When Ye Jingyu first arrived here, he didn't immediately forge the Wood Golden Core primarily because he didn't know Luo Ling'er's whereabouts or her current condition. His sole focus was on finding her, which is why he didn't immediately dedicate time to cultivating the Wood Golden Core. After all, while the wood spiritual energy here was abundant, cultivating a Wood Golden Core still required a significant amount of time, unless he recklessly urged the Kai Ming Beast to catalyze the primal power of the Jianmu tree. However, doing so risked damaging the Jianmu, and Ye Jingyu had long yearned for the interface situated upon that very tree, which is why he held back on condensing the Wood Golden Core then.

But now, the arrival of that monkey had completely upended his plans. Furthermore, he had already condensed the other eight Golden Cores within his body, leaving only the Wood Golden Core remaining. He must forge the Wood Golden Core in one swift move to complete his Chaos Body, and he had to do it in the shortest time possible. Therefore, even if it meant potentially damaging the primal source of the Jianmu, he could no longer afford to hesitate.

Seeing Ye Jingyu had made his decision, Jiufeng and the others naturally had no further comment, and the Kai Ming Beast understood Ye Jingyu's intentions, merely nodding its assent.

Jiufeng directly produced the Chiyou Banner, and with Ye Jingyu’s assistance, she unleashed the Twelve Heavenly Witches Annihilation Grand Array. Zhu Rong, Hanba, Tianwu, Gou Mang, Hou Yi, Xuan Ming, and the others materialized. Ni Bo, Taotie, and Bingming also stood with solemn expressions, daring not to show the slightest carelessness.

The Kai Ming Beast approached the roots of the Jianmu. Its entire body transformed into a streak of azure light and shot directly toward the ancient tree. Before anyone could grasp why the creature was attacking the Jianmu, they saw it completely merge with the tree. Immediately afterward, a tree hollow, large enough for a person to stand in, materialized near one of the massive roots.

"Alright, you all cultivate here. I will emerge within a month at most!" Ye Jingyu nodded to the group, then turned and walked into the tree hollow. The current situation was too urgent to allow for further words.

The others understood as well. Even Jiufeng and Xiyang, despite their eyes brimming with reluctance, did not obstruct Ye Jingyu. Since they loved him, they had to show understanding.

Each individual began cultivating according to their own methods. They all knew that although their current strength seemed formidable, they were still far behind those masters who stood at the apex. None of them wished to become a burden to Ye Jingyu; they could only strive to enhance their own power.

After Ye Jingyu entered the tree hollow, the opening vanished entirely. He felt as if he had stepped into another dimension—a space composed entirely of azure light. This was a domain naturally formed by the Jianmu. From the Kai Ming Beast, Ye Jingyu knew that this blue luminescence was the primal spiritual energy of the Jianmu. The density of wood spiritual energy here was tens of thousands of times greater than outside. Under such rich concentration, forging his Wood Golden Core would not be difficult.

Without hesitation, he sat down cross-legged, his body hovering slightly. The Bayan Jue within him began to circulate fully, and the wood-associated acupoint on his liver started ravenously absorbing the dense wood spiritual energy.

With Ye Jingyu exerting his full power, the green light surged toward him like a lecherous man who hadn't seen a beautiful woman in decades suddenly encountering a peerless beauty, aggressively pouncing forward.

The wood spiritual energy in this place was truly overwhelming. Under Ye Jingyu’s divine sense sweep, his previously empty wood-associated acupoint began to swell rapidly. At this pace, he might successfully condense the Golden Core in as little as half a month.

Soon, Ye Jingyu became utterly immersed in the ecstasy of absorbing the wood spiritual energy, his entire being submerged in this green ocean.

What he did not know was that as he continuously drew upon the Jianmu’s primal source, the entire tree began to change. The first area to show alteration was, naturally, the dense canopy. The lush, emerald-green leaves started turning yellow and began shedding in vast sheets. This sight was agonizing to Gou Mang and the others outside the Jianmu; after all, this was the ancient Jianmu, and even a single leaf was an exceedingly rare, top-tier material. Now they were falling off—how much primal energy was Ye Jingyu absorbing?

Then, large branches began to wither, and even the trunk showed signs of decay. By the tenth day, at least fifty percent of the Jianmu’s leaves had fallen, thirty percent of its branches were completely desiccated, and a significant amount of bark had flaked away. This deterioration continued to worsen.

As for the wood spiritual energy that had once been so abundant in the canyon, much of it was gone. This puzzled Gou Mang greatly. He had expected to recover to near his former Divine Venerable realm by drawing upon this intense wood energy, but now he couldn't absorb any further. He even felt a sudden urge to enter with Ye Jingyu and drain every last bit of the Jianmu's primal power...

While they were fully engaged in boosting their cultivation, the ambush masterminded by Liang Xiaoke was reaching its boiling point. Originally, the Sky Alliance had ten Heavenly Sovereigns. Even with two dead and one fled (Liang Xiaoke), the remaining seven Sovereigns should have been sufficient to hold back Yuan and the others arriving from the Earth Alliance. Even if they couldn't slay those three "Gods of Slaughter" outright, they could at least cut down one or two demons. After all, Xuanyuan Jing's strength was comparable to Yuan's, and Ba and Jian's cultivation levels were similar to the other Heavenly Sovereigns, making a six-on-two engagement heavily one-sided. This was supposed to be a near-perfect ambush.

Facing Heavenly Sovereigns who vastly outnumbered them, the three "Slaughter Gods" of the Earth Alliance instantly realized they had been tricked, but escape was no longer possible. They could only transmit information to their comrades while fighting with all their might against the Sovereigns’ attacks.

However, the sheer difference in numbers proved too great. After only three days, Jian, the City Lord of Dark City in the Earth Alliance, was slain. But as he perished, he managed to grievously wound another Sky Alliance Heavenly Sovereign, Daoist Xuanqing. And then, the other City Lord, Ba, after seizing Jian's remaining essence, chose immediate self-detonation.

The destructive power unleashed by the self-destruction of a Chaos-level expert was beyond imagination. Even the Heavenly Sovereigns had never expected their opponent to be so fiercely resolved, abandoning years of cultivation in an instant.

Xuanyuan Jing tried to shield his comrade from the force of Ba's explosion, but Yuan held him back fiercely.

The self-detonation of a peak Chaos-level expert instantly annihilated the already heavily wounded Daoist Xuanqing. The immense shockwave completely destroyed the physical bodies of all Heavenly Sovereigns present, with the exception of Yan Senxu and Ying Kongshi. Even their formidable bodies sustained severe injuries.