Chapter 90: A Mere Vessel

<Killing Intent Activated>

<Ferocity Activated>

<Rage Activated>

<Original Qi Core and Virus Qi Core will be forced to undergo an unstable state. Continue?>

<Yes/No>

“Help… me… please… “

Before I could confirm that I really wanted to go berserk, I heard the same whisper once again, but this time, there was more than one. I continued delving deeper into the tunnel, not worrying about the increasing pressure from the Forsaken Tree. I couldn’t care less about it. Now that the fact that the Forsaken Tree is just a mere tree was burned in my mind, I saw it in a different angle. No matter how strong this Forsaken Tree is, a tree is just a tree. And I, a Sect Master, won’t lose to a mere tree, even if it were in the Transcendence Realm.

Suddenly, I sensed movement from a few feet in front of me. I slid into a halt, stopping in front of a kid who was all skin and bones but is barely hanging on. For some reason, he was constantly regulating his Qi Core, trying to harness the remaining energy he had to survive the constant onslaught of the Forsaken Tree. Since his Qi energy was reduced to such a condensed state, the Forsaken Tree had no way of absorbing it easily.

This kid… although he was on the brink of death for who knows how long… he was still not giving up on his life. He couldn’t move, but he wasn’t going down without a fight either.

The same went for the ten or so kids who were near him. They were all trying to defend themselves from the Forsaken Tree by condensing their Qi Cores. Because of that, there was no way the Forsaken Tree would easily suck their Qi energy from them.

“These kids.”

Agh~k

Suddenly, the opening I made by releasing some of my skills were exploited by the Forsaken Tree. Although it only increased the pressure by a little, certain factors such as the pill’s effect lessening and my opening managed to give way to it. And before I knew it, my three Cores started acting up. And adding to that, the Virus being spread by the Forsaken Tree had inhabited my mind, forcing me to turn to my mindless. state.

How dare a tree bring me to this state. I’m Tang Yongrui!

I could feel my muscles blowing up as I slowly transformed to my berserker mode. Aside from that, a headache suddenly attacked my head. I guessed it was the Forsaken Tree trying to separate my consciousness from my mind and… my hunch was right. What was the main goal of the Forsaken Tree anyway? To suck the Qi energy from everyone’s body in exchange for protecting its territory from the rabid humans?

Or is it something else? Is absorbing Qi energy just a pretext?

Because of my slipping consciousness and my Qi Cores running rampant, my senses were heightened to such an extent that the flow of the Qi Energy appeared right before my eyes. It was my first time seeing them white strands that ran everywhere and yet, I knew that the strands were Qi energy. I looked around, and with the bit of control I have left, I directed those white strands away from the children and covered them with a blanket of Qi energy as I separated them from the Forsaken Tree. With this, even though I don’t have much control, I could temporarily protect them from the onslaught of the Forsaken Tree. Of course, even though their state wasn’t actually worsening, it’s not improving either. Whichever the case may be, I’d have to get the children out of here, and then bring them to immediate care.

Tsk. If only I have the healing element.

<Ferocity has reached the maximum level>

<Rage has reached the maximum level>

<Congratulations, you’ve unlocked the skill: Strong Will>

‘Strong Will? What does that mean?’ I asked myself as I saw something rather disturbing. The strands of Qi energy, instead of going up towards the Forsaken Tree, were going down! And underneath the ground, there was a huge ball of Qi energy that had gathered. It was probably the accumulated energy that the Forsaken Tree had accumulated. The ball of Qi energy was like a huge hive-mind that feeds off the Forsaken tree and the children who were interlinked to it.

Who would’ve thought…

As it turned out… the Forsaken Tree was merely a vessel used to gather Qi Energy to feed this ball of energy, whatever that thing is. Well, the Forsaken Tree had another job as well, and that is to protect that ball of energy.

“Skreeeeee~ ” A voice suddenly erupted beside me.

I looked sideways and realized that there was something else there besides the children who I’ve temporarily shielded from the Forsaken Tree. There was a small entity, with purple veins coursing through the surface of its body. It had dark hallowed eyes and white fangs that were significantly bigger than its… wait, it doesn’t have any teeth except its fangs.

Ah! The Screecher Baby! Now that I thought about it… I quite forgot that I have him. Because of what’s happening right now, I forgot about the Screecher Baby and the Bad Egg I got.

Once all these are over, I have to go through my storage rings and my inventory. And I guess I’d have to use everything I’ve got. There’s no use piling up all sorts of treasures if no one will benefit from it.

But before all that, I have to rescue Yang Mei Mei, save all these kids, and return to my  Tang Shelter.

I looked at the Screecher Baby and it looked back at me with great interest. But after a few seconds, it let out a terrifying screech before it started digging on the ground. And from the direction of it, it was aiming for the huge ball of Qi energy underground.

“Well, I still have at least half an hour to spare. I guess it wouldn’t hurt to take a look.” I told myself.

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