Chapter Forty: The Elves' Aid

A second spirit arrow whistled through the air.

Han Tianyue, Fang Zhe, Mao Xuanzi, and Boka all turned toward the direction from which it had come. There, bathed in the fading glow of the setting sun, stood a company of noble figures.

“Look, elves!”

“Tree demon, give me back my daughter!” cried the leader, the father of the elven princess Qingfeng.

Black Mountain Old Demon turned, glaring at the elves before him, and roared in fury, “It is you! All of you! I will see you dead!”

“What a boast!” The elven king stepped back, and more than a dozen elven archers advanced. Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh—the arrows of the elves tore through the sky.

Black Mountain Old Demon leaped aside.

The elven king roared again, “Give me back my daughter!”

Black Mountain Old Demon threw back his head and laughed. “Old elf fool, do you think we are afraid of you?”

With that, he raised his scythe and hacked downward. A tide of deathly energy surged toward the elven king.

The elven king extended a finger and lightly pointed. In an instant, the death energy was purified. Smiling, he said, “Foolish tree demon, stop this meaningless resistance and return my daughter to me at once!”

His attack shattered, and Black Mountain Old Demon hurriedly retreated, then sneered, “Do you think your purification can truly cleanse my death energy?”

He spun the Death God’s scythe, and streams of black mist shot forth like a thousand razor-sharp blades aimed at the elven king.

The elven king raised his voice. “Let me show you what elven power is!”

“Boundless Vitality!”

At once, immense leaves burst from the ground, absorbing the death energy until it vanished from sight.

“Damn it. This time I absolutely cannot lose!” Black Mountain Old Demon bellowed. “Let my roots be filled with death energy!”

With his roar, the entire earth began to tremble. Black roots erupted from the soil, and all things’ roots were soaked through with death energy, entirely under his command.

The elven king’s expression changed ever so slightly.

And Black Mountain Old Demon shouted with savage fury, “Elven king, you think that because you command Boundless Vitality you can look down on us ordinary trees? Now I will show you how trees like us change this world!”

More and more roots broke through the ground, until the whole of Black Mountain was completely overrun by them.

Meanwhile, in the not-so-distant mountain cove, Feng Shang and Qingfeng stood frozen in place, for before them lay a tender world of peach blossoms.

“I once had a dream,” Qingfeng murmured. “In it, there were countless peach blossoms. I ran beneath them, delighting in the beauty and brilliance they brought.”

She rushed into the peach grove, for she had spoken of this dream only to the tree, and this place had been arranged for her by the tree itself.

“Is Black Mountain Old Demon’s root really here?” Compared with the horror and malice of Black Mountain Old Demon, this seemed like an entirely different world, and Feng Shang found it difficult to believe.

Qingfeng plucked a branch of peach blossoms, sorrow flickering in her eyes. “It is here. The tree is here.”

“Then let’s search quickly!” More than admiring flowers, Feng Shang cared most about the safety of his companions. They had been here for so long, and he did not know what had become of Han Tianyue and the others. Right now, all he wanted was to destroy Black Mountain Old Demon’s root.

Qingfeng looked at Feng Shang, who was growing anxious, and took his hand, pulling him deeper into the peach grove. “It is just ahead.”

Just as they were about to arrive, a sharp cracking sound suddenly rang out. The tree standing in the center of the peach blossoms toppled over. Qingfeng let go of Feng Shang’s hand and threw herself toward it.

“Tree!”

The tree had finally returned to its original form. It looked at Qingfeng, smiled faintly, and in the end withered away from the roots.

“Tree!”

The peach blossoms throughout the grove fell in cascades, drifting outward on the wind.

“The tree is dead!” Qingfeng shed her final tear.

“We only just arrived, and he died?” Feng Shang said in bewilderment. “Could someone have killed Black Mountain Old Demon?”

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