Chapter 722
“Follow you?” Sean visibly panicked when he heard what Jonathan had said. “I-I don't know...”
“How could you not know?” Jonathan smiled. “Your physique is very suitable for cultivation. If you follow me, I can bring you to
the city to live there and teach you everything I know. What do you say?”
The reason he offered that proposal was that he couldn't bear letting someone as talented as Sean to languish in Phoebus Sect,
which was about to be destroyed.
Additionally, Sean was exceptionally sensible, which endeared him to Jonathan further.
Sean shook his head somewhat cluelessly. “I don't know... How about... I'll ask my master first before getting back to you.”
Master? Jonathan sighed resignedly. Whether his mentor is Sofus or Vladimir, neither of them is coming back. “Fine. I'll let you
think about my offer, then. I have matters to attend to, so I'll be going now. Once I'm done, I'll return here and ask you about it
again.”
“Okay,” Sean replied with a smile. “See you, Sir.”
Jonathan nodded and leaped dozens of meters away before dropping past the misty cliff next to Triplex Manifesta.
When Jonathan's figure disappeared into the mist, the cuteness and bashfulness on Sean's countenance swiftly vanished. A
look of murderous intent then swirled in his eyes.
“Seeing that Phoebus Sect's ring is on his finger, I bet he killed Vladimir already. Yet, he tried to take me in as his disciple.” As he
muttered to himself, he stared at his small hand. “I've only woken up recently, so I'm still too weak. I must remain patient for
now!”
A deep voice abruptly rang out from behind him. “Why are you daydreaming instead of sweeping the floor, Sean?”
“Huh? Someone told me he wanted to take me away, Master...”
Speedily, he put on his innocent and bashful facade again before turning to face the cultivator behind him.
Standing outside the formation's white, misty wall, Jonathan brought out a square formation plate.
“Open!” After he gestured a technique, a tunnel appeared on the wall.
Using the formation plate as a bond, he instantly enveloped the entire formation in his consciousness the moment he stepped
out of the white mist.
The first thing he saw was that the lush Flaming Tree had turned completely bald.
The life essence of the divine tree that had existed since ancient times was sucked dry, and it was dead.
Seeing that a quarter of the Four Symbols Formation had been annihilated, Jonathan enveloped his consciousness in the valley
within the center of the mountain peak.
The rune had darkened, the formation's foundation was destroyed, and Joselle was free.
Every inch of the land in the middle of Summerbank Abyss flashed past Jonathan's mind. Finally, he saw a man and a woman
near a pond.
The woman had good looks and hair that reached her waist. On her curvy body were clothes made from beast skin. An odd
spear made from a tree branch and a sharp stone was in her hand.
Of course, she was none other than Joselle.
In front of her was a bloody man fighting against a demon wolf.
Suddenly, Jonathan caught a faint trace of the man's aura.
He released a long breath when he sensed the man's numerous negative auras. Violence, insanity, murderous intent... He must
be Quinton!
With the help of the formation plate in his hand, he soared across more than a hundred meters in an instant.
Joselle, eating fruit while sitting on a rock watching the battle, abruptly snapped her sight in Jonathan's direction.
Then, she ordered, “Slave, kill it.”
In response, Ryan grabbed the demon wolf's paws and bit the beast's neck.
His teeth grew wildly. A dozen short fangs instantly took shape, tearing his face apart.
As a result, his mouth became three times its original size.
Following the demon wolf's wailing, he severed the beast's arteries.
Before the creature passed away, it used all its remaining strength to chomp on his shoulder.
However, it was as though Ryan didn't notice the pain at all. He didn't dodge or show any signs of agony.
Moments later, the alpha wolf lay on Ryan's shoulder like a corpse, no longer possessing its former glory.
Ryan's injuries rapidly healed thanks to the blood essence he absorbed from the demon wolf. His face, which was still torn apart
seconds ago, had also recovered.
“Master.” Politely, he arrived and stood next to Joselle as though he had no emotions.
Some time ago, he killed Carmelo so as not to get possessed. Then, to take his revenge on Jonathan, he came to Summerbank
Mountain. However, he accidentally stumbled into the Four Symbol Formation.
Jonathan and the others were Grandmaster Realm cultivators, yet they could only barely survive there. On the other hand, Ryan
was merely a Superior Realm cultivator. He almost died multiple times before he came across Joselle.
At first, when she asked him to heal himself at the Flaming Tree, he already sensed she was planning to use him.
Naturally, he didn't want to interact with Joselle too much back then.
However, after he had a taste of the Flaming Tree's powerful regenerative ability, he went crazy.
Every day, he would intentionally provoke powerful demon beasts in Summerbank Abyss and then fight them as if he couldn't
care less about dying. After each victory, he would consume the demon beast's life essence to increase his cultivation level
rapidly.
If he were wounded, he would crawl back to the Flaming Tree to recuperate.
In just a week, he slaughtered enough demon beasts to become a Grandmaster Realm cultivator.
It was also then the Flaming Tree died.
Before, Ryan had studied the unique properties of the Flaming Tree.
As a cultivator, he, of course, could tell the tree was one of the foundations of a large formation.
He also noticed many of its leaves would fall every time he consumed its sap.
However, he was completely addicted to the feeling of reaching higher cultivation levels at a meteoric rate.
Whenever he looked at the leaves left on the tree, he would tell himself he would stop drinking the sap after one more time and
only rely on himself to achieve higher cultivation levels.
Sadly, it was something he only repeated in his mind instead of doing. Eventually, he killed the tree.
Ryan didn't know the tree was a spiritual root that required balance and would suffer irrevocable damage once that balance had
been broken.
Even if one were to stop drinking its sap afterward, it would still die swiftly from its injury.
Phoebus Sect sacrificed three Grandmaster Realm cultivators every three years because it was necessary to restore the
Flaming Tree's diminished life essence and maintain that balance.
Due to Ryan's greed, he ruined that balance permanently.
The death of the Flaming Tree meant one part of the Four Symbols Formation that bounded Joselle was destroyed. Therefore,
she was once again free.
The first thing she did after that was to turn Ryan into her new slave.