"Lin Feng, I just used my spiritual sense to scan the area. I've got two pieces of news for you—one good, one bad. Which do you want to hear first?" Luna the Sword Spirit's voice echoed in Evan Chu's mind.
"Give me the good news first. That way, when I hear the bad, it won't hit as hard," Evan replied.
"The good news is, the Wood Spirit Pearl is less than five li away from you, and the Life Essence in that spot is even stronger," Luna said.
"That was expected, so it barely counts as good news. Give me the bad—I'm guessing getting the Wood Spirit Pearl is going to be insanely hard, and there's some powerful tree demon guarding it, right?" Evan said.
"That's right. This time, getting the Wood Spirit Pearl will be extremely difficult. You might have to use the Lion Spirit Fist and combine it with Fireshift, Earthshift, and Watershift to pull it off. It's incredibly dangerous, so you'd better be prepared," Luna's voice turned serious.
"What's the deal, then? Is there some ultra-powerful beast over there or what? If it's just tree demons, I'll torch them all!" Evan said, knowing Luna wouldn't warn him for something simple.
"There's a Millennial Tree Fiend there. It’s called a ‘millennium’ fiend, but in truth, it’s at least tens of thousands of years old. It just can't take human form, but it can definitely speak our language.
Its defenses are already so strong that neither water nor fire can harm it. Even your flames, which rival Flarefire, barely threaten it. And its strength has reached the Saint Martial Realm," Luna explained.
"Didn't you say you can't break through to the Saint Martial Realm without the Netherghost Violet Orchid? So how does this Millennial Tree Fiend have that kind of power?" Evan asked, puzzled.
"The Millennial Tree Fiend can’t break through to the Saint Martial Realm, but after tens of thousands of years, even if it’s not a true Saint, it’s still ridiculously strong. The Wood Spirit Pearl is inside its body. If you want it, you’ll have to kill the fiend first."
Of course, you'll also be able to harvest a huge amount of Life Essence—but the price you'll pay, I can't even describe. This isn't an illusion realm; everything here is caused by the Millennial Tree Fiend. Its roots spread for hundreds of kilometers, and it releases an invisible gas that prevents you from using Stellar Power. That gas is called Demonwood Miasma.
To kill the Millennial Tree Fiend, you have to destroy its root network. Otherwise, there’s no way—this fiend is just too massive. It’s dozens of times bigger than any divine wood I’ve ever seen," Luna said.
"How big are we talking? Don’t tell me it’s got a trunk dozens of meters thick," Evan asked, voicing his worst guess.
"Dozens of meters? The Millennial Tree Fiend's trunk is at least several hundred meters across, and thousands of meters tall. Strange, isn’t it, that you can’t see it from outside? That’s because it secretes a powerful liquid that, under sunlight, turns the entire trunk invisible during the day," Luna said.
"Holy crap, a tree that huge really is an ancient monster. Honestly, I’m not sure I’ve got what it takes to kill something like that. With a body that size and that kind of power, how long would it even take to bring it down?" Evan suddenly felt a wave of despair.
Hundreds of meters across—even if he attacked nonstop, who knew how long it would take to destroy it? And the worst part was, the fiend’s strength rivaled the Saint Martial Realm. He really had no idea what to do.
"If you want the Wood Spirit Pearl, you have to pay the price. This is a test—a rare chance for you to temper yourself. Don’t waste it," Luna said.
Evan wanted to say something more, but his mood crashed. This mission was just too insane. Still, for the sake of his strength and his responsibilities, he had no choice but to grit his teeth and go all in.
Everyone else’s Stellar Power is completely sealed, but I can still use a portion—maybe that’s my breakthrough point. With that thought, he pulled out the Life Essence he’d collected after killing the tree demons.
Luna said it could be absorbed, so he decided to give it a try—maybe it really would work as well as she claimed.
Evan slowly circulated his Chaos Dragon Force and began absorbing the Life Essence. Sure enough, the green crystal in his hand gradually turned into a stream of energy that flowed into his body. It was slow, but it was working.
As the energy entered his body, Evan felt as if every cell was brimming with vitality—he was suddenly full of spirit and energy.
Little by little, something strange happened. As the stream of energy reached his dantian, his Chaos Dragon Force started merging with it—and the fusion was shockingly fast.
In less than three hours, Evan had absorbed all the Life Essence in his hand. He could feel his Chaos Dragon Force growing noticeably stronger.
It was still a long way from dawn, so he took out another crystal and absorbed it. By the time he'd refined about five pieces, he finally stopped—daybreak had come.
After he finished absorbing the second crystal, his Chaos Dragon Force was fully restored—he could use it without restriction again. He knew this had everything to do with the Life Essence.
Evan considered letting the Violet Thunder Fox absorb some Life Essence to restore its Stellar Power, but he decided against it. The Millennial Tree Fiend was too dangerous—if anything went wrong, he’d never forgive himself.
Evan stood up, tightened his grip on the Frostbane Sword, and started walking toward the Millennial Tree Fiend. Along the way, he killed more tree demons and collected several more Life Essence crystals.
As he drew closer to his target, the air grew thick with Life Energy. Just as he was about to press on, an ancient voice echoed in his ears.
"Human, you dare slaughter my children and grandchildren? Today, unless I grind your bones to dust, my hatred will never be appeased. I’ll make you suffer—your death will be miserable beyond words."
Hearing the voice, Evan knew it belonged to the Millennial Tree Fiend. Yet there was no sign of the giant tree Luna had described—was it still invisible? Evan doubted it, but couldn’t be sure.
"Millennial Tree Fiend, show yourself! I’m not scared of you. If you’ve got guts, let’s fight for real. I’ll cut you down myself. By the way, the Life Essence and Wood Spirit Pearl inside you are mine for the taking!" Evan shouted, refusing to back down.
"You’re courting death!" the Millennial Tree Fiend roared, its fury shaking the air. A deafening sound filled Evan’s ears.
Suddenly, a colossal wall of wood appeared before him—hundreds of meters wide, with no end in sight above. Evan realized the fiend had finally revealed its true form, and its next attack would be devastating.
Evan knew the best defense was a good offense—he wasn’t about to clash head-on with the fiend. With a thought, he activated Earthshift and burrowed straight underground…