Chapter 967: Collapse
Lin Li managed to buy himself some time to equip himself with debris of the stars, Polar Snow. As he recited a spell quickly, the temperature in the air dropped, and snowflakes fell from the void. This was the Legendary-level snow-element spell, Snow Heaven. Every snowflake contained incredible coldness sufficient to create an entire mountain of ice.
The flying snowflakes impeded the movement of the roots and froze them very quickly. As the temperature fell, the frozen roots broke and fell on the ground like shattered glass.
However, before Lin Li could sigh in relief, and as the effect of Snow Heaven was about to die out, a strong and thick root broke out of the soil. It whizzed towards Lin Li’s body very swiftly. That immense force was adequate to whip a mountain apart. Even if it was the earth, it would cause a gigantic crack.
There was no doubt about the effectiveness of the Snow Heaven on the roots of the Undead tree. However, Lin Li was not satisfied by its effect. God knew how many roots the Undead tree had. Looking at the growth scale of the giant tree, it was not an exaggeration to say that the earth was made up of its roots.
However, this did not disappoint Lin Li, for his eyes lit up with a realization. While it was true that the Undead tree had a lot of roots, just like the dense canopy, it had to have a main trunk. If he were to get rid of that, the tree branches would naturally lose their vitality.
What Lin Li had to do was to get closer to the trunk of the Undead tree to chop the vital branch off. Yet, knowing where it was one thing, and having the ability to cut it was another. Since the Undead tree had its consciousness, it would only be natural for the tree branches to pay extra attention to guard its vital branch. As it was a huge tree, it was only normal for it to have numerous branches. Yet, it would be an arduous task to locate and cut off each of them.
Lin Li had no other choice but to take the leap of faith. After making the decision, he activated the Space Robe and bolted towards the tree trunk.
That Undead tree either seemed to have guessed Lin Li’s intention, or just did not want him to be near it. Its strong and thick roots sprung out from the soil crazily. Some chased after Lin Li, while the rest tried to block him from the front. Knowing that Lin Li was using Space Power, the roots that were waving frantically created multiple traps that were made up of the layers of cracks in the space.
Although the tree roots created a lot of problems for Lin Li, they very conveniently helped him figure out where to look for the main branch. Very quickly, Lin Li overcame the obstacles, and got close to the trunk of the Undead tree. He took out the debris of the stars, Nothingness, aimed it at his target, and activated it.
While Lin Li did not have a way to quickly break through the thick soil layer, he thought of using Nothingness to create a huge crack on the ground to cut off the connection between the tree trunk and roots. The tremendous shatter that followed showed Lin Li that his approach was right.
This proved a point as well—the debris of the stars had a greater space power at its command than the Undead tree. Lin Li only needed to wave his debris of the stars to cut all the tree branches. It was even more powerful than the Light and Darkness Sword.
When more roots rushed Lin Li, he teleported in another direction. He waved Nothingness towards the ground like before, but it did not seem like it was the right place. The Undead tree did not have any response this time.
However, Lin Li was not anxious like before. He thought that he could just draw a circle around the trunk of the Undead tree to rid it of all its roots. Of course, for convenience’s sake, Lin Li tried to use Nothingness on the tree trunk, but it created a crack in space that healed immediately. It was obvious that the tree trunk had a tremendous defense mechanism. Since it had a higher level than Lin Li, it was impossible for him to cut the tree trunk directly.
Lin Li circled the trunk of the Undead tree, and waved Nothingness at its roots constantly. Lin Li was like a bug that moved amidst dense grass, and the roots that were chasing and obstructing him were like weeds swaying in the wind.
If one were to look closely, the roots that were affected by Nothingness would lose energy and decay, turning into ashes within a few breaths. As Lin Li worked his way through, lesser roots surfaced from the ground. The ground and the trunk of the Undead tree trembled as though they were enduring great pain.
Finally, the spurs on the tree started to drop, and the ashen tree bark revealed a faint color of green. Lin Li stopped moving. He saw that there were no roots coming for him anymore.
Lin Li stood in the air silently. He watched the bark change its color and the leaves recover their greenness. However, not long after the giant tree recovered its color, it toppled.
Lin Li was not surprised by this sight. This world was like a reversed world. Life in Anril was death in this world. The tree regaining its green was equivalent to the tree withering and yellowing in Anril. Life here was death in Anril.
The fallen tree was like a mountain that collapsed. The fall of the tree shook the entire world. A black whirlpool gate appeared. It was like the gate to leave this world.
However, Lin Li would not leave by himself. He bolted towards the door and picked up a seed that was the size of a fist. Lin Li had not known the origin of the Undead tree, but when he held the seed in his hands, there was a familiar aura that came to him. He was surprised to discover that it was the seed of the Tree of Eternity.
Lin Li was extremely familiar with the Seed of Eternity. During his first visit to the Sky Castle, he acquired one at the Central Tower. However, that seed had already been dead. What was left was the massive mana within it. It was with the help of High Priest Rogge in the crack of the Eternal Darkness Altar that he managed to use a branch of the Tree of Eternity to revive the seed.
Lin Li could clearly sense from this Seed of Eternity that there was tremendous life force within it. The aura felt the same as when the other seed was revived. Yet, Lin Li could not understand why a living Seed of Eternity would appear after the death of the Undead tree.
However, Lin Li knew there was no time for him to contemplate this matter. Although the Undead tree had fallen, the expedition was still surrounded by Undead creatures. Lin Li put the Seed of Eternity into his Ring of Endless Storm, and shot back to the expedition.
The collapse of the Undead tree seemed to decrease the power of the Undead creatures in this world. With the addition of a Sanctuary powerhouse like Lin Li, the battle results were conceivable. Lin Li first helped Xiao Hua slay those Demonic Liches, then charged into the horde of Corpse Dragons.
Xiao Hua cast the elemental storm without taking breaks. The mutated Corpse Dragons were engulfed by it one after another. There were no Corpse Dragons that could withstand the storm. Lin Li, on the other hand, was even more straightforward as he held the Holy Light in one hand and Gloomy Dark in the other. Pure white light intertwined with deep black glow as they worked together to strangle mutated Corpse Dragons one by one.
“The gate to leave is just ahead.”
After a while, hundreds of mutated Corpse Dragons were slain. Lin Li activated the power of the Holy Light and covered the expedition with Holy Light. It drove the Skeletal Warriors and other Undead creatures away. None of them dared to charge at the expedition anymore.
Very quickly, the expedition got through the gate below the Undead tree, and entered another space. This space seemed like the space they had been in before entering the Undead World. It seemed to be part of the Central Tower. Here, the exhausted expedition could finally take a breather.
It was the same for the Legendary powerhouses. All of them felt a deep sense of relief. The physical exhaustion was not the problem; the mental exhaustion was unbearable. After Archbishop Martin, Donald, and the rest of them reorganized their teams, they immediately became like deflated balloons. They quickly found a place to sit down without even minding their image.
Although the mages from the Tower of Dusk had magical equipment with the highest ranking, the journey had drained their mental strength greatly. However, they did not take a break like the people from other forces. Under Alan’s orders, some of them continued to stand guard, while the rest of them started to meditate.
Archbishop Martin and Donald could not help but gasp at the behavior of the mages from the Tower of Dusk. They finally understood why the team from the Tower of Dusk had such formidable combat prowess. It was clear that having special Magic Arrays was not the sole reason for the prosperity of the tower. Perseverance and discipline were another significant reason behind their performance.
In the world of Alanna from 1300 years ago, the people from the Brilliance Shrine and Rotterdam acquired many treasures from Osric’s palace, but it seemed like they had suffered losses in the Undead World this time. Especially so for the team from the Rotterdam, which depleted large amounts of magical crystals they’d acquired in Osric’s palace. Yet what it gained was the destruction of their Alchemy Colossuses and the damage of most of their defensive mechanisms. This damage was enough to give Donald a heartache.
As for the team from the Brilliance Shrine, it would not be fair to say that they did not have any benefits. After all, the abilities of their Paladins and Priests were greatly enhanced with the help of Lin Li’s debris of the stars, Holy Light. Originally, Archbishop Martin thought that this booster was a short-lived one. He was worried that it would be like enhanced Holy Light Magic that had aftereffects.
However, Martin realized from the reorganization that no trace of the increased power seemed to be decreasing. As he sighed with relief, he started to think about what he had been contemplating earlier. Yet, he knew that this was not the time to discuss that. Hence, he planned to leave it till his team had its rest, and was ready to set off.
The Tower of Dusk was the only team that reaped real rewards from their mission in the Undead World. Not to mention that Lin Li had acquired a Seed of Eternity, the benefits gained by his Undead followers were considerable enough.
Through the continuous battles in the Undead World, the Death Knights had the opportunity to swallow large amounts of soul fire, and part of the team succeeded in advancing into Retribution Knights. Now, the team of Death Knights could just be renamed as a team of Retribution Knights, for there were just a few Death Knights left in the team. Moreover, the Death Knights that were left were all at the peak of level-19—their progress to the next stage was just a matter of time.
Next, there were also Ujfalusi and Norfeller, who were already at the peak of the Legendary-realm. While it was not impossible, it would be an arduous task for them to step into the Sanctuary-realm just by engulfing the soul fire. However, being enlightened by the true essence of the laws in the Undead World was the greatest reward they could ever wish for.
To Undead creatures, there was only one way for them to seek enlightenment about the Undead World. That was to leave Anril to enter the Undead World that belonged to the Undead. Hence, in normal circumstances, they would only find their way to the Sanctuary-realm in the Undead World.
The three Undead Lords of the Shadowglen were at level-22 and level-23 when they established the contract with Geresco. Yet, their power was still the same after thousands of years in Anril.