Through the crack, a massive black mountain could be seen faintly.
The Tree Demon Matriarch watched with joy.
"Lord Black Mountain, please help me!"
"I can help, but you must give me Nie Xiaoqian as my bride!"
"Alright! Lord Black Mountain, it would be her good fortune to marry you!"
Suddenly, a horde of ghost soldiers rushed out from the crack, charging straight at them! Xiaoqian looked on in despair.
The Tree Demon Matriarch sneered, acting as if she held great power. "Yan Chixia, Lord Black Mountain is here! Let's see where you can run this time!"
Yan Chixia saw the ghost soldiers charging toward them and was about to flee with Ning Caichen, but Ning Caichen remained frozen in place.
"Hurry up and run! The Black Mountain Demon is not someone we can handle!"
At this moment, Yang Tao spoke up. "Alright, everyone, we've been watching for long enough! It's time to act! Who would've thought the Black Mountain Demon would deliver himself right to us? This saves us a lot of trouble!"
The Tree Demon Matriarch heard the voice but couldn't sense anything. "Who's there? Hiding in the shadows! How dare you speak so arrogantly in front of Lord Black Mountain? Show yourself!"
"Arrogant? Ha!"
Yang Tao and his group revealed themselves.
Without a word, Whitebeard swung his blade, cutting through the ghost soldiers, instantly leaving a trail of destruction.
Tony put on his armor and fired a barrage of bullets at the ghost soldiers. The bullets, instead of passing through them, exploded with immense force.
Tony had been working on enchanted bullets lately, and now was the perfect time to test them out.
"Not bad! Now let's see how this little toy performs!" He fired a mini-missile straight into the crack.
A massive explosion soon followed.
"Damn humans! You've angered me!" A furious voice roared from the crack—it was the Black Mountain Demon.
He flew out of the crack, his voice thundering, "You will all die!"
Ren Fa revealed his true form. His eyes turned blood-red, and sharp fangs grew from his mouth. This way, he could unleash his full strength.
"All die? You sure talk big!"
With that, he charged straight at the Black Mountain Demon.
The Black Mountain Demon was both shocked and furious. "You're a zombie, yet you fight alongside humans? Disgraceful!"
"Screw you! Let's see how you plan to kill me today!"
The Black Mountain Demon struck Ren Fa, but the sound of metal clashing echoed—the attack couldn't even scratch him.
Meanwhile, Whitebeard swung his blade at the Tree Demon Matriarch. Due to the overwhelming difference in strength, her body was nearly chopped down to a bare log, with all her branches gone.
If Yang Tao hadn't specifically instructed to spare her life, she would've been dead already!
Yang Tao and Xu Xian casually helped Ning Caichen clean up the ghost soldiers, barely exerting any effort.
The others watched in stunned silence, unsure how to react.
Yan Chixia was starting to doubt everything. Who am I? Where am I? What am I supposed to do?
These people had appeared out of nowhere, and he didn't recognize a single one of them.
And that towering giant with a crescent-shaped white mustache—he had never even heard of him before.
Not to mention the zombie fighting the Black Mountain Demon—his strength was already terrifying, but why was he also throwing out talismans every now and then?
"Could he be some old master who refused to die and turned himself into a zombie?"
Watching the sparks fly from the Black Mountain Demon's attacks bouncing off Ren Fa's body, Yan Chixia suddenly felt that becoming a zombie might not be such a bad idea after all.
Xiaoqian and Xiaoqing were also completely stunned.
Xiaoqing knew this group was strong, but she hadn't expected them to be this powerful.
Ren Fa quickly blasted apart the Black Mountain Demon! Literally—his entire body shattered into pieces.
The crack in the sky was slowly healing, but Black Mountain's voice echoed from within.
"If you have the guts, come find me in the underworld! Otherwise, I'll keep bothering you!"
Yang Tao shouted, "Don't worry, we'll be there soon!"
The Black Mountain Demon's true form was an actual black mountain in the underworld. The one they had just destroyed was merely one of his roaming avatars.
As one of the most infamous demons in the *Strange Tales* world, his true power wasn't as weak as what they had just seen.
Once the crack in the sky closed, the remaining ghost soldiers were quickly wiped out.
Now, a group had gathered around the Tree Demon Lady, discussing her in hushed voices.
Tony said, "This is amazing. A tree can actually turn into a person? That's not scientific!"
Ren Fa rolled his eyes at Tony and said, "And your enchanted bullets are scientific?"
"Of course they are! I just infused energy called 'spiritual essence' into the bullet tip and made it explode on impact. Isn't that completely scientific?"
Ren Fa: "..." He had to admit, Tony made a good point.
"I can accept that trees can develop intelligence, but actually changing species? That's something else. Boss, how about letting me study her?" Tony, the research fanatic, was already in full gear.
"Hmm, I'll let her cooperate with you later. I need her for now."
The Tree Demon Lady listened as they casually decided her fate in just a few sentences. But she didn't dare resist.
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