Amid the gloom of overcast clouds, heavy rain, and mist, the light of raging flames spread through the city, incinerating every sinister demonic shadow.

From atop the Divine Wood, one could see the flames of the Hundred Schools’ Righteous Army blazing at the very edge of the New Southern Celestial Capital. Seven towering dark figures and their army were in full retreat, abandoning a Celestial Capital that had become a sea of fire and falling back to fortify their positions within the city.

Driving them back were the surging tides of soldiers and eight True Qi Airships, once again taking to the skies.

The Demon Dynasty’s True Qi Airships... How could the sparsely populated Demon Dynasty possibly compete with the Hundred Schools’ Righteous Army in the number of artisans? Their entire stock had been depleted during the National Preceptor’s surprise attack on Taibai Mountain.

Not only that, but too many Demon Generals had also fallen. With their reinforcements single-handedly blocked and five of their number slain, it was inevitable that the front lines would collapse when the Hundred Schools launched their surprise attack on the Nanjiang Celestial Gate. After all, the National Preceptor was dead. So long as the Demon Emperor refused to act, no one could stop the three Grandmasters from the Hundred Schools.

But in contrast to the triumphant advance of the army below, the strike team had run into a serious problem.

They were blocked halfway to the Celestial Palace in the clouds by the Divine Wood’s animated branches.

Just as Su Zhou noticed a Martial Artist falling behind and let out a roar of Spiritual Power that shook the very air, the surrounding aerial roots and branches of the Divine Wood shed their tranquility. They began to twist like living things, lashing out at the Martial Artists like a swarm of tentacles. In an instant, it was as if they were surrounded by an army of thousands. The team was thrown into a bitter struggle, shouting as they used their weapons to defend themselves and hack away at the branches.

"Hahaha! What’s this? A dog that answers when it’s called!"

But even as he effortlessly swung his Blade of Annihilation, turning all the lashing Aerial Root Vines to ash, Su Zhou was roaring with laughter and spewing trash talk. "I call, and you answer! Doesn’t that mean you admit you’re a dog? Who’s there? Come on out and bark a little louder!"

Despite his crude taunts, Su Zhou was intently scanning his surroundings with Spiritual Vision, searching for whoever was controlling the branches.

However, the Divine Wood’s own Spiritual Light was so brilliant that using Spiritual Vision here was useless. Instead of seeing anything, he was completely dazzled.

’This isn’t working... This must be the Demon Emperor, controlling a part of the Divine Tree to attack us. It’s pointless to just keep cutting down these vines.’

The most important part of any battle is identifying the crucial point, and Su Zhou was an expert at this. His thoughts raced. Gripping the hilt of his blade with both hands, he furiously poured his Spiritual Power into the Blade of Annihilation. ’I’ll have to use an area-of-effect attack to clear a path.’

BOOM! A raging flame ignited. Su Zhou’s power drew out the might of the Divine Soldier, causing a tangible, brilliant Spiritual Fire to erupt from the blade like a volcano. But he didn’t swing it at the vines. Instead, he reversed his grip.

Su Zhou pointed the Blade of Annihilation downward and plunged it directly into the Divine Wood Bark underfoot. Red-gold patterns instantly shot through the cracks in the bark. In a burst of flame, all the surrounding Gray Mist was driven away, and an expanding nova of fire incinerated every approaching Aerial Root Vine.

An intense red Spiritual Light displaced the cyan Wood Qi in the area. Su Zhou sheathed his blade, his expression solemn.

"Grandmaster Tian, Zhou Buyi, don’t come any closer! There’s something strange about this Gray Mist. It’s absorbing the moisture from all life around it, and it’s highly toxic and corrosive."

Taking advantage of the brief respite, he turned to the rest of the strike team. "All of you, fall back out of this Gray Mist’s range, then go help Grandmaster Liu and the others. And don’t give me those resentful looks. I’m afraid you won’t be able to participate in the fight to come."

"But that doesn’t mean you can’t help me. Zhou Buyi, do you remember our plan? Find an area clear of the Gray Mist, secure it, and wait for my signal."

"Are you sure about this?"

As the Leader of this operation, Su Zhou’s orders were absolute. The four remaining members of the strike team immediately turned to leave. But Zhou Buyi, his face etched with worry, couldn’t help but ask, "That plan is incredibly dangerous. We already have a massive advantage. The safest way would be to wait for the other Grandmasters to gather. A dozen of us could go up and overwhelm the Demon Emperor together."

"No." Su Zhou had already turned away, starting his walk toward the Yongning Celestial Palace. He spoke calmly, "You can’t see it, but I know... up here on this Divine Wood, bringing a few more Grandmasters won’t do any good. Now go. Do as I said."

"And soon, I will bring the head of that Dog Emperor down to show you."

The next moment, Su Zhou’s figure blurred. He shot forward like a wisp of cyan smoke, disappearing into the thickening Gray Mist. The four remaining members of the strike team hesitated no longer. Before the surrounding Aerial Root Vines could close in again, they retreated to the Divine Wood District.

At this very moment, Su Zhou had already passed through the clouds.

The Hundred Schools’ Righteous Army had roughly estimated the Immortal Banyan Tree’s height to be "thousands of zhang," with its canopy blocking the sun from a height of "hundreds of zhang." To be more precise, the base of its canopy was about 370 zhang—or 1,200 meters—above the ground.

The Immortal Banyan Tree was a colossal tree, similar to a banyan. Its canopy was so vast and high that it was three to five times the size of its visible trunk. Thanks to its aerial roots, its ability to expand horizontally also far exceeded that of ordinary trees; a single tree could cover an area of more than a thousand square li.

The Yongning Celestial Palace, situated at the very top of the Immortal Banyan Tree, was a palace built among the clouds, 3,800 meters above the ground.

Gravity meant nothing to Su Zhou. Each step he took could crater the surface of the Divine Wood Bark. To him, a height of 3,800 meters was just a 3,800-meter straight line, a distance he could cross in minutes.

Now, Su Zhou traveled alone. He leaped over branches drenched in pouring rain and past leaves battered by gales and racing clouds. He ascended in silence, and finally, he broke through the cloud layer to arrive at a vast, wooden palace shrouded in Gray Mist.

"What luxury... I’ll admit I’d like a house like this, but not if I have to get it this way."

Su Zhou stared for a moment at the palace, held aloft by layers of Divine Wood branches and leaves, and couldn’t help but sigh. But Yara just chuckled. "You call this luxury? Try to think bigger. For a Transcendent, a house like this is downright shabby."

"Whatever. I grew up poor. I had to freeload off my friends just to eat my fill. What would a Great Being like you know about that!" Su Zhou retorted. Retracting his Spiritual Vision from the palace, he focused on the task at hand. He was no fool; he wasn’t about to charge inside without knowing what awaited him. Instead, he began to climb and leap along the palace’s exterior, speeding toward its highest point.

Even in his Spiritual Vision, which was saturated with the Spiritual Light of the Divine Wood, the Spiritual Light flaring from that spot was the brightest point of all, like a sun.

Ten seconds later, Su Zhou leaped high into the air, vaulting over the final parapet.

He could now see it before him: the Celestial Altar, towering over the Divine Tree amidst the clouds, bathed in the light of the moon and stars.

The top of the Yongning Celestial Palace was essentially a 40,000-square-meter plaza. In its center was a perfectly circular, three-tiered Celestial Altar with a radius of about twenty meters.

The platform seemed to be constructed from jade-like bricks. Cyan Wood Qi flowed within it, while Gray Mist lingered above.

The platform was empty, save for a single, massive wooden pillar that stood erect in the very center, serving as the main pillar for the entire Celestial Palace. It was a full seven meters in radius and had a texture like Cyan Jade.

—It was the very tip of the Immortal Banyan Tree, the apex of the entire Divine Wood.

"Still not coming out? If you don’t show yourself, I’ll blast your altar to bits and chop down this pillar!"

Su Zhou roared, his thunderous voice echoing across the silent, high-altitude altar. Without waiting even half a second, he broke into a run, charging toward the center of the Celestial Palace.

As he charged, Su Zhou took the long spear from his back with his left hand. He let its head drag along the ground, the razor-sharp tip instantly tearing through the wooden floor of the Celestial Palace, sending splinters flying and creating a piercing, scraping sound.

Then, he raised the Long Spear. As Spiritual Power and Thunderbolt converged in his grip, Su Zhou threw his entire body into a lunge, blasting the spear toward the massive wooden pillar.

Though the wooden pillar was massive, it likely wouldn’t withstand many hits from Su Zhou, who wielded the power of a Grandmaster, especially when he was striking with a Long Spear that was practically a Spiritual Artifact.

And so, an enraged voice rang out.

"Arrogant whelp, stand down!"

Beneath the starlight, the Gray Mist flowed like a living creature. A towering figure materialized from the hazy, deathly-still mist, coalescing into the phantom of a giant over five meters tall. A cyan robe fluttered around it as a hand, covered in thick wooden scales, extended from a sleeve to block Su Zhou’s Long Spear.

After receiving its Double Enchantment, the Wood Centipede Spear had been unstoppable. It could shatter the armor of a Demon General in a single blow, and when empowered by Su Zhou’s colossal strength, there was almost nothing it couldn’t break.

But today, this strike—powerful enough to pierce giant boulders and effortlessly run through steel plate armor—was caught by that massive hand with the ringing clang of a great bell. It was as if the spearhead itself was unwilling to harm its target. The impossibly sharp point seemed to go blunt, stopping dead after just piercing the creature’s skin, where it simply vibrated with a loud hum.

The next moment, the giant figure reached out with its other hand, apparently trying to grab the shaft of the Long Spear. But with a sharp jerk, Su Zhou vibrated the spear free and retracted it.

"To think you would use a weapon forged from a Water Purifying Centipede against me."

Seemingly unconcerned, the cyan-robed figure withdrew its hands. A deep voice rumbled, "So you’re the one from the Dragon Race who killed Our National Preceptor..." As it spoke, its face emerged from the shadows to size up Su Zhou.

This was a humanoid figure seemingly woven together from layers of gnarled, coiling tree roots. Most of its body was cloaked in a dense Gray Mist that defied sight, though something could be faintly seen churning within. The only parts visible were a head with two upright Dragon Horns and a face that could, at a stretch, be called "human."

It was no human form. Leaves, rootlets, vines, twigs, fungi, moss, thorns, and even stranger things came together to form a face that could be described as possessing Majesty.

These components writhed, their intricate combination and movement creating the impression of a ’human’ face at a glance. But if one were to see it frozen for even a moment, they would realize it was nothing more than a disgusting, jumbled mass of wooden tendrils.

But they never stopped moving. The surface of this face was in constant, roiling flux. A wood grain pattern that looked like an eye one moment would be replaced by a swelling leaf the next. A wooden tendril that might have been an eyebrow would be covered by creeping moss an instant later.

But no matter how its components shifted, the bizarre yet majestic face and the brown horns rising from the sides of its head remained constant.

The Demon Emperor.

Without a doubt, this was the Demon Emperor, the one who commanded the Demon Army of the Demon Dynasty and brought chaos to the world.

’And... this Spiritual Power signature, this aura...’

And as Su Zhou cautiously appraised his opponent, the Demon Emperor was doing the same to him. Its gaze finally settled on the blade at Su Zhou’s waist, and it sneered. "We had thought there was something special about the Dragon Race, but it turns out you look just like any other human. How boring."

"Are you finished?"

Su Zhou paid the figure’s attitude no mind. He gave his Long Spear a little flourish and smiled. "You’ve been poisoned."