit to chase after Zhang Yuanjing. Even if he couldn't kill him, he couldn't let him hurt the tree spirit, which was the foundation of his existence. With this thing, there was still hope.

However, just as he was adjusting his mood and regaining his strength, a violent spasm came from the lower part of the main root, causing the entire huge tree to tremble. He felt pain all over his body like knives, and he couldn't help but groan.

He repeatedly communicated with the tree spirit's consciousness, but there was no response.

He was anxious and used all his spiritual power to explore downwards, but it was difficult to make any progress once he reached the main root. This was the area that the tree spirit focused on protecting. Although it was controlled by Du Xiangyuan, it had not surrendered and would naturally not open this area to him.

At this time, the branch below him suddenly softened and fell rapidly.

Du Xiangyuan was so frightened that his soul flew away. He quickly moved his magic power, wanting to rise up, but the downward force brought by the falling tree trunk was too violent. He was caught off guard and was brought down, smashing hard on the soil, almost fainting.

"Swish, swish, swish, swish——"

The sound continued, and countless soft branches smashed on his body, burying him under a pile of dense leaves.

In the soil, Zhang Yuanjing stopped his escape. Because the branches behind him suddenly stopped moving. Just as he was surprised, a dark, round thing quickly approached from the soil below, and soon turned into a tiny speck of dust and entered his body, hiding in his dantian.

It was his Source Stone.

At this time, the Source Stone gave him the feeling that it had become more agile, and its aura was more condensed and profound.

He was overjoyed, guessing that it must have obtained an opportunity. He sent his divine sense over, and immediately a lively thought came back: I have advanced!