CHAPTER 372: CHAPTER 372 DEMON MONK

"Crack!"

The moment the Nine Nether Peach Tree’s health bar cleared to zero, a cracking sound was heard. The entire tree broke from the root and crumbled into specks of light that disappeared with the wind;

The roots of the tree, winding like giant serpents, suddenly recoiled and twitched a few times, resembling the final struggle of a living creature as its Life Energy halted, withering, splitting, and dissipating at a visible speed.

Immediately, Jiang Yuan saw the layer of white velvet-like fungal filaments under his feet rapidly wither into a thin gray layer of dry skin. The slightly dry summer wind swept across the mountains, and occasionally, some fragments of the dry skin were blown far away among the paper cranes and paper sculptures fluttering in the air.

"We’re saved!"

"We’ve been saved!"

"Thank you for saving our lives!"

"Thank you, benefactor, for your great kindness, we will never forget..."

......

Finally, the cultivators trapped across the mountains were freed, and the dense crowd shouted excitedly, thanking their lifesaver.

Jiang Yuan stood at the barren, entirely cleared mountaintop and looked back, raising his hand to collect the dense Evil Energy of Ghostly Wail into the Soul Refining Banner.

"Having completed my task, I should leave quietly..." he tried to control his bloodthirsty Frenzy state, drowsily thinking that the original purpose of this trip was to seize the opportunity to fight for one or two "Immortal Peaches" to increase his lifespan. Unexpectedly, the event unfolded so suddenly that his gains far exceeded expectations, and it was time to stop and go home to farm.

Incidentally, disperse the peaches to anyone who wanted them.

Not to mention the repercussions of consuming them, just thinking about how that thing grew rooted in tens of thousands of corpses made him feel nauseated, and he didn’t even want to touch them, let alone eat them.

Before Jiang Yuan could use the Demon Seal Escape to return to the general store, Wo Hu Mountain suddenly shook!

"Rumble~"

The tremor from the ground startled the cultivators who had not left in time. They didn’t care what happened, immediately scattering in all directions like frightened birds and beasts, causing chaos both in the sky and on the ground.

Everything happened in an instant.

"Who goes there?" Yu Hu, the warrior, was the first to notice, trembling his Long Blade into a spear and forming a battle formation with the spear pointed behind.

Jiang Yuan turned his head and was stunned—to his left, a giant tiger ear surprisingly opened a door, and out came a young-looking monk with red lips, white teeth, and a gloomy face!

[Demon Monk Guang Hui: Ninth Layer Golden Core Realm Intermediate monster, true form is a Wind-Winged Bird, expert in escape.

Two thousand four hundred years ago, facing no hope of advancement and nearing the end of lifespan, he learned that the Nine Netherworld Peach could extend life. After much hardship, he found this Secret Realm and enjoyed eighteen Immortal Peaches alone, extending his life by eighteen hundred years.

To monopolize the Secret Realm’s Immortal Peach Tree, Demon Monk Guang Hui destroyed the Secret Realm’s Teleportation Array and other buildings, leaving only an indestructible door.

Subsequently, he discovered that the destroyed Spirit Gathering Array meant the Nine Nether Peach Tree wasn’t nourished well enough to bloom and fruit, so he used fake Immortal Peaches as bait, modified the Wo Hu Mountain Array to lure cultivators to feed the peach tree, gaining twenty-one Immortal Peaches to extend his life by twenty-one hundred years.

Surviving by a hair’s breadth yet fearing arousing Heavenly Dao’s attention, Guang Hui hid on Wo Hu Mountain. When necessary, he descended ahead of time disguised as an Enlightened Monk, deceiving more people to feed the Nine Nether Peach Tree, hoping to enjoy more Immortal Peaches twelve hundred years later...]

The system really honored this Demon Monk, Jiang Yuan thought to himself, as this was the only "NPC" in history comparable to the characters introduced initially. Skimming through, he saw the words—Blood Bag!

And a super-sized Blood Bag at that!

"One thousand eight plus two thousand one minus two thousand four..." He calculated mentally and realized this guy had fifteen hundred years of lifespan to absorb, immediately releasing his Frenzy state.

With a wave of the Soul Refining Banner in the wind, Jiang Yuan thought to let everyone know this guy’s true face, so he burned a hundred years of lifespan to activate the Ghost Roar skill, roaring in attack, "Demon Monk Guang Hui, luring cultivators to feed Immortal Peaches to let you linger on for two thousand four hundred years, today, the evil cause and effect should be reckoned!"

Ghost Roar was an attack by sound waves, and the skill’s effect was naturally potent when released by burning lifespan.

Thus, all the cultivators fleeing in panic owing to the earthquake heard the non-discriminatory attack of Ghost Roar, blasting into their sea of consciousness.

Fortunately, even with Group Attack Skills, Ghost Roar had a main strike target and effective range. Previously, Yu Hu warriors had already evacuated the survivors near the Immortal Peach Tree, leaving only the edges affected, with less Attack Power.

Even so, the ill-fated cultivators of today had become like startled birds, fleeing for their lives at the sight.

The plaza was immediately crowded and chaotic.

Hu Zhile couldn’t sense the Venerable Family’s presence and was just about to join everyone in resolving the crisis at Wo Hu Mountain when he was stopped by Xie Chenyuan, "Hold on, that monster is about to fight the Demon Monk. Since your Venerable Family excels in Paperman and Paper Horse Skill, there’s no need to worry."

After all, earlier, the dozens of paper cranes and sculptures released were intact, and if their master were in danger, they would have been affected and fallen long ago.

"Let them fight; we’ll do our thing, unrelated!" Yun Mo was ready to take off in a hurry, but the monster’s roar obviously frightened everyone, and without bumping a few Sword Flight cultivators out of the way, he couldn’t take off.

Meanwhile, the cultivators with no losses waiting to watch were suddenly in an uproar.

"The mastermind is actually Master Guang Hui? That can’t be true, can it? How could an Enlightened Monk do such a thing?"

"That monster actually said the master is a Demon Monk?"

"No, what did he say? Should’ve died two thousand four hundred years ago? Guang Hui lived for so long?"

"Just think about it! Two thousand four hundred years ago was when the Immortal Peach matured, and if he ate them, he could live another thousand years, waiting until the next harvest to deceive cultivators to feed the peach tree, waiting for this harvest!"

"So he intentionally leaked the news to make the tree eat enough for more fruits next time?!"

"It definitely looks and feels like Guang Hui; it should be...not fake, right?"

......

Those able to join the chance-grabbing weren’t fools, with the peach tree being defeated by the monster, everyone was saved; the sudden appearance of Monk Guang Hui couldn’t be something good?

Moreover, quite a few cultivators were there because of his lectures mentioning the Immortal Peach prolonging life, trying their luck.

With the monster revealing his true nature, those deceived and nearly killed wished to tear him apart. Yet, given their already significant losses and an unfamiliar monster’s presence, though indignant, no one dared to really approach.

Monk Guang Hui took a verbal hit head-on, making his brain buzz and leaving him in a daze.

Back then, with dwindling lifespan fortuitously encountering the Secret Realm, he greedily consumed all the naturally grown Immortal Peaches, gaining a millennium lifespan and coveting the tree for himself.

However, the teleportation door could not be destroyed with his strength alone, and though remote, it wasn’t foolproof.

Thus, Guang Hui hardened his heart, destroying all landscapes that could expose the Secret Realm, making it look like an ordinary mountain. Even if someone intruded, they wouldn’t be interested in the old peach tree in the dilapidated temple, protecting the treasure for himself as much as possible.

What he didn’t anticipate was the realization after all the destruction, that everything previously set up was to ensure enough Spiritual Power to nourish the Immortal Peach Tree for fruiting, lacking which the tree couldn’t gather strength for another twelve hundred years to bear fruit.

Without Immortal Peaches to extend life, wouldn’t he still die?