Li Nianfan did not realize just how much work was required to tend to the backyard until Nanan and Dragin were gone. They needed to water the plants, till the soil, harvest the fruits, milk the cows, harvest the honey…
‘Oh well, it’s better for them to slay demons. Poor things. They must find taking care of the backyard boring,’ thought Li Nianfan humorously.
At this moment, he was sitting on a rock in the backyard, admiring the scenery. It was a little less elegant now that there was no sound of Qin Manyun’s Guqin and Shi Tuqin’s painting.
As for Little Fox, she was forcibly dragged in to temporarily replace Dragin and Nanan. Her beautiful face was puffed up with anger. She was lying on the ground at this time, unfamiliarly reaching out to milk the cow.
“Brother Li’s so evil! I wouldn’t have transformed into a human if I knew I’d be dragged into working!!” muttered Little Fox to herself. “Sister Cow, please, don’t kick me.”
Then, she squeezed the cow’s udder nervously. As she used too much force, the milk shot all over her face.
“Ah—!” cried Little Fox. Drenched in warm milk, she quickly shot up.
Seeing this, Li Nianfan burst out in laughter.
Little Fox licked the milk from her lips and her eyes immediately brightened as if she had chanced upon a whole new world.
“Wow! Fresh milk’s incredibly delicious! It’s different from the one Brother Li made!”
The corners of Li Nianfan’s lips began to twitch. He was obviously enjoying this scene.
Once Little Fox had finished milking the cows, she went to harvest the honey. Seeing her clumsy movement, the bees frolicked around her and teased her until she jumped up and down in anger.
Then, she brought out her big sad puppy dog eyes and said gently, “Brother Bee, won’t you give me some of your honey? Pretty please?”
Instantly, a faint scent wafted over the entire backyard and pink bubbles appeared in the air. The honeybees were immediately bewitched. Not only did they stop teasing Little Fox, but they actually gave her some of their honey.
Li Nianfan smiled bitterly, shook his head, and said, “Now that’s one way of harvesting honey I haven’t seen before…”
“Little Fox, water the plants after you’re done harvesting the honey,” said Daji.
“What? More work? This is child labor!” said Little Fox, tears about to fall from her eyes.
“There, there. Go pick out some game meat after you’re done and I’ll cook up a treat for you,” said Li Nianfan with a smile.
“Really? Yay! You’re the best, Brother Li!” said Little Fox happily, all her exhaustion gone.
Li Nianfan continued to admire his own backyard but he suddenly frowned when he saw the willow tree near the pond. He quickly made his way over, all the while sporting a solemn expression on his face.
“What happened to you?” he muttered to himself.
This willow tree had been growing beautifully and healthily in the backyard all this while. Its branches were like silk, hanging down and moving, and its green leaves were delicate. However, it now showed signs of withering. Its green leaves were yellowing, the branches were weak, and there was a sense of lifelessness to it.
“Master, this willow tree’s dying,” said Daji worriedly.
Li Nianfan nodded, sighed, and said, “Yes. How did it suddenly get so sick?”
Both Daji and Fire Phoenix were taken aback. ‘Sick? Is that what the Master thinks is happening?’
Li Nianfan walked out of the backyard to get something. Seeing that he was gone, Daji touched the willow tree and saw the faintly visible traces of decay weaving and wandering along its branches, rapidly destroying its vitality.
“What on earth are they dealing with? Even the divine willow’s on the brink of death,” said Fire Phoenix gravely.
“This is the aura of Heaven. Could it be that they had met the real incarnation of Heaven?” said Daji.
They knew that things would not change even if they went there now.
“Whatever it is, I’m sure Master will have a way to deal with it. There’s no problem he can’t solve,” said Fire Phoenix with a smile.
Daji nodded and whispered to the willow tree, “Hold on. Help’s on the way…”
Soon, Li Nianfan came back with a syringe in his hand. “People who are sick need to be injected with a nutrient solution. Similarly, if plants have this acute disease, they must also be injected with plant nutrient solution as soon as possible,” he explained when he saw the confusion on the two women’s faces.
Then, without wasting any more time, he moved his hand along the willow tree’s trunk to look for a suitable place. “It’s going to hurt a little but please, endure it,” he said before plunging the needlepoint into the trunk.
Giving a human an injection was different from giving a tree an injection. The difference was in the speed. With humans, the nutrient solution could be given in one go, but with trees, it had to be introduced into the plant much slower.
Meanwhile, the first dimension was completely flooded with the unknown gray mist. The endless gray mist had transformed into air current, and every space had become gray, making it difficult to see anything further than one yard.
In the endless gray fog, a faint emerald light loomed like a lighthouse. Endless terrifying power rushed to this emerald light madly from all directions, wanting to tear it into pieces and annihilate it!
The willow branches were being shattered at a terrible speed, and at the same time, growing at the same speed. Destruction and rebirth were pushed to the extreme, and two completely different forces were engaged in a life-and-death struggle. However, anyone could tell that the willow branches were in an extremely perilous situation.
Under the shelter of the willow tree, Nanan and the others gritted their teeth and looked at the willow tree with tears in their eyes. They were clenching their fists so tightly that their nails almost drew blood.
“How can we help you, Sister Willow?” asked Nanan tearfully.
“Save us, Brother Li!” shouted Dragin.
On the other side, the stele was still dripping with blood-red tears, staining itself red. “Seventh Sister, I order you to fall back! You shall not die before me!” it said sorrowfully.
The willow remained still, holding up the sky. Its silence said it all. More and more wounds appeared on its trunk and it seemed like it would collapse at any time.
“The era of the seven Battle Spirit Guardians has come to an end!” ‘Guhui’ laughed, and the endless gray mist turned into a huge face roaring above the sky as it came down on the willow tree. With a sickening crack, the gargantuan willow tree began to shatter under the pressure.
“No—!” The stele was furious. It took flight into the sky, hellbent on revenge. However, a willow branch pulled him back.
The stele was taken aback for a moment, then became surprised and delighted. “Seventh… Seventh Sister?”
It looked at the willow tree expectantly but saw that the fractured part of the willow tree was full of endless vitality, like rich greenery spurting out after a volcanic eruption. The crack was recovering at a speed visible to the naked eye.
At the same time, the branches of the willow tree were spinning in the air like a hurricane, and in a flash, more appeared. The branches had more than doubled! In addition to the number of branches, the vitality of the branches was not the same. Even in the face of destruction, they would no longer break. The leaves, too, had healed completely.
The willow branches continued to grow wildly, growing longer and longer. In a blink of an eye, an emerald ocean was created as endless willow branches danced in the sky, stirring the unknown gray fog.
“How’s this possible?!” ‘Guhui’s’ eyes almost popped out. Could he be dreaming? “Why did it suddenly come back to life? Where’s all this power coming from?”
Even if it called itself Heaven, it was at a loss, stumped to find that there was something he did not have the answer to in this world.
Finally, he smiled sinisterly and said, “It must have a reserve of power somewhere. But how long can that last? Die!”
The unknown gray mist rolled, making a howling sound that reverberated across the entire first dimension. It turned into a whirlwind, engulfing the willow tree in an attempt to crush it. However, the willow tree remained unmoved, and its branches continued to strengthen as they suppressed all the light of destruction and the unknown!
Gradually, the emerald light became thicker and brighter. It was as if a long night was suddenly illuminated by a touch of dawn. The emerald light was soft but with unstoppable power. It constantly dispersed the power of the unknown and it had the upper hand.
Shi Tuqin’s eyes lit up and she said excitedly, “The Divine Willow suddenly became so powerful.”
“It must be the expert! Only he could create miracles like this,” said Qin Manyun.
The Elite King laughed and said, “Hahaha! We’re saved now! I was just about to fight to my last dying breath!”
Blackie heaved a sigh of relief. “This dog’s life is saved.”
“No! Why’s there no end to your power?” ‘Guhui’ became more and more shocked.
‘It’s not taking from its power reserve? Where is its power coming from? Don’t tell me it’s pulling its power out of thin air! It must be cheating! Who’s helping it? Only those people in the Origins Realm can break away from the control of Heaven, but it’s impossible for them to appear in the seven dimensions!’
‘Guhui’ kept trying to come up with one theory after another. He began to quake in his boots when he sensed the willow tree getting stronger and stronger. At this time, several willow branches burst into the air and hung in the sky like a curtain. Immediately after, those branches shot toward ‘Guhui’!
“No matter how strong you get, you still cannot beat me, for I’m invincible!” ‘Guhui’s’ eyes condensed and with a roar, he threw out a punch with all his power.
The two forces collided against each other, but the willow branches were stronger. It managed to pierce through all obstacles, that included ‘Guhui’. There was an expression of pain on his face. He was hanging in the void, suspended by the willow branches as his whole body swayed with the unknown gray mist. It was as if he was struggling.
The unknown gray mist rolled chaotically in the sky. The rest of the willow branches flayed around, purifying the gray mist as the sky quickly regained its clarity.
Nanan cheered and said, “Sister Willow won!”
The stele quickly appeared to the willow tree’s side and said, “Seventh Sister, are you okay?”
“I’m okay. Let’s talk later. We still need to wipe Heaven out,” answered the willow tree.
“Hahaha, wipe me out?” ‘Guhui’ laughed as if he had heard the funniest joke in the world. “The people who divided the seven dimensions couldn’t even wipe me out, so what can a mere Battle Spirit Guardian like you do? How laughable! Hahaha!”
Everyone’s brows were furrowed. The willow tree said nothing but sent its countless branches swarming toward ‘Guhui’ who smirked and exploded without warning. Flesh, blood, and bone flew everywhere as the gray mist escaped.
“I’m immortal. This is only a taste of what’s to come. I’ll come back and kill you when I’ve gathered all my power!” Heaven’s voice whirled in the void, and then the space rippled like a water current. Heaven had escaped.
Nanan frowned and said, “What a troublesome opponent!”
“Since it’s called Heaven, I’m afraid that it’s really an ancient ruler which is above all living beings. Naturally, it’s going to be difficult to deal with,” said the Elite King.
“It’s astonishing to think that one could seal the heavens and open up the seven dimensions before the Eternal Years,” said Jiang Liu.
The seven Battle Spirit Guardians were transformed by the immortal will of the people who consecrated the sky. They were born to protect the peace of the seven dimensions, which was enough to prove how powerful those people were at the beginning.
“Seventh Sister, I heard that your body was taken away by the people of the seventh dimension and turned into ashes. How did you recover? And what happened just now?” The figure came out of the stele again. He was excited and confused at the same time.
The branches of the willow tree swayed slowly as it softly said, “My body was indeed made into plant ash, but the expert did it to save me. If it weren’t for that, my strength wouldn’t have been able to recover so quickly. As for just now…the expert was the one that saved me, too. He gave me a shot and injected an unimaginable amount of nutrition into my body.”
