Chapter 178

The root that was handed over seemed no different from the others. It just had a little more green furry bits at both ends, but there was no malice or killing intent on the banyan tree spirit.

Chen Jingzhai looked at it and suddenly smiled.

“What are you smiling at?” the banyan tree spirit asked.

“I’m laughing at your naïvety,” Chen Jingzhai said with a smile. “You trust a cultivator!”

“I didn’t believe you at first. After all, after being locked up for so long, I have to fight for my life.” There was resignation in the banyan tree spirit’s old voice. “Can you help me with this?”

“Why should I help you?” Chen Jingzhai shook his head. “It’s not like I can’t beat you.”

With that, a ball of fire surged out of his palm. The flame was filled with spirituality and silently transformed into a gigantic palm. The burning fingers clawed directly at the banyan tree roots.

“What a pity!” The banyan tree spirit sighed. The tree root with the green fur immediately exploded. The green fur turned into thousands of strands and pierced through the flaming hand towards Chen Jingzhai.

As for the descending fire hand, it was also blasted away by the huge explosion. A scattered bit of flame landed on the banyan tree spirit. However, it did not cause any damage to it.

A water curtain silently blocked Chen Jingzhai’s face from the attack. The green fur strands were like thorns that fell directly into the water curtain. They were all deeply embedded and could not penetrate it.

“As expected, you can’t believe a single word of the demons,” Chen Jingzhai said calmly. “Perhaps the rogue cultivators will be convinced by you, but the lesson that my sect’s seniors exchanged their lives for cannot be violated.”

Before he left the mountain, he had been specially instructed by Senior Sister Mei. She told him that he must not believe anything he heard from spirit monsters, demonic beasts, rogue cultivators, or dynasty cultivators, no matter good or bad. He should not pay heed to their words.

This was from experience. Many seniors of the sect had sacrificed their lives for this.

Senior Sister Mei had told him to be careful and extremely cautious. This proved to be extremely true. The power of the explosion alone was enough to threaten a Golden Core cultivator.

If Chen Jingzhai really accepted it, he would probably be in a passive state.

The banyan tree spirit did not waste words. Its aged face became young and menacing. As it vibrated, leaves shot out like flying knives. The leaves were dense and endless, enveloping Chen Jingzhai.

Not only that, but its roots also began to extend crazily, stabbing at Chen Jingzhai.

Chen Jingzhai’s expression was calm. He held the wine gourd in his left hand and formed a seal with his right.

Flames appeared under his feet. A total of eight wisps of flames formed the Eight Trigrams Fire Dragon Formation.

As soon as the formation was formed, Chen Jingzhai mobilized the spiritual power in his body and shouted, “Reverse!”

Instantly, an invisible force erupted from him. In the blink of an eye, Chen Jingzhai appeared where the banyan tree spirit was.

As for the banyan tree spirit, it changed from the center to Chen Jingzhai’s original position.

In the Eight Trigrams Fire Dragon Formation.

“Noooooo!!!”

The sudden shift in position alarmed the banyan tree spirit.

The banyan tree spirit wanted to escape, but the Eight Trigrams Fire Dragon Formation was completely activated the moment it landed.

The eight dragons spiraled upward with bared fangs and began to descend on it.

With the help of the formation, the fire dragons quickly grew stronger.

Flames soon surrounded the banyan tree spirit. Flames wrapped around its leaves, branches, tree trunk, and roots. The fire dragons spiraled and left behind a blazing trail where they made contact. The bark of the banyan tree spirit that could previously block the flames was completely useless at this moment.

“How innocently foolish. You dared to give me time to set up a formation!” Chen Jingzhai shook his head and laughed in his heart.

Why had he spoken to the spirit monster? And why had he laughed?

He was amused by the banyan tree spirit’s attempt of setting him up, and even more delighted that victory was in his grasp.

The Eight Trigrams Fire Dragon Formation was the third-ranked fire-attribute formation on Daoxuan Peak.

Golden Core Sages were famous for their speed in setting up formations.

Chen Jingzhai had yet to condense his Golden Core, so he needed a little more time. It was really just a little. The duration that it took to say a few words were probably enough for him.

If it were other Foundational Cultivators, they would still need to rely on materials or formation disks.

However, Chen Jingzhai was someone who had comprehended the Dharma Intent and had completely grasped the Small Heavens Cloud Forbidden Restriction.

He replaced the formation disk with a Restriction and set it up with a thought. It only took him slightly longer than the time it would take a Golden Core Sage to set up. Coupled with the number one formation of the Daoxuan Peak, the Reversed Formation, it was simply perfect!

Chen Jingzhai watched the banyan tree spirit burn in the flames without any expression. As much as he wanted to show off, considering that spirit of the cave residence was the only audience member, he felt a little embarrassed. He instinctively adopted a serious expression and pretended to be cool. Before the banyan tree spirit was completely burned, the Restriction leading to the eighth level appeared.

In front of the Restriction, five prizes floated out.

“You can choose two,” came the spirit of the cave residence’s voice.

“Why?” Chen Jingzhai raised his eyebrows and asked.

“Mind the time!” After saying that, the spirit of the cave residence shut up. Chen Jingzhai did not respond no matter how much he asked.

Chen Jingzhai smiled, his eyes falling on the five prizes.

The first was an elixir, the Essence Origin Elixir, which was refined from spirit monsters. Without a doubt, this bottle of Essence Origin Elixirs contained wood-attribute essence.

The second was a whip. This soft whip was a Grade 2 spirit weapon and looked rough.

The third was a shriveled-looking seed.

The fourth was an ordinary banyan tree trunk without any aura.

The fifth was a talisman that seemed extraordinary.

Chen Jingzhai glanced around and quickly made a decision. He instantly eliminated elixirs and spiritual items. These two were useless to him. He had been very tempted by the talisman, but considering his strength, this thing seemed useless.

Thus, Chen Jingzhai chose the seed and the tree trunk. The choice was undoubtedly the right one because both prizes suited him.

The seed was a Grade 3 iron banyan, which was the same type as the banyan tree spirit. Although some of its essence had been lost, Chen Jingzhai could replenish it with Innate Qi.

And that section of the tree trunk was even more extraordinary. It was not a tree trunk but the heart of the tree. It was a Grade 3 Iron Banyan Tree Heart. It did not belong to the banyan tree spirit, but it was still a thousand years old.

The sect might be able to find a thousand-year tree heart, but Chen Jingzhai did not have one. This was a natural sword hilt and one of the alchemy materials for a natural Grade 3 magic treasure.

Overall, Chen Jingzhai profited greatly from these two prizes. He passed through the Restriction in an uplifted mood.

The eighth floor.

Like the fourth floor, a square item cauldron appeared in the center.

“Congratulations on entering the eighth floor. Your strength is amazing, but it’s still unknown if you can pass this level. The assessment this time is still item alchemy. Please refine a medium Grade 1 Magic item within six hours.” The spirit of the cave residence spoke flatly.

Chen Jingzhai did not say anything and directly took out the materials from the item cauldron.

Among the materials this time were the remains of the Flame Leopard and the Herculean Mad Ape.

That made him raise an eyebrow. “Did you kill the Herculean Mad Ape?”

There was no response from the spirit of the cave residence.

Chen Jingzhai thought for a moment and directly injected spiritual power to activate the flames.

The materials were sent into the item cauldron to be refined.

He had experience in refining elixirs, and the spiritual essence in his body far exceeded that of ordinary Foundational Cultivators.

More importantly, his divine mind was powerful. He refined it according to the technique recorded in the jade slip he had obtained previously.

Although it was not easy, the process went smoothly.

Chen Jingzhai used the remains of two demonic beasts as materials to refine a large saber. The superior Grade 1 saber he refined was silvery-white. Its hilt was large enough to hold with both hands.

The moment the magic item was completed, the Restriction leading to the ninth level appeared. This time, there was only one prize in front of the Restriction. It was a jade slip.

“The Treasure Records of Materials?” Chen Jingzhai nodded noncommittally after flipping through it.

It recorded the names, characteristics, and features of many Grade 1 to Grade 2 materials.

Even though it only included Grade 1 and Grade 2 materials, it was extremely detailed and there were a lot of them. There were many materials that Chen Jingzhai had never seen or even heard of. It looked remarkably complete. It was an eye-opener.

‘He’s really treating me as an item alchemist!’ Chen Jingzhai thought to himself.

This Venerable Ning was quite interesting. His item alchemy technique and Treasure Records of Materials had appeared. Chen Jingzhai wondered what else lay beyond.

Without any hesitation, Chen Jingzhai stepped into the Restriction and reached the ninth floor.