"No matter what, this Tree Man has already reached Level 6, so our trip wasn't in vain. Let's take out its Demon Core and Demon Soul now." Yun Luo Fairy said softly after a moment of silence, exhaling slowly.

Yuan Ming nodded, raised his hand, and a massive black palm flashed, entering the enormous Tree Man's body, quickly extracting a verdant Demon Core within which the Demon Soul was hidden.

Compared to the Sea Jelly Demon Beast, the Tree Demon's Demon Soul was much more refined, seemingly having only Soul Power without any awareness.

"It seems that this gigantic Tree Man was truly completely controlled by the Lianli Tree Demon; otherwise, its Divine Soul wouldn't be like this." Yuan Ming thought to himself.

However, this is better. The gigantic Tree Man's Demon Soul lacks awareness, making it easier to refine into a Dharma Manifestation Pill.

"Master Dian, I'll have to trouble you again." Yuan Ming handed the Demon Core and Demon Soul into the Shura Palace, passing them to Dian Xiaosan's hand.

Dian Xiaosan was still within the Extreme Fire Territory, researching the Complete Heaven Exquisite Tripod. Seeing another set of Dharma Manifestation Pill materials being sent in, he showed a confident smile and said to the void, "Fellow Daoist Yuan, rest assured, with last time's experience, refining pills this time should be much faster."

"Then I await your news with great anticipation." Yuan Ming's voice came from the void.

Dian Xiaosan took over the Demon Core and Demon Soul and began studying them carefully.

After Yuan Ming finished explaining the matters at Dian Xiaosan's place, his gaze fell again on the corpse of the gigantic Tree Man.

"This gigantic Tree Man is a Level 6 Demon Beast, though its Demon Core is gone, the remaining demon body is still good stuff; we can't waste it. Fellow Daoist Yun Luo, do you wish to take a portion as spiritual material?" Yuan Ming turned and asked.

"I'm not in need of much; this amount is enough, so the rest you should handle, Fellow Daoist Yuan." Yun Luo Fairy nodded slightly, taking only two zhangs of spiritual material from the tree trunk.

The gigantic Tree Man was nearly a thousand zhangs tall; what she took was but a drop in the ocean.

"I've already taken the gigantic Tree Man's Demon Core and Demon Soul. Fellow Daoist Yun Luo only wanted this little bit from the corpse; how can I feel at ease?" Yuan Ming blinked and said.

"Since Fellow Daoist Yuan says so, let me have this Lianli Tree Demon as compensation, how about that?" Yun Luo Fairy smiled.

"This demon was caught by Fellow Daoist Yun Luo; you may naturally dispose of it as you wish." Yuan Ming nodded.

"Thank you, Fellow Daoist Yuan." Yun Luo Fairy took out a Spiritual Beast Bag and collected the Lianli Tree Demon.

Seeing this, Yuan Ming also stored the gigantic Tree Man corpse.

...

A few days later, Lei Yu, Hua Zhi, and Vajra gathered, and with the demon hunting done, they didn't continue to stay in the Abyss, leaving aboard Lei Yu.

Within the Shura Palace's Medicine Garden, Yuan Ming cast a spell and transformed into the Undying Tree form.

The roots of the Undying Tree quickly spread out, enveloping and devouring the corpse of the gigantic Tree Man. Yuan Ming felt wave after wave of pure power pouring into his body, causing the demonic power of the Undying Tree to continuously rise, soon reaching Level 5 Peak.

The gigantic Tree Man's corpse still contained much demonic power, and Yuan Ming continued to manipulate the Undying Tree roots to devour, aiming for the Level 6 bottleneck.

However, the difficulty of this step far exceeded Yuan Ming's expectations, perhaps because he hadn't absorbed the gigantic Tree Man's Demon Core and Demon Soul. No matter how he increased the devouring intensity, there was no sign of further growth in the Undying Tree's demonic power.

A full quarter-hour passed, and the Tree Man's corpse had shrunk significantly, with most of its demonic power already absorbed, yet the Undying Tree still remained at Level 5 Peak.

With a silent sigh in his heart, Yuan Ming was preparing to stop the absorption and hand over the remaining corpse to Hua Zhi when he suddenly noticed something strange.

Yuan Ming concentrated to sense and discovered that it was the bark of the World Tree, which was substituting for the Undying Tree, continuing to absorb the demonic power contained in the gigantic Tree Man's corpse.

Simultaneously, the trace of Ten Thousand Wood Origin Power within the bark began to slowly grow.

Yuan Ming was both surprised and delighted; since heeding the advice of the Void, he had tried various ways to cultivate this piece of World Tree bark without success, only to find the bark was now acting on its own.

With this thought, he simply sat cross-legged, quietly waiting for the bark to continue absorbing.

As time passed, when the gigantic Tree Man's corpse was completely absorbed, the World Tree bark had grown considerably, and the Ten Thousand Wood Origin Power within it had more than doubled.

As Yuan Ming's heart was filled with joy, a trace of Ten Thousand Wood Origin Power actively emerged from the World Tree bark, entering the Undying Tree.

The Undying Tree's demonic power immediately surged like oil boiling over a fierce fire.

Visible black mist drifted from the Undying Tree into the air; those were impurities accumulated within the Undying Tree from devouring various living beings previously.

That trace of Ten Thousand Wood Origin Power was like the Bright Soul Fire refining Desire Power, purifying most of the impurities within the Undying Tree. The demonic power of the Undying Tree was much more refined, and though the realm had not yet broken through, compared to before, the efficiency of demonic power circulation significantly improved, and the strength that could be exerted greatly increased.

Yuan Ming was momentarily taken aback, then a smile appeared at the corner of his mouth.

Ten Thousand Wood Origin Power unexpectedly had these effects; no wonder the Void cared so much about this piece of World Tree bark.

At this moment, the massive demonic body of the Undying Tree suddenly underwent a new transformation.

The Undying Tree's demonic power, along with the impurities in its body, has been refined, strengthening its connection with Yuan Ming, and the operation of the Ju Mang Spirit Technique is now several times faster than before.

The previously rampant branches and leaves gradually contracted, transforming into a head and limbs, and the sturdy trunk also condensed and slowly outlined the shape of a torso.

A moment later, the towering Undying Tree completely disappeared, replaced by a wooden man, several tens of zhang tall, stark naked.

Its features bore a striking resemblance to Yuan Ming's, but its skin was black, just like the Undying Tree.

Yuan Ming was stunned; the situation before him had exceeded the scope of the Ju Mang Spirit Technique.

The Ju Mang Spirit Technique can establish connections between a cultivator and their lifebound spirit plant, allowing mutual influence, yet both remain independent entities. However, the Undying Tree now seemed to truly merge with him.

Yuan Ming felt the changes within his own body, instinctively raising his hand and stamping his foot, and even these slight movements caused the air to ripple in an instant.

The suddenly augmented power made it somewhat difficult for him to control at first, signifying that this power has already exceeded the limits achievable by the Returning Void.

Yuan Ming clenched his fist and unleashed a full-force punch.

The void emitted a piercing shriek as the massive fist cut through, leaving a white streak as if tearing space itself.

Yuan Ming felt a thrill; although the sudden change had caught him off guard, with this wooden body, he was confident in facing off with Dharma Phase cultivators directly.

However, the limitation of mana still persisted; the wooden form of Yuan Ming lacked endurance, and the damage he could inflict upon the Dharma Phase remained rather limited.

Nonetheless, having such an additional trump card still left Yuan Ming satisfied.

He familiarized himself with the wooden body a bit more, then reverted from the Undying Tree transformation back to his original form.

At that moment, Yuan Ming unexpectedly discovered that even his original body's mana and Qi-Blood power had undergone a certain degree of refinement and purification, calming much of the mana chaos caused by the Primordial True Skill.

Yuan Ming's spirit instantly perked up, and he hurriedly inspected his internal state.

He saw the Power of Ten Thousand Wood Origin, which had been roaming and washing through the Undying Tree's body, now appearing within his own body. Although it seemed nearly depleted, it still managed to harmonize and reconcile Yuan Ming's chaotic mana, restoring it to its normal state.

However, this process only lasted a brief moment, after which the Power of Ten Thousand Wood Origin was completely exhausted, and Yuan Ming's mana no longer changed.

Seeing this, a flicker of regret crossed his mind, but it was quickly replaced by joy.

The greatest gain from absorbing the giant wooden man's corpse wasn't the increase in power, but discovering a method to enhance the bark of the World Tree: by devouring high-level spirit wood, the Power of Ten Thousand Wood Origin in the bark could be rapidly augmented.

Still, Yuan Ming felt it wasn't completely reliable, perhaps due to some uniqueness of the giant wooden man, and more verification was needed.

He waved his hand, causing seven to eight various-colored pieces of spirit wood to appear on the ground—these were the only high-level spirit wood he had left on him.

Yuan Ming activated the Undying Tree, and several roots shot out into the open, embedding themselves in these spirit woods, quickly absorbing them completely.

Yuan Ming operated the Ju Mang Spirit Technique, injecting the spiritual power transformed from the spirit woods into the bark of the World Tree, which greedily absorbed it, slightly enhancing the Power of Ten Thousand Wood Origin within.

He breathed a sigh of relief, confirming his hypothesis: the bark of the World Tree indeed needs high-level spirit wood.

And the Power of Ten Thousand Wood Origin can help Yuan Ming alleviate the mana chaos caused by the Primordial True Skill.

Thus, whether for the World Tree or for his own strength, searching for high-level spirit wood should be prioritized.

Yuan Ming pondered, gradually forming a plan in his heart.

"Master, the Dharma Manifestation Pill has been refined." At that moment, Hua Zhi's voice echoed in from outside the Medicine Garden.

"So fast? I just entered closed-door practice a few days ago." Yuan Ming waved his hand, creating a gap in the Forbidden around the Medicine Garden, allowing Hua Zhi to enter.

"It's almost been a month," Hua Zhi replied.

Yuan Ming realized that time always flies when high-level cultivators are practicing. He felt like he had just started absorbing the corpse, yet in the blink of an eye, a month had passed.

Yuan Ming nodded, summoned the Shura Stone Tablet, and headed to the Extreme Fire Realm, retrieving the freshly refined Dharma Manifestation Pill from Dian Xiaosan.

The pill's quality seemed even better than the one belonging to Yun Luo Fairy; its effects should be superior.

"Thank you, Master Dian, for your hard work." Yuan Ming expressed his gratitude and stored the White Jade Bottle containing the Dharma Manifestation Pill.

"Being able to personally refine this Dharma Manifestation Pill fulfills a wish I've had for many years. I'm glad I chose the right path, haha!" Dian Xiaosan waved his hand dismissively, letting out a hearty laugh.

"I may call on Master Dian's help again in the future," Yuan Ming smiled faintly.

"Whenever you have good elixir recipes and spiritual materials, just bring them over!" Dian Xiaosan's eyes lit up slightly, saying boldly.