Chapter 253: Chapter 253: The Smile Gradually Turns Sinister, King of Cursed Praise Ping’an
In the vine cage.
Long Tianxing looked at the black thunderclouds constantly gathering in the sky and remembered how Wang Ping’an had just been flattering and asking to become a disciple, secretly thinking that this round of cursed praise should be enough.
But the question was, was Wang Ping’an really the king of cursed praise?
Everything so far had been conjecture based on Wang Ping’an’s experiences; what if Wang Ping’an wasn’t actually cursed praise, then what would they do?
This tree demon was incredibly cruel; if it succeeded in breaking through, and they were eradicated, wouldn’t that spell their doom?
Thinking this, Long Tianxing looked up at the sky with a face full of anticipation, hoping the Minor Thirty-Nine Heavens Tribulation would be as fierce as possible, preferably ten times more powerful to strike dead this detestable tree demon.
“Keep praising!” Huo Yunjie also started to remind.
With a clueless expression, Wang Ping’an continued to kneel and showered the tree demon with compliments, “Tree Demon Predecessor, you are the electricity, you are the light, you are the great legend!”
“Tree Demon Predecessor, your talent is peerless, your bloodline noble, you will certainly be an invincible king in the future.”
“No!”
“How could the mere title of king be worthy of you?”
“If you ask me, you are definitely an existence that surpasses the Tree Ancestor!”
“You are so powerful, please allow me to take you as my master!”
Listening to Wang Ping’an’s praise, the tree demon snorted coldly, pretending to be very annoyed, but inside it was actually very happy.
A thousand meters away.
The Thousand Faces Demon Monarch hid in a tree.
Hearing Wang Ping’an’s words, he was bewildered, muttering to himself: “Did this disciple get his brain caught in a door? Captured and still delusional about surviving through becoming a disciple? Simply foolish!”
Behind the scenes.
Ye Feng laughed heartily.
“Good, praise well, just like that!”
…
In the sky.
The Heavenly Tribulation finally completed its brewing.
A swath of dark clouds spanning over ten miles sat in the high sky, covering the entire valley and surrounding mountain range with a crushing darkness.
Countless creatures curled up on the ground, trembling.
The cultivators trapped in cages also stopped their wailing and just looked towards the sky, their eyes devoid of light, clearly in despair.
The dozen or so tree demons close to the Demon General Level were also very excited, constantly swaying their trunks and rustling their leaves, as if praising the tree demon leader.
“Today’s tribulation shouldn’t be strong. Using up fifty percent of my strength should be enough to get through it.”
The tree demon looked at the sky as countless vines intertwined upward, forming a huge green umbrella covering a few hundred meters in radius, ready to resist the Heavenly Tribulation.
Crack!
A bolt of blue with a hint of gold shot down, igniting the air, which seemed to explode, emitting a terrifying roar that made one shudder.
“Strange, why does this thunder seem different?”
Seeing that the Heavenly Tribulation had a faint golden edge, the tree demon was suddenly filled with this thought and felt very surprised.
Crack!
The lightning-avoidance umbrella made of countless vines exploded on the spot, and the tree demon immediately widened its eyes in shock, exclaiming, “Impossible, absolutely impossible! This is not the power that a Minor Thirty-Nine Heavens Tribulation should have!”
In the cage.
Long Tianxing’s eyes widened.
His face slowly twisted into a sinister smile. He placed his hands on the bewildered Wang Ping’an and said in a deep voice, “Junior Brother, keep praising it, praise it to death!”
“Ah?”
“What ‘ah’? Keep praising!”
“Oh… okay.”
Wang Ping’an nodded and continued, “A momentary failure doesn’t mean perpetual failure, Tree Demon Predecessor, you were unharmed blocking the first wave of tribulation, really amazing, I believe, for the next wave, you will definitely evade it easily.”
“Shut up!” the tree demon scolded.
The lightning-avoidance umbrella formed from the vines had consumed half of its strength to condense, which, in the past, could have withstood three waves of tribulation.
But this time, it broke instantly!
“What on earth happened?”
“Could it be that my bloodline ascended too fast, and the power of the tribulation increased too?”
The tree demon was at a loss for an answer.
Rumble!
The second wave of the Heavenly Tribulation was about to descend.
“Not good!” The tree demon hurriedly used the rest of its strength, condensing a second vine umbrella against the tribulation.
Crack!
The second thunderbolt turned halfway to gold, even more terrifying than the first, giving off a dangerous feeling, as if facing a celestial being above.
“So strong!”
The tree demon watched helplessly as the tribulation shattered the vine umbrella like decaying wood, then kept striking down, scorching a great number of branches and trunks or simply causing them to collapse, putting it in grave danger.
“This is definitely not the Minor Thirty-Nine Heavens Tribulation!”
The tree demon was frightened.
After the second thunderbolt, it had lost a hundred years’ worth of cultivation, and its aura had fallen from the middle rank Demon General peak to an experienced middle rank Demon General. It was no longer possible to withstand the last wave of tribulation.
“Failure is the mother of success, Tree Demon Predecessor, two failures don’t count for much, for the third time, you will surely get through unscathed.”
Wang Ping’an was still doling out cursed praise.
At first, he was very clueless.
Only when Long Tianxing recently whispered the words “Junior Brother Wang, you are the king of cursed praise” in his ear did Wang Ping’an fully realize.
He finally understood why the Sect Leader didn’t allow him to become a disciple.
Because he was the king of cursed praise!
To take him as a master was to court misfortune!
So, Wang Ping’an went all in.
“Tree Demon Elder, you are taller than the skies and more expansive than the oceans, you…”
“Shut your damn mouth!”
The Tree Demon didn’t know that Wang Ping’an was the King of Cursed Praise, but it was in an extremely bad mood at the moment. Irritated by the sound of Wang Ping’an’s voice, it immediately controlled a vine sharp as a spear to stab at him.
“Danger!”
Everyone quickly pulled Wang Ping’an away to dodge the spear-like vine, and the next moment, the third strike of the Heavenly Tribulation finally descended.
This time, it was pure gold!
A terrifying pressure mixed with a sense of nobility, dominance, and danger came crashing down, pinning the Tree Demon in place, leaving it to watch helplessly as it was split in two by the thunderbolt and collapsed with a loud bang.
“Damn it, so you’re the King of Cursed Praise!”
Just before its death, the Tree Demon had an epiphany, wheezing out its last words filled with anger, unwillingness, and resentment.
Crack!
As the Tree Demon fell, Huo Yunjie found that the Soul-Suppressing Nail in his brow immediately crumbled, and his cultivation level began to recover. He swiftly cleaved through the vine cage with a sword, landing on the ground with Shi Lei and a few others.
“We’re saved!”
The cultivators in the other cages exclaimed with joy.
Some even let out strange laughs of “Give, give, give,” using their long-restrained cultivation to tear through the cages and land safely on the ground.
Behind the scenes.
Ye Feng was pleased to see his disciples getting out of trouble and immediately ordered the Thousand Faces Demon Monarch, “Bring back the corpse of the Tree Demon, but remember, it’s best to do it quietly, without exposing your identity.”
“Understood,” the Thousand Faces Demon Monarch nodded.
In the valley.
The dozen or so Tree Demons and the surrounding vine Demon Soldiers all let out howls, unable to believe that their mighty Tree Demon Leader could fall like that.
They had witnessed the entire process of the first two Minor Thirty-Nine Heavens Tribulations.
At that time, the Tree Demon Leader had easily blocked the Heavenly Tribulations with just half of its strength. So, why had the power of the tribulation increased so much this time?
Aside from Shi Lei’s group, no one knew why.
“Damn Demon Race, meet your death!”
A white-robed swordsman, having recovered his cultivation, took his Flying Sword and charged towards the Tree Demons, radiating the Aura of the Peak of the Qi Refining Realm.
“These demons have caused enough harm; let us join the fight too.” Huo Yunjie drew his Cold Light Sword and joined the battle as well.
“Dragon Transformation!” Long Tianxing assumed a horse stance and roared, his body beginning to glow as he quickly entered Dragon Transformation state, with his combat power skyrocketing.
“We just need to ensure our own safety.” Shi Lei cast the Mysterious Turtle Shield and the defense spell “Black Tortoise Armor” to protect himself and Wang Ping’an.
“Streaming Light Sword Qi!”
Huo Yunjie formed a hand seal with one hand while swinging the Cold Light Sword with the other, slashing out several bright sword lights, tearing apart dozens of Demon Soldier Level vines.
“You’re courting death!”
The remaining dozen or so Tree Demons were furious.
They couldn’t move, but their cultivation was close to that of Lower-Rank Demon Generals, and the countless vines on the trees, heavy as axes and sharp as spears, began piercing and killing many cultivators in an instant.
“It seems I have no choice but to use this move.”
Huo Yunjie leaped to a place away from the battlefield, sheathed his sword, grasped the hilt with his left hand holding the scabbard and his right hand holding the sword handle in reverse, and began to gather his momentum.
“Everyone, get out of the way!” Shi Lei shouted a warning.
Seeing Huo Yunjie’s stance, Long Tianxing knew he was about to execute a Sword Drawing Technique and quickly left the battlefield. The Peak Qi Refinement white-robed swordsman also sensed a fierce sword aura gathering between heaven and earth and promptly vacated the battlefield, his eyes landing on Huo Yunjie.
“Such strong momentum!”
The white-robed swordsman’s eyes narrowed.
Although he was also a swordsmanship prodigy with extraordinary strength, capable of holding his own against a Tree Demon in the Transformation Stage, he dared not be the slightest bit careless in the face of Huo Yunjie’s sharp aura.
“Unleash!”
Huo Yunjie finally drew his sword.
Slice!
A crescent-shaped sword Qi swept out three meters above the ground, effortlessly slicing through five large trees with a force that seemed to bring ruinous decay.
The remaining Tree Demons, although they withstood the blow, were all heavily injured.
“Such a powerful sword technique!”
The white-robed swordsman was astonished.
“Cough, cough!” After executing the Sword Drawing Technique, Huo Yunjie felt as if he was on the verge of collapse, nearly sitting down on the ground, but luckily he was supported by Long Tianxing.
“Second Senior Brother, here, take some medicine.” Wang Ping’an hurriedly took out a bottle of Lower Grade “Rejuvenation Pills.”
A few pills later, Huo Yunjie regained his breath.
Looking at the remaining Tree Demons, the corner of his mouth lifted, and he prepared to execute the Sword Drawing Technique once again.
“Spare us!”
“Let us go!”
“It was all the leader’s fault, we are innocent!”
The Tree Demons pleaded loudly, but Huo Yunjie didn’t listen at all and fiercely unleashed a sword aura as dazzling as the previous one, cutting down the remaining Tree Demons.
With that, the great battle ended.
The more than ten surviving cultivators quickly gathered around, bowing gratefully to Huo Yunjie and his group.
“I am Luo Hedong, an Inner Sect Disciple of the Sword King Sect. If I’m not mistaken, you must be disciples of the Divine Wind Sword Sect, right?” The white-robed swordsman stood three meters away, giving Huo Yunjie and the others a sword-holding salute.
“Sword King Sect?”
Expressions of admiration appeared on the faces of Huo Yunjie and the other cultivators.
The Sword King Sect, a Two-Star Force in the Southern River Basin.
It was a swordsmanship sect similar to the Divine Wind Sword Sect, where every disciple had to practice swordsmanship and also had unique auxiliary swordsmanship cultivation methods.
However, the Sword King Sect was more than ten thousand li away from the Taiyue Mountain Range, even further than County King City. Everyone wondered why Luo Hedong had come to such a remote place.
Behind the scenes.
Ye Feng observed Luo Hedong through the Heaven-Asking Mirror, also curious.