“Forest: Chaotic Symphony,” Yao Wu whispered through pale lips.
Massive, vigorous trunks tore through the ground, shooting toward Su Li. Her eyes narrowed as flames coalesced into a halo around her, with reddish-gold tongues of fire flickering across the sky. She watched the incoming branches with utter disdain—before the phoenix fire, all wood was nothing but fuel, fit only to be reduced to ash.
Unfortunately, she had underestimated her enemy this time. The bark of the ancient wood tore open, revealing lava-like veins pulsing within. Crimson sap seeped from the cracks, sizzling and smoking as it dripped onto the ground. The branches pierced right through her halo of flames; only their leaves were slightly singed, while the trunks lost none of their momentum, hurtling straight toward her. Su Li's pupils contracted. The phoenix veered sharply, barely dodging several strikes. A branch grazed her cuff, tearing the fabric and exposing her snow-white forearm.
“Southern Mountain Firewood!” Su Li gritted her teeth, her voice laced with venom. “Damn it, he can even cultivate a rare species like this?” This wood grew only in active volcanic craters in the Southern Border and possessed extreme resistance to high temperatures. She pulled the phoenix into a sudden halt in midair to dodge the remaining strikes. Looking down at her torn sleeve, the contempt in her eyes finally vanished. She began to take this plant spirit in boxer shorts seriously.
Yao Wu gave her no time to catch her breath.
“Forest: Rhapsody!” Yao Wu curled his hands into claws, his fingers splayed wide as if trying to tear something from the air. The ground shuddered once more. This time, it wasn't branches, but palms. Colossal wooden hands, easily a dozen stories high, erupted from the earth. Their fingers splayed wide, they lunged to crush Su Li. The wind howled; the mere shockwave of their descent ripped away several nearby roofs, sending shattered tiles flying everywhere.
Su Li did not dodge. Mounted on the phoenix, its tail feathers glowing with a blinding, reddish-gold light, she dived toward Yao Wu like an arrow loosed from a bow. She ignored the grasping giant hands, her gaze locked entirely on him. To catch the bandits, first capture their leader!
“Flame Peck!” The phoenix's beak gleamed like gold and jade. Dragging a long trail of flowing fire, it swept down toward Yao Wu's face amidst a torrent of descending flames.
Clang!
A pitch-black giant turtle suddenly materialized in front of Yao Wu. The formation runes on the ground glowed brilliantly. These lines weren't merely drawn; they were engraved with spiritual energy, like scars left by a branding iron on a stone slab. The giant turtle looked incredibly lifelike—its head resembled a spirit snake, its body a black tortoise, its neck a coiled dragon, its shell cold jade, and its tail a massive python. It forcefully deflected Su Li, leaving not even a white scratch on its shell. The giant turtle raised its head and roared, sending rolling sound waves that made the gravel on the ground dance. It was dozens of times more majestic than the turtle from before.
Lu Yan poked his head out sneakily from behind the shell. Squatting at the edge of the tortoise shell with one hand holding on, he grinned mischievously. “Did you really think your Grandpa Lu was useless? You're in for a world of hurt now that you've let me set up my formation!”
Knocked backward, Su Li flipped in midair to regain her footing. She had no time to deal with him, as the two giant wooden hands were already closing in. Having abandoned her defense to capture Yao Wu, she was now too late to dodge.
The two giant hands slammed together with devastating force. Boom! A shockwave surged as grey smoke billowed outward. Splintered wood, dust, and sparks swirled together, rising from the ground like a grayish-black mushroom cloud. Su Li's muffled voice echoed from within the haze. As the smoke slowly cleared, her figure was revealed. Two furry, snow-white fox ears with reddish tips had popped out from her forehead. Behind her, nine gradient-colored tails danced in the wind, transitioning from snow-white at the base to reddish-gold at the tips like nine rivers of flowing fire. She had forcefully withstood the crushing force of the two giant hands, her arms braced wide and her knees slightly bent, her feet sunk deep into two craters in the ground.
Veins bulged on Yao Wu's forehead, and the muscles on his arms swelled like gnarled tree roots. He forced the hands inward with all his might, but they wouldn't budge. Su Li's tails braced against the inner walls of the giant hands one after another, her spine taut like a fully drawn bow.
Lu Yan's heart sank. Yao Wu's current cultivation was borrowed by burning his lifespan; they couldn't keep fighting like this. He popped another Focus-Stabilizing Pill, swallowing it dry as the bitter taste exploded at the back of his tongue. His aura surged to the late-stage Nascent Soul realm. He made a gesture to Yao Wu—pressing two fingers together and pointing downward. Yao Wu understood instantly. That gesture meant only one thing: “Hold her!” A savage grin tugged at the corner of Yao Wu's mouth. He knew Lu Yan was about to set up a formation, and any formation that required Lu Yan to take his time would definitely give Su Li a run for her money.
“Myriad Forest!” Yao Wu gritted his teeth and channeled his Dharma Body once more. More giant hands erupted from the ground—four, then six, pressing down on Su Li from all directions, layering over each other like the wrappings of a mummy. Vines snaked out from the gaps between the wooden fingers, weaving back and forth until they encased Su Li in an airtight cocoon.
*Bang! *Bang! Bang! The innermost wooden arms rapidly deformed under Su Li's struggles, their knuckles twisting and wood chips flying everywhere. Cold sweat poured down Yao Wu's face, soaking his clothes. His own fingers began to warp. The pain of the connection to his wooden creation was excruciating; he was reaching his absolute limit. “Lu Yan! Are you fucking ready yet?!” He didn't even bother with a sound transmission, roaring the words aloud.
“Coming!” Lu Yan shouted, squatted behind the giant tortoise. A pile of materials lay beside him—Lava Heart, Earth-Jade Marrow, and Earth's Lament. He embedded the glowing, multicolored ores one by one into the newly drawn runes on the ground. With each piece he placed, the formation lines flared to life. “Qingzi, release her!”
Yao Wu abruptly released his grip. The six giant hands sprang apart simultaneously, and Su Li broke free. Her hair was disheveled, and her robes were torn in several places. Before she could even take in her surroundings, Lu Yan leaped to his feet. He slammed both palms onto the ground, and formation runes rippled outward from his hands like a spiderweb, like pulsing veins, like an ancient language lighting up character by character on the stone tiles. It was an instant-cast formation, leaving Su Li no time to dodge. A wild, triumphant grin finally broke across Lu Yan's face. Pointing a finger at Su Li in midair, he roared, his voice cracking with exertion, “Let's see you block this!”
“Precipice Blade!”
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