Qianye did not have the power to expand further after taking down this forest with four holy trees. All he could do was slow down his steps and consolidate his territory.
Not to mention other things, the forest with four holy trees was already a fair distance from the door. Even cargo trucks driving non-stop would take one day to arrive, so the construction of the forward base would only take up more time.
He would have no way to destroy the beast hordes without a base and defensive systems. And without destroying the beast army, he could not kill the six-armed creature, so it was useless even if he discovered more forests.
The construction of this base was destined not to go too smoothly. The cleanup work in this forest was much more difficult as small beast squads would appear from time to time. Qianye had scouted the forest twice, yet he still couldn’t figure out the distribution of beasts. In the end, they would need to use the clumsiest method of killing all enemies that charged at the construction site. This would take several days of work.
Qianye continued exploring while the construction was underway and soon discovered two more forests with three holy trees, one in each direction going forward.
After some consideration, Qianye decided not to open up a new battlefield before his rear lines had stabilized. That didn’t stop him from skirting around them to explore farther ahead.
A problem arose at that point. Qianye had traveled less than two hundred kilometers when he saw the vague silhouette of a forest in the distance. An immense pressure bore down upon him in all directions at this point, almost as though this entire world was rejecting him as an enemy. The worst part was that his sense of direction grew blurry, and he couldn’t even remember where the door was.
This was no trifling matter. The new world seemed almost boundless as no one could see its borders. Losing track of the door meant that the person would be lost.
Qianye stopped decisively and immediately ran back while his head was still clear.
It was quite strange because Qianye’s senses immediately recovered after crossing the two forests that he had not cleared. He could clearly sense the suppressive force being driven away by a different type of power. These two types of energy came from the same source, but their effects were very different—one was suppressive, and the other served to bolster Qianye’s consciousness.
Where he was standing, Qianye could feel the strengthening energy was much greater than its counterpart.
After some investigation, Qianye discovered that this energy was actually coming from the forests with the holy trees. The strengthening force was coming from the one with the four holy trees, while the suppression arose from the ones with three holy trees.
The magnitude of this power was proportional to the number of holy trees, but the relationship wasn’t linear. In terms of surface area, the size of the beast legion, and the current contention between the two sides, the forest with four holy trees was approximately twice as powerful as the ones with three holy trees.
Qianye never really tried to sense the power of these trees. Now that he had, he was puzzled as to why the forest with the four holy trees would support an outsider like him. Could it be because he had entered the core of the beast lair? Or did he gain control over the forest after killing the six-armed creature?
These questions could not be answered with Qianye’s previous experiences. All he could do right now was to trust the reality of his feelings and try to figure out the rules from everything.
Whatever the case was, it remained a fact that he would have to take down the two forests before pushing further in. There was no other way to push his army forward. If even Qianye had been suppressed, there was no way other people could get past it.
At first, Qianye had no plans to open up new battlefields for fear of instability. Now that the three-tree forests had become obstacles, he had no choice but to fight.
Having gained experience in the four-trees forest, Qianye didn’t return to base in a rush. He adjusted his equipment and decided to scout out one of the forests first.
If the six-armed creature was still asleep, he wouldn’t mind dealing with the problem there and then. Having entered the vice-duke rank, Qianye’s Shot of Inception had grown even more powerful, and the color of the feathers was now even darker. Two Shots of Inception might not be able to kill a six-armed creature at the grand duke rank, but the ones from these three-holy-tree forests would surely feel it.
Once in the forest, however, Qianye sensed that something wasn’t quite right.
The process of sneaking in didn’t go well as there were countless beasts roaming the forest. During his journey from the border to the heart of the forest, he saw that the number of creatures here was far beyond that of the forest with three holy trees he had seen before. Also, the way they moved was different.
They weren’t just wandering aimlessly. After a bit of observation, he found that their routes went in a regular pattern, almost like a patrol. The routes were also well laid out without any blind spots, covering all areas every once in a while.
That wasn’t all. There was a type of mutant beast with especially sharp senses; it would remain immobile in the shadows and observe the surroundings with its all-seeing eyes.
Wasn’t that a hidden sentry? Qianye cursed inside. If he didn’t possess True Sight, long-distance vision, and the cautiousness to remain at a distance, he would’ve been exposed long ago. It was a rather strange feeling to see these beasts so intelligent.
Fortunately, the beasts’ perception hadn’t risen accordingly. They hadn’t sensed the presence of an intruder, so they were still in a relaxed state. Qianye would make use of every small gap to move forward into the heart of the forest.
Three vigorous holy trees stood towering over the heart of the forest. Their positioning was a bit odd and not an exact triangle. After scanning the area, Qianye discovered a small sprout half the height of a human. A holy-tree sprout! This was even more valuable for research than the holy tree itself, irreplaceable even.
Qianye’s gaze traced back from the tree sprout and toward the center of the lake. To his surprise, he found the throne empty, and the six-armed giant was actually standing at the side of a stone table, tinkering with pieces of ore.
His hands moved rhythmically for a while before the ore merged into one, gradually taking the shape of an armor plate.
Qianye had faced the six-armed general from the forest with four holy trees, so he immediately recognized the identical armor. It would seem that this forest and creature were in the process of upgrading from three to four holy trees. One could tell from the way he was preparing armor for himself.
Things would be a bit difficult now that the six-armed commander was actually awake and in the process of breaking through. After some thought, Qianye decided to try attacking and see what difference there was between a general that was asleep and one that was awake.
Perhaps it was because of his Yellow-Springs education, he favored striking at the enemy leader to tip the scales of battle instead of using a cannon-fodder strategy. He was willing to take some risks himself to gain the advantage in battle and raise the effectiveness of the assault.
The six-armed creature measured the completed armor against his body and, seemingly quite satisfied with the ratio, fastened it to his shoulder. The armor then merged into his body quite mysteriously.
Just as the merging was halfway through, he heard a sudden click behind him. He immediately turned around to see a dark item stick itself to one of the holy trees. Two more such objects were flying toward the other two trees as well.
He hadn’t figured out what those things were when he sensed a terrifying origin power fluctuation from them! The six-armed giant let out a loud roar, but his voice was drowned out in the explosion.
The three trees trembled, sending leaves showering down like rain. The six-armed general was trembling as well, almost as though he could sense the pain.
The origin grenades were powerful, but the holy trees were quite sturdy as well; even a point-blank explosion was only enough to take a small chunk off of the trunk. What followed the rumble, though, was a grenade flying toward the holy-tree sprout in a leisurely fashion. Another one was spotted flying toward the throne at the same time.
There was a certain distance between the two, so the six-armed giant could only pick one side to protect. He erupted in shocking speed and appeared several meters away, grabbing the origin grenade while still in the air! The explosive blew up in his hand, but the creature only staggered somewhat and seemed largely unharmed. One could easily see how strong his physical body was.
The six-armed general was just about to run toward the other grenade when he let out yet another howl. He watched with wide eyes as an origin bullet tore through the air and blew up the throne!
The might of this blast was much more powerful than the grenade, so much so that it sent a shiver down his spine. The throne exploded into pieces from the impact. After all, this throne wasn’t at the level of the one from the forest with four holy trees. It wasn’t enough to withstand a shot from Heartgrave.
The six-armed giant’s eyes immediately turned red. He roared at the sky before charging at Qianye’s hiding place; that last shot had compromised his location. That full sprint brought him above Qianye’s head in an instant. Seeing the little insect who had dared to break the throne, the six-armed giant clasped four of his palms together and slammed down!
Nonetheless, Qianye’s figure flickered into a blur and vanished just as the attack was about to connect. The six-armed giant’s attack missed its target and struck the ground, sending ripples in all directions. Trees fell, and the land collapsed wherever the shockwaves went. Soon, a hundred-meter pit had appeared in the forest.
The creature seemed surprised at the development. Suddenly overcome with a sense of danger, he looked back to find Qianye dozens of meters in the air with his wings unfurled. The four dark feathers looked exceptionally eye-catching against the radiant plumage.
Two of the feathers shot out with a flap of his wings and vanished into the general’s body.
The six-armed general let out an earth-shattering roar. The entire forest flared up, and countless roots shot out from the soil, wrapping up the six-armed creature.
This was something never seen before. Qianye reacted quickly, tossing dozens of origin grenades at the target. A series of continuous explosions ensued. These roots weren’t as strong as the holy trees, so they were quickly blasted into smithereens. Within the explosion, the six-armed giant roared continuously, almost as though he could feel the pain.
Despite that, the roots kept surging out without pause. Qianye could sense them dragging this six-armed general down toward the heart of the lair.
It was rather surprising that this creature actually chose not to fight to the death against him. Qianye wasn’t about to let him off, though. He knew from experience that the advantage gained in the forest would make the subsequent battles easier.
He simply waved his hands again, tossing out the remaining thirty origin grenades at the roots.
This round of explosions erupted with great ferocity. The six-armed general’s distant cries were also rather miserable. Pieces of wood and soil flew about in the air as the bottom of the pit collapsed to reveal a passage into the lair.
Countless beasts were running about in confusion within the lair. Many of them stampeded through the narrow tunnels in fear, killing a fair number of smaller creatures.
Qianye could clearly sense the painful wail of the forest and the three holy trees’ infantile cries. Apparently, all or most of the roots present throughout the lair belonged to them.
This round of explosions was so effective that Qianye decided to put in a large order next time.
After a glance at the pit, Qianye flickered to the island inside the lake. There, he drew East Peak, gathered his origin power, and stabbed it into the base of the throne. East Peak sank all the way to its hilt, producing countless cracks that extended across the entire island.
The entire forest trembled. The six-armed giant’s furious howls could be heard vaguely across the ground layers. Qianye moved swiftly around the island, picking up pieces from the throne and tossing them into Andruil’s Space. He then used Spatial Flash to exit the forest and run toward his base.
This time, the entire forest had been roiled up, and he also seemed to have injured the six-armed commander. Qianye had a feeling that the next battle would be hard-fought.
