Suddenly, from the Earthglow Grove beneath the sinkhole in Sleeping Dragon Valley, a sharp "crack!" echoed through the air. Several massive Earthglow Trees split open at the center, their branches crashing down. Then came a thunderous rumble, like a subway train speeding by—something was rushing toward them at breakneck speed.
Shawn Young was startled, instantly sensing a surge of deadly, inexplicable killing intent. He grabbed Jade Swann by her slender waist and retreated swiftly—just as they moved, their original spot collapsed. Several gray-white glowing branches shot up like arrows, aiming straight for them, carrying a fierce force that seemed intent on pinning them to the ground!
"Ah!" Jade Swann never expected the trees would attack, and at such speed—she couldn’t dodge at all. She didn’t even have time to activate her Thunderstrike Seal for protection, so all she could do was stare wide-eyed at the hard, sharp branches hurtling toward her!
Thankfully, Shawn Young was behind her—he pulled her forcefully to the ground, rolling them away just in time to dodge the attack. The branches struck the cave wall behind with a heavy thud, their power so great that they punched deep holes several centimeters into the stone, like miniature rocket launchers!
"Whoa—what the heck just happened? Why are these trees attacking us?" Jade Swann was drenched in cold sweat. She knew if Shawn hadn’t pulled her away, she’d be seriously hurt by now.
"Boom!" Before Shawn could answer, the ground shook violently again. They hadn’t even gotten up to run before a landslide of dirt and rocks sent them tumbling right into the Earthglow Grove.
"What the—are we having an earthquake or something?" Jade Swann cried out, both she and Shawn now covered in dirt.
Her answer came in the form of a torrential downpour—"whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!"—of hard Earthglow Tree branches crashing from above. The steel-like branches kept raining down, trapping the two of them in a deadly predicament.
But Shawn Young was ready. He shouted, quickly weaving his hands into the Sage King's Mark, his true energy surging. He chanted: "Radiant golden light, shield the true one; illuminate the darkness, ascend to purity; drive away evil, Vajra protect; Supreme Purity, empower—by the law, grant!" Then he flipped his hands above his head.
A dazzling golden light appeared above them, forming a half-dome that enveloped the two, creating a protective barrier. The falling Earthglow Tree branches shattered upon contact, turning into gray-white flashes that quickly dispersed—these trees, nourished by earth energy deep underground, reverted to rich earth aura upon breaking!
Shawn Young let out a sigh of relief. What he’d just activated was the Celestial Guardian Charm, a signature defensive spell of the Celestial Sect. Its protection was so strong that even a direct hit from a rocket launcher wouldn’t break through—though only a powerful cultivator could cast it. Luckily, Shawn’s skills had surged, making this charm no problem for him at all.
"Phew, good thing you had that Guardian Charm up, or we really might’ve died for nothing in this place!" Jade Swann exhaled, watching the gray-white bursts outside the barrier shimmer and flicker like fireworks. She felt a wave of relief.
Before she could finish, Jade suddenly noticed the surrounding Earthglow Trees coming alive, twisting their trunks and shifting the ground beneath their feet. In no time, the trees rearranged themselves into a bizarre formation—like an impenetrable wall, densely packed all around them. There were only finger-sized gaps between the branches, nowhere for a human to squeeze through.
"Wait—they’re trying to trap us! Hmph, let me blast us a way out!" Jade Swann instantly realized they’d been surrounded, but she was confident she could break through.
She quickly formed the Thunderlord Sigil with her hands, channeling her true energy and chanting: "Mystic source of heaven and earth, within and beyond the three realms, command the thunder, unleash the lightning, gather the five energies, divine thunder breaks the sky, by law—break!"
As she finished, Jade thrust her palms forward—"whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!"—a barrage of blue lightning swept over the dense Earthglow Trees. "Boom! Boom! Boom!" The thunder shattered the trees, splintering trunks and scattering them into gray-white clouds of energy, leaving a massive hole behind.
"Heh, not bad! My Thunderstrike Burst is perfect for smashing these freaky trees!" Jade said proudly.
But before she could celebrate, the scattered gray-white clouds in the air suddenly regrouped, forming another dense grove of Earthglow Trees that surrounded them once more—as if her attack hadn’t made a dent at all.
"What the—how is this possible? These trees revive way too fast! Hmph, I refuse to believe I can’t blow you apart!" Jade Swann was stunned but refused to give up. She poured more true energy into her hands, unleashing Thunderstrike Burst after Thunderstrike Burst at the magical grove.
"Boom! Boom! Boom!" After a series of earth-shaking blasts, Jade’s energy was nearly spent, her pretty face a little pale. The grove was left in ruins, a thick earthy stench swirling in the air, with gray-white mist enveloping everything around them.
Before Jade could even feel happy, the weird scene repeated itself—the swirling gray-white clouds in the air frantically reformed, and in less than half a minute, they were surrounded again, packed tight, with an overwhelming sense of pressure.
"Damn it! These cursed trees! At this rate, there’s no way out—think of something quick, Shawn!" Jade Swann shouted, feeling helpless.
Shawn Young had been studying the shifting Earthglow Grove. He finally spoke: "Yeah, this is the Celestial Ironwood Array—a formation mixing earth and wood elements. You can’t brute-force your way out. We’ll need another strategy!"
"Celestial Ironwood Array!? So how do we deal with this thing?" Jade asked urgently.
"Metal conquers wood! We’ll use the power of gold to break the array!" Shawn replied.