Evan Chu poured all his strength into Woodshift. As time passed, the earth element and wood element particles around him gradually neutralized, slowly thinning out until a small vacuum zone formed. The place was tiny, but Evan could no longer feel any pressure threatening him. If he kept going like this, maybe he could fully neutralize all the earth element here—but he knew that was basically impossible.
"Big Bro, I feel the pressure has eased a lot, but my energy is nearly spent. It's about time for you to get out," Tom Chu said just then.
Evan agreed it was time to leave. He just wasn't sure if the earth element particles he’d painstakingly thinned out would all instantly reconverge the moment he left. If that happened, all his effort would have been wasted.
Without hesitation, Evan quickly left the earth layer and returned to the surface. He felt totally drained—burning through wood element nonstop was exhausting. "Tom, how are you feeling?" he asked.
"I burned a lot of energy and need some time to recover. But if you need to go back in, let me rest for half an hour and I can help you again," Tom replied.
"We'll talk about it later. For now, I'm going to collect some tree seeds. When I need you, I'll call you. Just rest up!" With that, Evan flashed off toward a dense forest in the distance—only there could he find large tree seeds.
It didn’t take long for Evan to gather a big handful of tree seeds. He flew back, glanced at the mountain rock ahead, and immediately used Earthshift to enter. This time, he planned to reach his previous spot on his own. It would be tough, but it would temper his defense and endurance.
Once inside the earth layer, Evan slowly moved forward. Merged with the ordinary earth essence, he felt no pressure at all—until he got within fifty meters of the Native‑Soil Crystal. Then, the crushing force hit him hard. He knew this was caused by mid‑tier earth element particles, and his current Earthshift could only harmonize with low‑tier particles.
At that moment, Evan felt just like he did back in the Heavenly Dragon Empire’s Gravity Chamber—every step forward was harder than the last, and the pressure kept mounting. Gritting his teeth, he forced himself ahead for about thirty meters before stopping. Now, only fifteen meters separated him from his earlier position.
But Evan realized he might not make it. Sweat poured down like rain, his breathing was ragged, and he could hear his own heartbeat racing. If he kept going, he was sure the pressure would crush him to pieces.
He could see cracks starting to appear on his skin. There was no blood yet, but he knew if he went another five meters, his meridians would snap and he'd be crushed to pulp. There was no way he was risking that—he’d have to bother Tom Chu again.
After a quick exchange, Tom Chu saw Evan’s battered state and immediately snapped, "How many times have I told you to call me if something happens? But you never listen! Even a Ninth‑Layer Venerable Martial expert would be dead here. Do you really think you’re stronger than them already?"
Evan replied helplessly, "I saw you were tired and wanted to let you recover. How was I supposed to know the pressure would be this insane? Maybe I’m just too dumb, huh?"
"Big Bro, you’ll always be the best in my eyes. Jade and I see you as our closest family. If anything happened to you, what would we do? So you have to tell us when you’re struggling—don’t ever act tough again!" Tom Chu insisted. Instantly, a yellow shield appeared around Evan, and the pressure dropped sharply.
Evan felt a little embarrassed—the way Tom scolded him left him with nothing to say. He could only hurry forward. As he reached his previous spot, he noticed earth element particles had reappeared, but not too many. He immediately activated Woodshift and released more wood element.
"Linfeng, hurry and scatter the seeds throughout this space. Then keep using Watershift so the trees can grow as fast as possible. In this powerful earth element environment, big trees will shoot up like crazy, devouring earth essence at an unprecedented rate. The five elements support and restrain each other—wood restrains earth, so once the trees start growing, they’ll drain the earth element quickly.
Earth restrains water, but water nourishes wood. As long as the earth element drops quickly, water element will keep feeding the wood’s growth. Evan understood this perfectly, so he scattered dozens of seeds and activated Watershift, sending a jet of water at the seeds.
A rare phenomenon appeared: as soon as the seeds touched the earth element, they sucked it in and sprouted at once. In a few breaths, each seedling shot up over a foot tall. Evan’s water jet was absorbed by the earth element, which was then devoured by the saplings. In moments, dozens of saplings sprang up.
Luna, the Sword Spirit, spoke up: "Scatter all the seeds and make them grow as fast as possible. In such a cramped space, only one tree will survive—the 'tree king.' That’s nature’s law of survival of the fittest, and that final towering tree is the key to getting the Native‑Soil Crystal. Flood the area with water element particles; only with enough water can the tree grow at maximum speed."
Knowing Tom Chu’s shield wouldn’t last forever, Evan unleashed Watershift at full force, flooding the whole hollowed-out zone with water element. Right before leaving, he injected extra wood element to help block the earth element’s destructive effect on water.
After arranging everything, Evan left the mountain and waited quietly outside, hoping Luna’s plan would work: that a single towering tree king would emerge, drain the earth element particles around the Native‑Soil Crystal, greatly reduce the pressure, and let him safely seize the treasure. Once he got the crystal, the sealed entrance to the Azure Tide Ruins would appear.
"Big Bro, I saw a bunch of saplings pop up just now—what were you doing?" Tom Chu asked.
"I was planting trees—the fastest way possible! Tom, do you believe that in just a few days, you’ll see a giant tree sprout right where we were standing?" Evan laughed.
"No way! It takes at least decades, maybe a hundred years, for a tree to grow that big. You think I’m a kid or something?" Tom Chu shot back, totally unconvinced.
While Evan waited for the tree to grow, the women back in the Azure Tide Ruins were all anxiously hoping for his safe return…