Beheading the Demon

  To say that Xiahou Jian, who is proud and arrogant, has learned the medium-level swordsmanship, it's not very impressive in itself. It's a swordsmanship that only emphasizes killing and doesn't emphasize nurturing. Although it has the advantage of being quick to learn, the cost is that it's difficult to reach a higher level for life. On the other hand, Yan Chixia has already learned the advanced swordsmanship to the point of mastery, and it's not excessive to call him a Sword Immortal.

  A tiny difference in the foundation of swordsmanship can lead to a huge deviation.

  Manshuo is a Xiahou Jian, ten Xiahou Jians in front of such an expert as Yan Chixia, as long as his flying sword comes out, it's still a chicken and dog that can't withstand a single blow.

  Although Yan Chixia's superior swordsmanship could easily defeat his opponent, he maintained a sense of martial dignity and did not resort to using flying swords to win over Xia Houjian; this time, he used mid-level sword techniques to make his opponent retreat in disarray.

  This stubborn Xia Houjian, seems to be unable to see the intention behind Yan Chixia's repeated concessions. This guy will probably not give up even after he recovers from his injuries and comes back to continue challenging again. Xia Houjian is a man as sharp as his name suggests, with a temper as volatile as a sharp sword, who would draw his sword at the slightest disagreement. Although he has killed countless people, he remains a hot-blooded hero. His biggest weakness is that he cannot resist temptation by beauty. In Xu Lao Guai's movie, this guy died because of this not-so-big flaw.

  Yan Chixia and Xia Houjian had been in contact for many years, so they naturally knew that their opponent's behavior was not bad enough to be killed. Yan Chixia repeatedly tolerated and taught him, hoping that one day Xia Houjian would realize this himself.

  What a pity! The other party is unappreciative. Yan Chixia's flirtatious glance this time was wasted on a blind man.

  When Lin Xu and Huang Shi Ren each led their troops of ghostly soldiers to the vicinity of Lanruo Temple, they coincidentally encountered Xia Hou Jian Ke and Yan Chi Xia, a pair of old enemies, engaging in a martial arts competition within the temple.

  Witnessing the two engaging in a familiar-looking duel, Lin Xiang couldn't help but stir up his thoughts once again. At this moment, he was pondering a complex question: many places in this world had unbelievable similarities with legends and stories from his original world. Upon closer inspection, there were significant differences in details, but the similarities far outweighed them, making it seem like more than just a coincidence. Was it Zhuangzi dreaming of butterflies or butterflies dreaming of Zhuangzi? This question was indeed too profound. Lin Xiang fell into this deep philosophical conundrum for only an instant before he remembered that he didn't come to Lanruo Temple today to discuss philosophy.

  Lin Xu paused for a moment, reorganized his thoughts, and said to Huang Shiran, the Landlord:

  "Huang, that tree demon is good at escaping. Last time I heard from the Mo Gate people that it has also prepared many clones that can be called upon at any time. It's not easy to completely eradicate them. Later, I'll have to trouble you to seal off this area and prevent it from running away."

  At the sound, Huang Shiren's face was bitter and smiled, he looked embarrassed and said:

  "This... I will do my best, but if my strength is insufficient..."

  Lin Xu smiled and comforted him with kind words:

  "Man proposes, God disposes. Why bother with so many calculations?"

  Having unified his thoughts, Lin Xu immediately took the next step and cast a divine technique similar to "Transmitting Sound into the Ear". Immediately, Lin Xu's clear voice entered Yan Chi Xia's ear, saying:

  "Yan Dao You, we've arrived. Tonight is the night for taking action against the evil spirit. Please devise a plan to lure that tree demon out."

  Suddenly hearing the news, Yan Chixia was very calm and nodded secretly, then walked slowly towards the Buddhist hall where he usually lived, without showing any intention of taking action.

  This time, the demon-slaying operation was a bit strained. Even if he had a full house, Lin Xu's troops were only around 4,000 strong, and he needed to deal with numerous large and small demon kings in the mountains. Whether it was the old mountain god temple deep in Huo Mountain or the newly opened Jiufeng Town new mountain god temple, neither could be left unguarded, so he had only about 1,000 troops available. Moreover, Generals Wang and Zhang were each garrisoning a mountain god temple, and on the side of Lanruo Temple, Lin Xu himself was in charge of directing the battle.

  As Lin Xu's only previous experience in commanding was also from drill practice on the playground, rather than actual combat testing on the battlefield, the rest came from books and audio-visual materials.

  To be frank, Lin Xu himself was not confident in his ability to handle this task, but when it came down to it, he would not shrink back, and no matter what, he had to get through this ordeal first.

  "Monster, come out quickly and meet your death!"

  Yan Chixia's loud shout rang out, and with a flash of red light, the thunderous roar was heard for ten miles. A hundred-year-old ancient tree growing near Lanruo Temple was instantly ignited by Yan Chixia's palm thunder, quickly burning into a large torch.

  Yan Chixia was indeed a capable person, and he took the opportunity to tidy up his clothes in his room to think about how to lure out the tree demon grandma.

  The commotion caused by the recent martial arts match between Xia Houjian and I is quite significant, it's definitely not something that can be hidden from that old demon, it's highly likely that it's lurking nearby. Having thought of this, Yan Chixia simply chose a nearby lush tree as his target, and this move to scare the tiger by hitting the mountain was instantly effective.

  At this time, a shrill cry was heard, and a green smoke rose from the burning tree, followed by a woman's voice with unparalleled resentment saying:

  "Yan Chixia, we were originally like well water and river water that didn't interfere with each other. The people I killed were all wicked men who couldn't resist temptation, why must you make things difficult for me?"

  Upon hearing this, Yan Chixia's heart knew that the big fish had taken the bait, but she didn't flinch in the slightest and continued to scold seriously:

  "You demon, you will eventually lose control and harm even good people. Rather than waiting for that to happen, I'll eliminate you now as a menace to the world. The universe has no bounds, and the law of heaven and earth is on loan!"

  "Rumble, rumble, rumble——"

  Just now, when I returned to the room, I had already drawn the Taiji yin-yang fish in my palm. At this time, I only heard Yan Chixia let out a loud roar, and his palms alternated forward. The continuous palm thunder that poured out like flames exploded with a red glow all over the ground, and the smoke filled the air like a temple on fire. The tree demon grandmother who had escaped under the ancient tree spat out her tongue, planning to use the cover of the trees to launch a sneak attack on Yan Chixia from behind.

  Just as the two sides were about to engage in a fierce battle, Lin Xu could no longer sit still. Although it would have been easier to wait until Yan Chixia exhausted the Tree Demon's physical strength before making his move, through close observation, Lin Xu realized that the Tree Demon's cultivation was higher than he had previously estimated. As a result, Lin Xu also thought of the reason. This was because he had miscalculated the promotional effect of the Tree Demon absorbing human blood on its cultivation. If he didn't take action soon, it was likely that Yan Chixia would end up dying under the Tree Demon's tongue.

  Knowing the value of timing, Lin Xu no longer hesitated and said:

  "Huang brother, get ready to take action."

  "Light the talisman at once!"

  When Yan Chixia heard Lin Xu's transmission message in his ear again, a spark flashed in his eyes, and he quickly flew back, pulling away from the tree demon grandma.

  Then, Yan Chixia stepped out with the Yu Step, and with one hand, he ignited several talismans that he had pulled out from his bosom. He muttered to himself as he said:

  "Heaven and earth, great power of Tian Ding. Assist my law, sweep away evil spirits. Foul air quickly extinguished, sweep away evil spirits. Altar quickly purified, Dao energy long preserved. Urgent, urgent, as if by imperial decree."

  There is no infinite freedom in the world, without rules, it's not a perfect circle. People must abide by the law, gods must follow the rules, even demons and monsters have taboos that they dare not touch.

  Any power, no matter how strong, must follow the law to maintain its existence. This is the Tao, this is the ultimate principle of heaven and earth.

  If Lin Xu had come out alone, things wouldn't have been so troublesome, and it would have been enough to just take up arms and go. But this time, Lin Xu brought over a thousand dark troops to surround and annihilate the tree demon, making the situation quite different.

  Yin and yang cannot disturb each other, this is one of the iron laws that the gods follow. If Lin Xu openly violates the rules and acts, the serious consequences that will be triggered are probably something he can't afford to bear.

  Then, Yan Chixia, the Taoist priest, burned the prepared divine invitation talisman and recited the purification altar spell to satisfy the prerequisite for the large army of Yin soldiers to join the battle.

  In mid-air, the true body of the Golden Body appeared, and Lin Xu immediately swung his Seven-Star Sword in his hand, shouting loudly:

  "Cut down the evil spirits, leaving no grass intact."

  As the old saying goes, people get wiser with age, horses get more slippery, and it's hard for eagles to catch rabbits when they're old. Even idiots who live for a thousand years should have learned to be clever by now; this has nothing to do with IQ, but is simply the natural accumulation of survival wisdom.

  "You want to destroy me, but it's not that easy."

  Rumble...

  At this time, the Tree Demon Granny saw a large group of dark soldiers rushing in like a tide, and she immediately understood that today's situation was already lost. She immediately abandoned part of her body's branches and took the most extreme self-destructive approach to create chaos.

  At this moment, the wooden thunder of Yimu Temple burst out one after another, and the sky was filled with flying wood chips and leaves.

  At this time, taking advantage of the chaos, Tree Demon Granny chose two positions where the Earthly Spirits were located to break out. The reason was very simple: the petrified Yin soldiers had already surrounded Lanruo Temple, forming an impenetrable iron barrel formation, making it extremely difficult to force a breakout. However, the principle that "it's darkest under the lamp" is also applicable here; Lin Xu and Huang Shiren's positions were bound to have relatively weak defenses, and in normal thinking patterns, this blind spot would often be inadvertently overlooked.

  Things that are completely correct in theory often hit a snag in practice. No, Lin Xu's side indeed had the least number of troops, but he himself was the strongest warrior in Mount Sheng Temple!

  "Look out, Beidou... Seven Star Demon Slaying!"

  As he watched the tree demon granny with sharp teeth and claws pounce towards him, Lin Xu immediately let out a cold laugh and shouted out his move.

  Before making a move, he had to let out a loud shout. It wasn't that he had contracted the Japanese animation syndrome or that his internet addiction hadn't healed yet. Rather, it was because of the Seven Stars Sword forged by Lin Xuanzi, which came with multiple sword lights and required voice activation.

  "Bang! Bang! Bang! Ka-ching——"

  As Lin Xu let out a thunderous roar, the seven sword shadows, along with the true body of the Seven Stars Sword, struck the same position on the Tree Demon Granny's body in succession. This time, no matter how strong the Tree Demon's physical defense was, it would likely be unable to withstand this attack and would have to take the hit head-on.

  "Ah! I... I will never tire of waiting for you."

  Where the sword shadow passed, a huge wound of more than ten inches long appeared on the trunk of the tree demon, from the front chest to the back spine. It can't be said that its body has become transparent on both sides.