"GRAAAAAH!" a Sacred King roared out as he obliterated a Willow Tree Sapling with a single punch, also killing the other Willow Tree Saplings behind it.

They had begun their charge and were trying to break through the huge army of Willow Tree Saplings so they could find the immortal.

Their vanguard was especially relentless. Everywhere they go, they leave behind a large number of destroyed and deformed bodies of the Willow Tree Saplings, not sparing any of them behind. As for the middle guard, they supported the vanguard splendidly with their mid-ranged supreme arts and eliminated the Willow Tree Saplings who almost managed to land a sneak attack on some of the Sacred Kings in the vanguard. As for the rearguard, they took those who were injured on the battlefield and sent them to their medics. They were assisting on the battlefield in every way they could.

However, they had also lost some of their people. With how large the number of the Willow Tree Saplings were, they were able to overwhelm the weakest link of their formation accidentally. A Sacred King and a few dozen cultivators in the Fate Dominion Realm were killed when they got caught by the Willow Tree Saplings' branches, which drained them of their strength until their body went dry and they died.

If there was something to be gained from their death, it was that their deaths weren't in vain. The others now knew how dangerous the Willow Tree Saplings could truly be despite their nonthreatening appearances. After their deaths, the rest were now more careful around the Willow Tree Sapling which greatly reduced their casualties.

The Willow Tree Saplings was one of those "you shouldn't judge the book by its cover" cases. Those people let down their guards around it since it didn't look that threatening and as a result, their carelessness had been paid for with their lives.

Amongst the vanguard was the supreme commander of the Law God Sect.

He let out a frown as he observed the people under his command obliterating the Willow Tree Saplings without too much trouble. He couldn't help but have doubts in his mind.

Everything was going well... too well, in fact.

Facing the hundreds of thousands of Willow Tree Saplings, they only had a few casualties. He was starting to think that maybe... this was a trap.

There was an old adage that said, "If it's too good to be true, then it probably is."

Their enemy was an immortal after all. It shouldn't be this easy. Nothing should be this easy when facing an immortal as a mortal.

"Everyone! Don't let down your guard!" he said those words with his Divine Sense so even the others in the rear could hear his voice.

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Since he didn't know the immortal's plan, there was nothing he could do but just be extra alert and prepare for it when it finally decided to make its move.

...

Somewhere in the rear, the core disciples of the Law God Sect and the top ten of the Golden Dragon Elections from the Jin Empire happened upon each other.

The three core disciples immediately sent a glare towards Yu Shan and the crown prince the moment they saw the two while the two only smiled back at them with a bit of a taunting look. The three looked away. In their current situation, they couldn't afford to fight with each other.

Ming Ru only sighed at his fellow core disciples before nodding at Yun Yi with respect since he was able to fight Yu Zhong equally, who was world-renowned as the strongest in their generation.

Yun Yi smiled at him and nodded back in return. His eyes then went towards Yu Zhong—the guy he fought just a few days ago—and raised a brow.

The guy had a look of dissatisfaction on his face but it wasn't directed at him or his companions. It seemed like he was irritated and dissatisfied by something else.

"Oh, don't mind him. He just wanted to go to the frontline and fight the enemies instead of staying here at the back," said Ming Ru when he noticed Yun Yi being curious about the way the normally awe-inspiring and fearsome Yu Zhong was acting.

Yun Yi's smile widened.

What an interesting guy. He felt that if ever he and his young master met, the two would surely get along with each other... after beating each other senseless that was.

"Come to think of it... Ash Wood, you're a nature spirit, aren't you?" the ninth placer of the Golden Dragon Election, Jing Man, asked.

"I am... what of it?" Ash Wood said, trying hard to hide his disdain. Among everyone in the top ten of the Golden Dragon Election, only Jing Man, the ninth placer, and He Yin, the tenth placer, didn't deserve their place.

They only got into the top ten after being carried around by Luo Yutong. Though Luo Yutong wasn't particularly strong, he was a capable person. As for those two...

They were nothing special.

Jing Man gritted his teeth when noticed the disdain in Ash Wood's eyes. He was angry but he endured it since he knew he wouldn't stand a chance against him, not to mention, the time and place were inappropriate.

"Since you're a nature spirit, can you control some of those things?"

Ash Wood snorted.

"I can't. The other nature spirits also can't. If they can, the nature spirits in the Sacred King Realm in the vanguard would've controlled them already."

Jing Man was annoyed at him. He was about to respond when they heard a series of explosions in the vanguard.

...

The Law God Sect's supreme commander clenched his fist as he roared out, "Get away from those things!"

What he had been wary about had finally come.

The Willow Tree Saplings who got close to them suddenly exploded, releasing power that was capable of killing Mortal Lord Realm experts in an instant.

Alone, the Willow Tree Saplings' explosion wouldn't be able to hurt the Sacred Kings much. However, with their large numbers...

Even Sacred Kings would have their life at risk!

Thousands of Willow Tree Saplings exploded in an instant, killing some of the Sacred Kings in the process. There were also Willow Tree Saplings who luckily managed to slip past them and exploded in the middle of their formation, injuring and killing a lot of cultivators in a second.

"Use projectile type supreme arts and do not get close to them!" the supreme commander repeated his words with an additional command.

They all listened to their words and tried to reorient themselves after being caught off guard by the explosion.

Right at that moment, there were eight, huge branches that came out from the ground.

Their situation was getting worse with each passing second.