Douluo Continent: The Book of Witness and Peerless Tang Sect

"Xiao You, come and take a look. Are there any spirit beast attacking willows in that willow grove ahead?"

"Yes, and it's the outermost one. Let's get a little closer; at this distance, my observation glasses can't lock on properly, so I can't determine the exact age of this 'Hit-and-Beat Willow'."

"Is that the outermost one? Are you sure?"

"Of course I'm sure. I can clearly see the difference between things that emit soul power and those that don't through my glasses. I can confirm that this is a Soul Beast Hitting Willow, and it's a hundred-year-old Hitting Willow at that."

Hopefully, this "beating willow" isn't too old; otherwise, it will be quite a hassle for us to explore beyond it.

Okay, stop! It's locked down, let's wait a bit. Beibei, keep an eye on our surroundings.

The waiting process was undoubtedly agonizing, especially when there was a strong sense of anticipation. Fortunately, Tang Ya was, after all, the current leader of the Tang Sect, who had powerful figures in the God Realm looking after her, so she had some luck.

As he felt the consumption of his soul power cease, Long You immediately looked down at the pages of the Book of Witness.

"Three hundred and eighteen years, not four hundred years yet, what do you say, Sister Xiaoya?"

"This is it. I know my own physical condition. This height of a little over three hundred years is just right. Any higher and I might not be able to handle it."

"Alright, let's get ready to move. Let's move forward to about fifty meters; that's the furthest my soul-guided ray cannon can reach."

This beating willow doesn't have the ferocity of the tiger-striped cat, but its branches can cover the sky when swung, so close combat is out of the question. The main force can only be me, the soul-guided ray cannon that can attack from a distance.

"Beibei, take this soul-detecting device. If there's a green dot, ignore it. But if a red dot appears, no matter how far away it is, we run immediately."

"Hey, alright. I didn't expect that. I should have brought a remote soul tool too."

"Next time, use your brain. Don't think that just because you're a Soul Master and have a Martial Soul and Soul Power, everything will be fine. When you're out and about, carrying more Soul Tools that can make up for your weaknesses won't hurt you."

After the division of labor was completed, Long You began to use the Soul Guiding Ray Cannon to hit the branches of the Man-Beating Willow one by one, from a distance of fifty meters, relying on the enhanced observation ability of the Insight Glasses.

Don't even think about touching the trunk of the Man-Beating Willow until these branches are cleared away. Although the simplest way to deal with plant-type soul beasts is to set them on fire, Long You is afraid that he might lose control of the fire and burn himself, or attract something he shouldn't.

The Soul-Guiding Ray Cannon was very accurate, but the Man-Hitting Willow wasn't really an immovable piece of wood. At least its branches could sway wildly, and a layer of light green light film appeared on its canopy.

The soul-guided ray cannon was completely helpless against this layer of light membrane, and could only grind it down relentlessly. Fortunately, Long Ye had plenty of patience, and the soul power stored in the milk bottle soul tool was plentiful. With continuous attacks, half of the branches on the willow tree crown had broken off in half an hour.

Although even if all the branches were broken, it wouldn't be a fatal injury to the Willow, the unbearable situation of being able to only take the beating and not fight back still drove the Willow crazy.

Seeing the willow tree, which had been used to attack people, flailing its remaining branches like wheels of fire, its roots, which had been buried in the ground, twisting wildly, Long You temporarily stopped firing. There was no other way; he couldn't hit it anymore.

"We made a mistake. We didn't think this through before we came. If this were a scorching ray cannon, we would have finished it by now."

"So what do we do now? I've realized that with my current small size, I absolutely cannot rush forward."

"Let's set it on fire! We have no other choice. Let's find some tinder and firewood, and I'll assemble a catapult so we can light the fireballs and throw them over there."

There are other old *Salix matsudana* trees in this forest; a large fire wouldn't be able to burn them.

"Then, what about absorbing a spirit ring?"

“Let’s go to the other side of the river. I have some optical invisibility soul tools on me. There’s a good spot on the other side. I’ll set it up. It should be able to hide the three of us.”

"This spirit ring can't reach the other side of the river, can it?"

"You can just carry it over. This 'hitting willow' isn't very old, so the pressure won't be too great at first. As long as you're quick enough, Xiaoya won't be affected."

"You said you'd help Xiaoya find her spirit ring on this trip, but I've been running around doing all the work. You want to woo a girl? This won't do."

"You...can do it!"

A simple catapult, designed only to launch burning blocks of wood, wasn't particularly difficult to make. A tripod and a seesaw with vines tied to it were all it took.

First, I tested the shooting parameters with an unlit piece of wood, then lit pieces of wood of the same size and threw them. Some shots inevitably missed, but most landed at the target location.

At first, the Willow Tree could still wield its remaining vines to put out the fire, but after Long You seized the opportunity to knock off the other vines of the Willow Tree, it could only writhe and struggle in the slowly burning flames.

"Tsk, looking at it this way, it's a little hard to bear! Although they are plants, they are still living things. No wonder Di Tian got so angry in the end, and the Silver Dragon King wanted to take revenge on humans."

I wonder where Old Master Electrolux's remnant soul is? We can't let him just disappear like that this time. With his abilities, he should be able to bring forth spirits, even artificial spirits, onto the continent sooner.

Silently watching the willow tree twisting in the flames, Long You felt a surge of emotions.

Despite his regrets, Tang Ya couldn't give up her spirit ring. So Long You handed over his spirit guide ray cannon to Tang Ya, allowing her to attack the Man-Beating Willow from a distance.

In this way, the death of the Man-Beating Willow will be attributed to Tang Ya, avoiding the awkward situation where Tang Ya works hard only to be unable to absorb the Man-Beating Willow's spirit ring.

Perhaps due to the suppression of the remaining soul power within the Willow Tree, coupled with the fact that Long You was very careful when setting the fire, the burning flames gradually went out after the Willow Tree's soul rings appeared.

"Let's begin, Sister Xiaoya. Focus on your martial spirit and don't get distracted. Leave the outside matters to me and Beibei."

"Xiao You, I won't say thank you, but I remember this favor clearly. If it weren't for you this time, Bei Bei and I would have been completely lost, and we might have ended up having to accept a ten-year soul ring from the academy teachers."

For some reason, Tang Ya's eyes suddenly reddened as she looked at the bright yellow spirit ring emerging from the charred trunk of the Man-Beating Willow. Although no tears fell, she was quite agitated.

"Haha, impossible, Sister Xiaoya. Although the Tang Clan has declined, it has a history of ten thousand years and still retains some of its traditions. That's why Beibei is in such a hurry to do it herself. If we wait a while, there might be elders who come to help."

"But it doesn't matter, didn't we do it ourselves? Xiaoya, you should calm down and quickly absorb this spirit ring. If there's a next time, it definitely won't be this troublesome."

"You're good at saying nice things, I'm starting now."

Long You comforted Tang Ya, and although it was clear that Tang Ya was still somewhat agitated, she calmed down a bit. Seeing that time was running out, Tang Ya immediately sat cross-legged and began absorbing the spirit ring.