Chapter 536: Chapter 529: Divine Soul
With a light wave of his hand, a Light Blade shot through the air—an effortless gesture.
But the carnage it caused was terrifying.
A large, fan-shaped area dozens of meters in front of them was cleared out. In the jungle, the trees and vegetation, carefully cultivated by the Forest Race for extreme resilience, were all severed by the Light Blade, leaving behind only bare, bisected trunks.
Even Hui Ming and the others at his side felt their pupils contract at the sight of such power.
The vegetation cultivated by the Forest Race was troublesome, but they were all beings who stood at the pinnacle of normal life. It wouldn’t have been difficult for them to escape, provided they were willing to pay a certain price and use their abilities. But to cause such terrifying destruction as effortlessly as the black-robed man had? That was impossible.
This was the power of the King Level.
SWISH! SWISH! SWISH!
The black-robed man waved his arm gently, and the tough vines coiled around them instantly shattered, freeing them from their bonds.
WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Just then, as if the carnage caused by the black-robed man had finally alarmed them, the numerous traps the Forest Race had deployed in the surrounding area were all activated.
Countless illusory mists and vines surged forth like a frantic tide, blanketing everything like a tsunami.
"Get down."
The cold voice, filled with a potent, sinister will, came from the black-robed man.
Then.
BOOM!
His entire body was enveloped in a sinister, dark-blue light. This radiance seemed to be more than just Magnetic Field Power; it contained a formidable energy, like an explosive.
SWISH!! SWISH!!
The dark-blue light converged on the black-robed man’s arms and swiftly condensed into two sharp swords.
An Exotic Beast—a hybrid of turtle and serpent, shrouded in black mist with blood-red eyes—could be seen on the blades of the swords, roaring toward the heavens and exuding a terrifyingly ferocious aura.
True Martial Evil Sword.
Sensing the immense power contained within those two Light Sabers, even men as proud as Hui Ming and his companions had no choice but to obey the black-robed man and crouch down.
SWOOSH! SWOOSH! SWOOSH!
The mass of vines, grinding against each other with a sound like a tidal wave, had already surged right in front of them.
At the same time, the black-robed man slowly crouched, twisting at the waist. He held one arm across his chest and the other behind his back. The very moment the wave of vines crashed down, he spun violently, swinging both arms.
From a vantage point hundreds of meters above the forest, a shocking image flashed into existence for a mere instant.
A massive, shimmering, dark-blue disk with a radius of roughly two hundred meters flashed through the dense jungle.
SHIIING!
An impossibly crisp, melodic sound instantly tore through the world.
The countless vines that had been swarming over them froze instantly, as if time itself had stopped.
Then.
CRASH! RATTLE!
Countless vines of incredible toughness rained down. From high above, a perfectly neat circle was now visible in the dense forest.
"Tsk, the power of a King Level is so convenient. It truly makes one long for it..."
Hui Ming stood up and remarked with a sigh.
"Let’s go. We need to hurry and find our opponent’s true body," the black-robed man said flatly, the power around his body gradually receding. "I’ve only just reached King Level, and releasing my Divine Soul to this extent is quite taxing. If I expend too much power, it might interfere with breaking the Seal later."
"That’s true. Then let’s move in as quickly as possible."
Andy nodded. With a flicker, the group sped toward the location of the King Level Seal.
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Meanwhile, in a cave not far from the Seal’s location, several figures were gathered.
One of them was a middle-aged man with brown skin, his body covered in intricate white patterns painted with an unknown pigment. He sat cross-legged in the center of the cave. Countless tiny plant roots sprouted from the cave floor, coiling around his body and burrowing into him through his pores and orifices. The sight was utterly bizarre.
This was a special technique the Forest Race used to control plants.
By using the roots, they could merge their own Life Magnetic Field with those of the plants, effectively turning the vegetation into extensions of their own bodies.
In theory, the range of their magnetic field control was as vast as the reach of the connected root system.
The middle-aged man currently in the center of the cave was one of the Forest Race’s clan elders, a powerful Celestial Level being.
However, the next moment.
SNAP!
Nearly a third of the plant roots connected to the man suddenly snapped, and he violently spat out a mouthful of dark green blood.
"Clan Elder!"
The other members of the Forest Race standing guard nearby turned pale with shock and rushed over to check on the elder.
"I’ll live."
The middle-aged elder waved his arm dismissively, sitting up straight again and taking a deep breath.
"So this is the power wielded by the King Level and our ancestors... Divine Soul? It’s terrifyingly strong... The outer defenses won’t hold them. While my condition is still relatively stable, it’s time to use *that*," the middle-aged elder said grimly.
"Clan Elder, has it really come to that?"
The faces of the others around him changed drastically when they heard his words.
"The time has come. If we don’t use it now, I’m afraid we’ll never get another chance."
The middle-aged clan elder looked around at the others and said softly, "Everyone, this is our mission and our destiny."
"We are Spirit Guardians. Since we bear this power, we must also bear the responsibility that comes with it."
"The time has come to fulfill our mission. We must buy the Great Clan Elder enough time for his breakthrough."
The others were silent for a moment before slowly moving to various positions around the cave and sitting cross-legged.
"Well then, everyone. Let’s begin."
"It has been an honor to be born into the same clan as all of you."
A faint smile touched the middle-aged elder’s lips.
SQUELCH!
The next moment, countless roots erupted from the cave floor, violently piercing the bodies of everyone present.
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「Outside the cave.」
Hui Ming and his group, following Andrew’s directions, rapidly approached the heart of the sealed area.
Suddenly, a sense of crisis washed over the group, making them halt in their tracks.
RUMBLE!!!
The earth trembled violently and the ground churned. It was as if a colossal tree was crawling out of the earth not far ahead, shaking the very surroundings.
Before their eyes, a massive creature crawled out from the soil. It stood nearly twenty meters tall, its body wrapped in a thick layer of roots, its form an unholy mix of deadwood and flesh.
Its colossal body completely blotted out the sun, casting everything in shadow.
"So they’re getting desperate? To think there’s a ’Forest Guardian’ here..." Andy muttered, his eyes narrowing.
It was a Symbiont, a lifeform created through the abilities of the Forest Race by combining a biological fungus with plants. Its power, speed, resilience, and strength had all reached a terrifying level.
However, awakening and controlling it required the Forest Race to pay an enormous price.