Evan Chu moved at a painstakingly slow pace, forced to watch every movement of the Millennial Tree Fiend. Traveling through the soil was already slow, and his cautiousness made it even slower—after half a day, he'd only advanced a few dozen meters.
But the Millennial Tree Fiend’s roots remained motionless, which reassured Evan. After a while, he noticed the surrounding roots had grown much thicker—clearly, he was getting closer to the main root.
Evan didn’t dare get too close to these roots—if he did, he’d be discovered for sure. Many times, just to avoid a single root, he had to spend extra time detouring around it.
The closer he got to his target, the bigger the roots became. Some were several meters thick, though Evan had no idea how deep they ran.
“Evan, the nearer you get to the main root, the safer you actually are. These roots are so massive, it’d be very hard for them to attack you. Stay alert, but don’t let the Millennial Tree Fiend notice you,” Sword Spirit Luna advised.
“Got it. But the main root must be at least dozens of meters long—how am I supposed to destroy something that big? Honestly, I don’t feel confident at all,” Evan said, sounding a bit discouraged.
“Anyone who achieves greatness must endure countless hardships. You need the heart of a true powerhouse—no matter what obstacles you face, you have to overcome them. That’s the only way your path will be truly extraordinary. Evan, you’re a strong one, so you have to keep striving,” Sword Spirit Luna said.
After studying the roots in the soil, Evan slowly moved around them. His persistence paid off: at last, he reached the main root. It felt like a solid wall, packed so tight there wasn’t a single gap to be found.
Evan didn’t get too close to the main root—instead, he circled around it. It took him half a day to make a full loop, and the constant tension left him utterly exhausted.
He paused to rest, knowing he had to find the Millennial Tree Fiend’s weak spot. Just then, the main root suddenly split open right beside him, forming a huge mouth.
A surge of red liquid sprayed out from the opening before it slowly closed again. Evan found this phenomenon deeply strange—the red liquid looked just like human blood and reeked of a sharp, metallic scent.
Evan couldn’t figure out why this was happening, no matter how hard he tried. But one thing was certain: this opening was definitely a breakthrough point—maybe even the Millennial Tree Fiend’s weak spot.
Soon, the opening in the main root healed over. Evan stayed put—if it happened once, it would surely happen again. He noticed that the soil around the main root was stained red and still damp in places, clearly showing that the Millennial Tree Fiend would periodically spray out red liquid.
Evan was gambling that his guess was right, so he crept closer to where the opening appeared and waited quietly.
“Luna, do you also think that’s where its weak point is?” Evan asked, passing the time.
“Exactly. That’s the only breach in the Millennial Tree Fiend’s defenses. You’ll need to get inside through that opening and destroy it from within. I’m sure you can do it, but I can’t guarantee how dangerous it’ll be,” Sword Spirit Luna replied.
“Doesn’t matter—I have to try, or there’s no way I’ll be able to kill it,” Evan said resolutely.
Time ticked by as Evan kept his eyes on the spot where the opening appeared. At last, he saw the Tree Fiend split open again, spraying out red liquid.
Evan’s nerves were stretched tight. Chaos Dragon Force surged through his body, and the moment the opening began to close, he gritted his teeth and dove inside.
As soon as he entered, the opening sealed behind him. Evan glanced around and realized he’d dropped into a pool of blood—countless streams of red liquid instantly engulfed him.
At that moment, the Millennial Tree Fiend realized Evan had entered its body and sneered, “Kid, you really do have some skill—actually daring to get inside me. But you’re only asking for trouble.”
As soon as it finished speaking, Evan felt the red liquid all around him surge madly toward him. The pressure was overwhelming, like being trapped in a gravity chamber—he could barely move.
The sensation was even worse than a gravity chamber. He felt the stone armor formed from earth element beginning to crack, and his breathing grew rapid.
"Damn it! Am I really going to die inside this tree demon’s body?" Evan grumbled in frustration.
“Evan, that red liquid is probably the Tree Fiend’s blood. You’re inside its meridians right now. Use Watershift—it should help you get through this, and you might even gain something unexpected,” Sword Spirit Luna advised.
Evan instantly caught on and activated Watershift. His whole body merged into the red liquid, and the crushing pressure vanished without a trace.
“Where’d that kid go? Did he get crushed to powder?” the Millennial Tree Fiend muttered, its ancient voice puzzled.
Evan drifted slowly through the red liquid—not moving fast, but the Tree Fiend couldn’t sense him at all.
Soon, he found a fork where the red liquid was thinner, so he hurried toward that side.
“You can’t stay here, Evan. You won’t be able to hurt the Tree Fiend at all in this spot—its body’s just too massive. You have to find its core, like its heart. Even though it’s not human, it has something similar.
Right now, you’re inside its meridians. Think about how human meridians are distributed—the Tree Fiend’s are the same. If you can reach what would be a human’s dantian, the Tree Fiend’s core, then you’ll solve your problem and get what you came for,” Sword Spirit Luna reminded him.
Evan thought Luna’s reasoning made sense, so he changed direction and moved toward the area with the densest red liquid.
He had no idea how much time passed, but eventually he felt like he was drifting in a vast red ocean. Overhead, he saw something shocking—Life Essence.
Even the smallest Life Essence crystals were the size of an egg, while some were as big as a bowl. Evan’s only thought was that he’d struck it rich.
Evan slowly made his way to the edge of the chamber. He had to climb out and find the Tree Fiend’s fatal weak point to destroy it.
The surrounding tree walls were perfectly smooth, offering no foothold at all. Gritting his teeth, Evan shot up out of the red liquid—he knew this would alert the Tree Fiend, but he couldn’t care less. At that moment, he saw a massive red organ, several meters across, pulsing rhythmically...