Chapter 394: Chapter 379: Withered Tree

Silver Lake Moon raised an Elf Leaf Book and said, “In the book you gave, it’s mentioned. It says when building the Elven underground city and Blood Hunt Land, something peculiar was discovered below, but investigations yielded nothing.”

“According to the ancients’ conjecture, there should be ancient Tree-man ruins below. To avoid being discovered by the Tree-men, our Elf tribe has kept it a secret.”

“The book says the force deep underground should be the remnants of a withered Tree of Life.”

“The reason the dead Tree of Life can transform into an Ancient Tree Fossil is that it absorbed the power of the withered Mother Tree.”

As he spoke, Silver Lake Moon signaled Zhou Leng with his eyes.

The two distanced themselves from the group.

Silver Lake Moon whispered, “The book also speculates that the Elves’ savior, the Light King, might be able to enter the underground by some means and obtain the Root of the Original Tree to ascend to a demigod.”

“Is there a Root of the Original Tree below?” Zhou Leng had heard of it before; it was supposedly the roots of the Starry Tree God.

“It’s just a legend, but we don’t know the specifics. One thing is certain, there must be treasures below the rocky layer. The Ancient Tree Fossil unearthed by seismic activity likely comes from that layer.”

“Is there another way to get inside?”

“Perhaps only the Light King would know.”

Zhou Leng contemplated silently.

After the Star Phoenix Rejuvenation Technique advanced to the Thousand Feathers realm, he felt the powerful force of this cultivation technique and wanted even more to progress.

Moreover, the Ancient Tree Fossil could still enhance the Undying Star Body.

Both the Star Phoenix Rejuvenation Technique and the Undying Star Body require vast resources; otherwise, the cultivation speed is extremely slow.

For other techniques like the Star Gazing Technique, Blue Star’s resources are completely sufficient.

But the resources for those two techniques are lacking.

So far, there are better healing treasures than the Ancient Tree Fossil.

But there’s nothing with such a massive total amount.

“If I can’t enter now, I must come back to explore and find the Ancient Tree Fossil when my realm is higher.”

Zhou Leng asked, “Do you have Demon Spirit Artifacts or spells to enter the underground?”

“Yes, but they are extremely expensive, or only a Legendary Grandmaster can traverse underground, and even then, they can’t penetrate the rocky layer below.”

“It’s good to have them.”

Those Demon Spirit Grandmasters who can move underground cannot sense the Ancient Tree Fossil.

Once he ascends to Grandmaster, he plans to buy a Demon Spirit Artifact capable of moving underground, then excavate quickly.

Just as Zhou Leng was about to return, Silver Lake Moon whispered, “The book also contains speculations about the Light King. Do you want to hear them?”

“Just focus on the key points.”

“The book says the Light King’s power far exceeds that of an ordinary Elven King, meaning an Elven demigod.”

“The Light King always has some miraculous feats, like walking on winter grasslands, spring flowers blooming, insects awakening.”

“His wood-element spells and recovery ability are extremely powerful.”

“An Elven King once even said the Light King seemed like a higher form of life.”

“It’s precisely because of this that they suspect the Elven King used the Root of the Original Tree.”

“Otherwise, there’s no way to explain why the Light King ascended from an ordinary Innate to a demigod in just seven years.”

Zhou Leng exclaimed, “From Innate to demigod in only seven years?”

“Yes. In the history of the Ten Realms, the Light King is also one of the fastest demigod ascenders, possibly among the top three.”

“The fastest Martial Saint among us humans took twelve years, and that was with an entire nation’s resources.”

Silver Lake Moon sighed, “For ordinary life forms like us, ascending to demigod is too difficult. But for the Star Sky Race, it’s not hard.”

Zhou Leng recalled Deep Dark Fury; as a spine-headed Demon Dragon of the bloodline, its ascension speed far surpassed ordinary races.

After discussing the information in the book, everyone returned to make final preparations.

Zhou Leng took some magic bottles filled with insect juices, found Silver Lake Sea’s elf dagger, and other items.

Once ready, they proceeded to the ritual hall together.

When they got close, the True Qi within Zhou Leng surged, slowly transforming into the Body-Protecting Divine Skill, Taiqing Sea Robe.

This cultivation technique has a strong protective ability but is also extremely exhausting. He temporarily didn’t activate it until after the battle.

This time, there was no luring, no probing.

A team of over two hundred people charged straight into the cavernous hall.

The altar was located at the center of the hall, blood flowing and corpses piled up.

On either side of the altar lay a giant Ant Queen.

Demons and giant insects stood ready.

The two Ant Queens’ massive bodies squirmed quickly, as if magnified intestines trembling a hundredfold.

From the Ant Queens’ tails, giant ant eggs continuously rolled out, carried by worker ants.

These ant eggs turned out to be all large male and female ants.

Each huge ant egg cracked open, and Innate giant ants stood up, with viscous insect juice flowing all over them, scanning the surroundings.

Zhou Leng had only been gone for an hour, and already a hundred more Innate giant ants had appeared.

If they waited longer, with thousands of Innate giant ants emerging, no matter how strong they were, they’d be overwhelmed by the terrifying ant swarm.

The crowd followed the previously devised strategy and charged straight for the northeast Ant Queen.

The Demons moved in.

Suddenly, a figure shot at high speed towards the northwest Ant Queen.

Before the Demons could react, Zhou Leng, his body shimmering with spells, was already in front of the Ant Queen.

True Qi erupted.

A three-inch-thick robe of True Qi covered him from head to toe.

The light was slightly white, gently rippling like waves.

Body-Protecting Divine Skill, Taiqing Sea Robe.

Swish… Swish…

Taiqing Sea Robe emitted the sound of ocean waves.

It formed a unique power that calmed Zhou Leng’s mind, dispelled fear, and kept his mind clear.

The Ant Queen was even larger than a large tanker truck transporting industrial mixed oil, with a giant head two to three meters high.

Standing below and looking up, its head was as big as a truck’s front, with a hideous face and sharp tusks, enough to trigger a fear of giant creatures.

The Ant Queen suddenly let out an angry roar, sending out a powerful spiritual shock in all directions.

A faint white halo flickered and spread throughout the hall.

All other Innates, friend and foe alike, faltered and swayed, even the giant ants became dazed.

Zhou Leng felt as if his head was struck heavily, interrupting his actions, and he retreated half a step.

Even with the Body-Protecting Divine Skill, with Elf Spell protection, plus the Rock Realm Martial Arts Will, he couldn’t withstand the Ant Queen’s attack of the same level.

After the Ant Queen launched the spiritual shock, the back door shut tight, no longer producing giant ant eggs.

The massive giant ant eggs stopped wriggling and no longer hatched.

The side effect of such a powerful mental attack was that it didn’t distinguish between friend and foe, so the Ant Queen wouldn’t dare to use it unless in a life-or-death crisis.

Zhou Leng froze for a second, then shook his head.

Aside from a slight dizziness, he was fine.

Turning his head, he saw swathes of Wild Elves, Demons, and giant insects falling down.

Those who managed to stay standing showed painful expressions, having lost their combat ability.

The Elves, including Silver Lake Moon, turned their heads in despair, looking at Zhou Leng.

Being so close to the Ant Queen, the spiritual shock he received was at least ten times stronger than here.

If an ordinary Elf were there, their head would explode instantly.

Zhou Leng was undoubtedly doomed.

Before the battle, the Elves had estimated the Ant Queen’s mental attack and hadn’t dared to approach.

But none of them had fought the Ant Queen before and didn’t expect her to be this strong.

Among everyone, only Xiaoyong was hiding at the back of the team, glancing left and right, sneakily.

He was completely unaffected.

Suddenly, a light gleamed in the eyes of the despairing Elves.

Zhou Leng actually moved.

Zhou Leng took a deep breath, rushed to the side of the Ant Queen, jumped onto her back, stepped on it towards her neck, and delivered a Celestial Tide Palm with a loud boom.

This move carried full force, enough to crush ordinary stones into pieces.

The outer shell remained unscathed.

The Ant Queen slowly turned her head, twisting a full 180 degrees, her massive head like an evil god, fixing her gaze on Zhou Leng.

The Ant Queen’s two large protruding compound eyes suddenly transformed into pitch-black vortices.

Above the Ant Queen’s head, a blood-colored evil cloud suddenly appeared.

Within the evil cloud, it seemed to connect to some terrifying world.

An indescribably terrifying spiritual force invaded Zhou Leng’s mind, entering his Will World.

Evil God’s Gaze.

It was eerie, dark, terrifying, and sinister, even carrying a hint of high-tier power.

Not to mention True Liquid Innate; even Blood Shocking Innate or Bone Forger Innate, with slightly weaker spiritual will, would be consumed by the powerful Evil God’s Gaze, going mad instantly.

When the Evil God’s Gaze spread, all the nearby giant insects completely lost their minds and fled in all directions.

The Elves in the distance saw that the Ant Queen could actually use such a high-tier mental attack, and their newly risen confidence was shattered.

Even Elf Warlocks with powerful spiritual strength could not withstand such an attack.

This attack wasn’t strong by itself but had an extremely high nature.

Any innate level mental defense ability was ineffective.

Including the spells that the Elves had previously casted on Zhou Leng.

But Zhou Leng had experienced power trillions of times more evil.

The moment the Evil God’s Gaze appeared, Zhou Leng shivered, recalling a previously very unpleasant experience.

Evil God’s Gaze.

It was so unpleasant that Zhou Leng didn’t dare to recall it in detail, quickly shifting his mind, envisioning the Gate of Purgatory.

Then… huh?

Zhou Leng was unscathed.

The Ant Queen’s massive compound eyes cracked layer by layer, and the evil cloud above her head dissipated, letting out a miserable cry.

The Evil God’s Gaze was indeed powerful, but if the attack failed, it would backfire on itself.

Zhou Leng blinked, regaining clarity, just about to draw out the Elf Dagger from the Magic Spirit Bag, hesitated.

This dagger originated from Silver Lake Sea, very strong, but Silver Lake Moon said it was fragile, only able to attack a few times, meant for the next Ant Queen.

Beneath him, the Ant Queen shook her body, seemingly trying to escape.

But her white belly was too large to move.

Zhou Leng gave up on the forceful Thousand Seas, switched to using Celestial Tide Palm, and with the aid of Falling Whale Force, palm by palm struck at the Ant Queen’s neck.

The Ant Queen, having failed in her spell, was temporarily unable to launch a magical attack, nor could she bite at Zhou Leng on her back.

Zhou Leng delivered more than a dozen successive full-force palms, but still couldn’t break the Ant Queen’s neck.

Only then did he realize he had underestimated the power of the Giant Insect Race.

At this point, some giant ants that had run far away came charging back.

Clenching his teeth, Zhou Leng relied on his spell protection and Taiqing Sea Robe, enduring the giant ants’ attacks, then took out the powerful Elf Dagger, viciously stabbing a wound.

Retracting it, he pummeled at the wound again with several thundering palms.

This time, the palm power finally penetrated the insect shell, reaching the neck.

The terrifying palm power exploded inside again and again.

The Ant Queen attempted to attack several times, but each time was interrupted by the intense pain, screaming repeatedly.

A multitude of giant ants and even giant insects rushed over, with various spell attacks coming at them.

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