Chapter 1848: Sewing the Towering Ancient Tree

Watching the once powerful combat puppet fall to Xu Yang's Phoenix Legacy power, the ancient tree and the colorful mushroom on it appeared furious.

"You certainly keep surprising us," the tree exclaimed, "but do you think this is the end? You've destroyed one puppet, but we have hundreds, even thousands more. I'd like to see whether our puppets run out first, or if your two companions get lost in these mountains forever!"

It had to be admitted that the ancient tree spoke with a menacing edge, and it was no mere talker. After its threats, the large opening in its center rapidly gathered a more potent life force, and one combat puppet after another was jointly hatched by the duo.

In the blink of an eye, over a dozen powerful warrior puppets appeared before Xu Yang. Their condition was almost identical to the warrior who controlled the Firebird Battle Soul earlier: completely devoid of their own souls and with their combat abilities somewhat enhanced by the surrounding toxins, they charged relentlessly towards Xu Yang.

Xu Yang sneered. He had already seen through all of their tricks by observing their process of continuously generating life force. Continuing to fight these puppets would be the most foolish decision.

To solve the problem fundamentally, Xu Yang had devised an even more exciting plan.

Xu Yang stepped into the void, beginning to weave his own sealing laws within the surrounding space.

Once this law-bound area took shape, Xu Yang actively charged towards the dozen-plus combat puppets, using his unique footwork to lure them, following his aura, into the sealing space he had prepared in advance.

After the combat puppets entered the designated area, Xu Yang once again altered his law-form. The materialized law energy began to manifest an eerie and unpredictable energy cycle.

This signified the formation of an independent sealing space, and the dozen or so combat puppets had effectively become fish in a barrel for Xu Yang.

Unless personally approved by Xu Yang, these dozen figures would never be able to break free from this sealed space.

Xu Yang glanced at his masterpiece behind him, clapping his hands together with satisfaction. Then, he transformed into a streak of light and swiftly arrived before the ancient tree and its companion.

With swift movements, he once again summoned the dark golden needles from the palm of his right hand. The Lingxu Master Artifact had been transformed into this very form by Xu Yang the moment it first materialized.

"I now fully understand the trajectory of the life force flowing within both of you. It all passes through this massive fissure on the ancient tree, originating from the combat puppets whose primordial life force you once consumed.

Since that's the case, allow me to personally sew this opening shut for you. I'm quite curious to see what methods you'll still have to hatch more combat puppets then."

A hint of cunning crept into Xu Yang's smile as he finished speaking. He then deliberately displayed the countless golden needles in his hand to the towering ancient tree.

As expected, the moment Xu Yang made his move, an unprecedented ripple of fear emanated from the soul of the towering ancient tree.

"W-w-what exactly are you going to do?!"

Xu Yang's smile turned even colder.

"Didn't I already say? I'm going to help you sew up this damned opening, and then assist you in stimulating the excess life force essence within your body. I want to see how you'll manage to release your surplus power under those circumstances."

Realizing the perilous situation, the ancient tree immediately wanted to retreat. It then suddenly made an extremely peculiar move, directly pulling the colorful mushroom attached to it out of the gap in its body.

Without the small mushroom's assistance, the ancient tree clearly wouldn't be able to hatch more combat puppets in the short term. However, this action allowed it to regain a mobile form.

What it never anticipated, however, was that Xu Yang's chosen prey never escaped his grasp. No matter how swift its movements, it was ultimately impossible for it to flee right under Xu Yang's nose.

The towering ancient tree's roots, originally embedded deep in the ground, immediately transformed into two humanoid legs, helping its upper, tree-like body swiftly escape the battlefield.

Yet, it hadn't run far before another of Xu Yang's illusory bodies blocked its path. "Stop trying to escape from here," he stated. "I told you I would sew up this damned opening for you, and nothing you say will change that."

Next, the ancient tree let out a series of hysterical screams as Xu Yang, using immense magical power, completely bound its two legs together. Its entire body was thus pinned under Xu Yang's foot, and then the countless golden needles in his right hand began to frantically move across the ancient tree's epidermal surface.

Xu Yang truly made good on his word, quickly and thoroughly stitching up the massive opening on the ancient tree's main body.

In reality, he achieved this by releasing powerful sword aura from the golden needles, completely sealing the fissure. It's crucial to understand that this opening was the towering ancient tree's sole means of expelling its power.

Now, being so forcefully suppressed by Xu Yang was akin to having its own mouth sewn shut.

Not only did the towering ancient tree completely lose its combat ability, but it would also be exceedingly difficult for it to ever devour other warriors again.

"Damn it, this human seems far more terrifying than any other human warrior I've encountered before! To think he could devise such inhumane methods to punish the tree... It appears it's time for me to escape his clutches, or my fate might not be much better than this big guy's."

The small mushroom, glowing with three colors, recognized that fleeing was the best course of action. It decisively transformed into a streak of light and vanished instantly. Soon after, the ancient tree, having been tormented by Xu Yang, could be heard cursing the mushroom.

"You parasite, you've always lived off me! We were supposedly a pair sharing hardships, yet in the end, you abandoned me without a moment's hesitation!"

Hearing its complaints, Xu Yang couldn't help but sneer.

"Who told you to always engage in such shady dealings? You used this Bewildering Mountain Range and the protection of that hidden powerful figure behind you to wantonly devour so many human warriors. Your current fate is entirely your own doing, and I will avenge those warriors you consumed and refined into combat puppets."