Ch. 128 - The Undying Tree

Chapter 128: The Dead Tree

It seemed that Xiaoniao had quite a bit of knowledge about the Inverse Universe's civilization. The girl squatted near the pedestal, examining the inscriptions on the base.

Tianyang walks over to her. “Have you figured anything out?”

Xiaoniao looked up, her face a bit embarrassed. “I’ve studied the Inverse Universe’s script, but I’m not very proficient. I can only make out a rough idea.”

“You mean these are Inverse Universe characters, not symbols of the dark races?” Tianyang asked curiously.

Xiaoniao nodded slightly. “Yes, these are Inverse Universe characters. For example, this word means “Divine Tree.” And this one means ”Blessing.” It looks like the Inverse Universe inhabitants discovered some magical tree here and were asking for its protection.”

Tianyang couldn’t help but say. “The tree they discovered couldn’t be the Dead Tree, could it? If so, the Dead Tree wasn’t discovered only after the Inverse Universe became like this? It must have existed even before the Inverse Universe’s inhabitants completely vanished.”

Xiaoniao stood up, her arms crossed thoughtfully. “The Inverse Universe’s civilization was quite advanced, with high productivity. Such a civilization would generally reserve their worship of deities.”

“It’s hard to imagine that beings bathed in the light of civilization would use the lives of their own kind for sacrifice. If it came to that, it would either be the work of some extremists or perhaps, by the time they discovered the Dead Tree, the Inverse Universe had already reached a state of despair beyond recovery.”

“In such cases, when human efforts can’t turn the tide, they might turn to deities for help.”

Of course, this was just Xiaoniao’s speculation, and the truth couldn’t be verified solely by this altar.

At the entrance of the hall, Xie Miao’s voice rang out, “What are you doing? Stop dawdling and move on! It’s just a pile of skeletons, what’s so interesting about it!”

Xiaoniao’s face darkened immediately. “This bastard really thinks he’s the commander, giving orders everywhere. If he’s so capable, he should lead the charge himself.”

Tianyang smiled and ignored Xie Miao. He made a hand gesture, and the team continued moving forward.

Under Yan Bing’s lead, they quickly arrived at a massive cavern space. What they had thought was a large hall was nothing compared to this cavern.

In this immeasurable space, clusters of mist crystals grew, emitting a deep purple light that barely illuminated the area.

From the entrance, the ground was uneven, with sloping surfaces creating waves frozen in time.

Numerous stone pillars of various sizes supported the space, and like the previous hall, they were covered with the Inverse Universe’s characteristic sickly fungi.

At the front of the cavern, there was even a small pool, with two thin streams of water extending from either side, flowing out of sight.

The pool water shimmered with a purple light, and Tianyang used his tactical eye to zoom in, discovering that the pool was covered with mist crystals. They formed a massive gem-like structure submerged in the water.

In the center of this “gem,” there was a tree. The tree wasn’t particularly grand but was definitely eerie.

Through Tianyang’s tactical eye, he saw that a human female was embedded in the middle of the tree. She looked to be around twenty-seven or twenty-eight, with a beautiful face.

She had her eyes closed as if she were sleeping, with her arms crossed over her chest, hiding her charm.

Countless branches intertwined with her body, connecting her closely with the tree. The tree’s crown had no leaves, and the branches were exceptionally thick.

The branches, as thick as arms, had droplet-shaped “fruits” hanging from their ends. These looked like they were covered by a thin membrane, and the surface occasionally undulated.

When Tianyang’s gaze inadvertently swept over one of the fruits, a face suddenly appeared on its surface!

Though Tianyang had never seen a Dead Tree before, he was certain that this was one.

Indeed, as he observed the area around the tree, he noticed figures moving about!

They were wanderers, swaying and wandering aimlessly nearby.

Among them, Tianyang spotted an exceptionally tall and strong figure. Ordinary wanderers barely reached its chest, and it had twisted limbs that were incredibly robust.

Especially its grotesque right arm, nearly touching the ground, with an arm width almost as wide as Tianyang’s thigh, and a frighteningly large hand.

“That thing is also a wanderer?” Xiaoniao put down a binocular and seemed to have noticed the tall figure as well.

Tianyang said softly, “Maybe, but we should be grateful that there are fewer wanderers than I expected.”

Yan Bing apologetically said, “We retreated after discovering the Dead Tree and didn’t closely observe the number of wanderers here.”

“It’s alright…”

Tianyang patted his shoulder. At that moment, Xie Miao’s voice came from behind, “Why have you stopped again? Isn’t the Dead Tree right in there? Charge ahead, or are you scared of a few wanderers!”

His voice was loud, especially in such a quiet space, making it seem even more amplified.

Fortunately, wanderers didn’t have much in the way of senses, so even if you shouted at them, they wouldn’t hear it.

Even so, Xie Miao’s attitude made it hard to feel any favor towards him.

Xiaoniao snorted softly. “It’s a good thing he’s just a temporary commander. If he were to become a permanent captain, I’d really feel sorry for his team.”

Several nearby soldiers couldn’t help but laugh.

Xie Miao seemed to hear this, his tone annoyed. “What are you laughing at? Are you deaf? Attack! I command you to attack!”

Tianyang made a hand gesture. “Everyone, prepare to form a breach formation. Xiaoniao and I will lead the way; you protect the flanks and prevent the wanderers from disrupting the formation.”

“Our target is the Dead Tree. Don’t get entangled with the wanderers. Any oversights should be handled by the rear units. Understood?”

Including Yan Bing, the soldiers nodded seriously.

Tianyang raised his rifle but noticed Xiaoniao had no intention of using a gun. He didn’t mind. Xiaoniao, being a Tier 3 Acender, was one level higher than him and didn’t need his concern.

When Tianyang charged ahead, Xiaoniao quickly caught up, running swiftly by his side.

A dozen soldiers split into two teams, closely following the two at the front, and the vanguard charged into the cavernous space of the mountain.

Tianyang raised his hand and made a gesture, and one soldier on each flank raised their gun and fired a flare.

The sudden burst of light illuminated the nearby space, revealing the twisted monsters hiding in the depths of the mountain!

Tianyang raised his gun and fired a burst at a wanderer a hundred paces ahead. A bright blue beam shot through the air, hitting the will cage at the creature’s chest!

The will cage had a hole blown through it, with its edges flickering with tiny blue spots, like a starry sky.

The wanderer didn't even have time to groan before it collapsed, its body starting to disintegrate and rot.

However, wanderers had a hive mind. When one was attacked, the nearby ones began rushing toward the vanguard.

At that moment, several elemental javelins fell into the densest group of wanderers, the ensuing elemental storm taking out a small number of monsters.

Unfortunately, the power of the elemental javelins was limited, and soon, several of the fallen monsters were getting back up again.

In the Inverse Universe, as long as their will cages weren’t destroyed, these creatures never knew how to stop!

As they ran, Tianyang fired bursts, clearing some of the wanderers blocking the way.

Suddenly, the air around him chilled, and out of the corner of his eye, he saw a flicker of white light. That thin, translucent gleam cut through the air in an instant, passing through several wanderers.

After the light vanished, those wanderers suddenly slowed down, frost spreading across their chests.

A white line of frost appeared, cracking with a sharp sound. The frost line shattered, and those wanderers, along with their will cages, were sliced in half!

Tianyang couldn’t help but glance at Xiaoniao beside him. The white sword at her waist had finally been drawn. That delicate blade, only four centimeters wide, always made people worry it might snap.

But under Xiaoniao’s skillful control, the sword released blasts of icy sword energy, making the wanderers no match for her.

Tianyang couldn't help but give the white sword a few extra glances. Both were warriors, but Lao Xu didn’t have the kind of strength Xiaoniao had.

Even though Lao Xu often slacked off whenever he could, after going on a few missions with him, Tianyang had never seen him wield any power like ”sword energy.”

It seemed that this icy sword energy was linked to Xiaoniao's sword.

Suddenly, an earth-shattering roar came from up ahead.

Tianyang quickly looked over and saw wanderers being thrown left and right by something. The twisted, leprous figures flew in all directions.

When one of the wanderers was suddenly thrown sideways, Tianyang saw it—a tall wanderer with a deformed right arm was charging toward them, letting out a deep roar with its mouth wide open.

Tianyang raised his gun, aiming at the will cage in its chest, and unleashed a burst of fire!

The mutated wanderer raised its grotesquely large arm, spreading its hand to shield its chest.

The starry energy beam hit its arm but couldn’t penetrate it, only blasting away chunks of its flesh.

Tianyang let out a surprised "huh" and shouted, "Everyone, scatter!"

He then ducked and lunged forward, dodging the mutated wanderer’s sweeping arm.

Suddenly, an unbelievably cold aura, like the frost of a winter morning, appeared behind the mutated wanderer. Tianyang had just gripped the handle of his Crimson Moon Warblade when he saw Xiaoniao soar into the air, her thin sword cutting down in a vertical strike.

A trail of white frost lingered in the air, long after the attack, and a few frost flakes even drifted down onto Tianyang’s head.

The mutated wanderer’s movements stopped, and after a moment, it collapsed backward.

Tianyang quickly dodged to the side to avoid being crushed by its massive body. Glancing at the ground, he saw that the wanderer had been sliced open from its head down to its waist.

The edges of the wound were frosted over, preventing the black, sludge-like blood from gushing out. However, its body, like that of other wanderers, had already started to disintegrate.

Looking back at Xiaoniao, Tianyang found it hard to reconcile the dazed girl who had fallen from the sensor tower with the warrior before him, now surrounded by a faint aura of frost.

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