bookrandom Chapter 74 You all rest first, I'll be right back.
Chapter 74 You all rest first, I'll be right back.
"Huh, how come it's over already?"
Zhong Ming stood at the entrance of the burning tree hole, surrounded by flames from the explosion, holding a sword in one hand, looking incredibly brave.
My blood was just pumping for a few seconds, and you're already telling me to stop?
You're a truly wicked woman.
At this moment, Xueyan's face was full of confidence. "It doesn't dare to fight anymore. Give it some time, and it will figure it out. Oh, let me guess, is there anyone slower than this blockhead?"
She put her hand on Matt's shoulder, snapped her fingers, and asked, "Little guy, tell me, why don't we run?"
"Reporting, Instructor, because...it's not good at running?"
Many of the people present had already realized what was happening.
"Yes, it's good at running, and it excels at both offense and defense. So let's play an offense-defense game. I ask you, what is our objective?"
“Take it away... It doesn’t believe we are capable of protecting it; we must demonstrate our capabilities.”
Xueyan was very satisfied with this useful "teaching tool". "Yes, it is good at offense and defense. We have to defeat it head-on. But this blockhead thinks it can burn us to death and keeps adding ingredients."
The sound of pine cones popping continued, becoming part of the background noise along with the cracking of wood.
“We easily walked out of the fire and tore open and lit other branches, clearly showing it that we could easily burn it completely, leaving only the trunk.”
"So it stopped, it gave in."
As the surrounding trees gradually disappeared, the thick pine trunks came into view again, and little squirrels were hiding in the gaps between the branches, watching us with fear.
"Hmm~~" Xueyan nodded, then patted Matt's shoulder a few more times. "Let me see... There's a little bit of a burned area. Oh, the mission requirements didn't mention that."
Xueyan hooked her toe, picked up a burning pine branch, and kicked it into the hollow of the trunk.
"Now, can we talk? Oh, and you can take these squirrels with you."
The tree swayed a few times, and the earth shook even more violently. The previous cracks all began to close, and the river water flowing underground was ejected under the enormous pressure of the mountain, forming fountains that sprayed onto the bonfire.
The earth shook violently, making it difficult for Zhong Ming on this side of the crevice to stand. Looking back, Instructor Xueyan and the others behind her were completely unharmed, the earth as stable as the ground itself.
It's infuriating to compare yourself to others! They only froze you a little or burned you a bit, is that really a reason to show such respect?
After the flames died down and the rift closed, the tree spirit did not stop. A huge circular rift appeared around the entire pit, separating itself from the mountain range. In doing so, it abandoned many tree roots that had taken root too deep or too far away.
"Wouldn't it have been better to cooperate like this earlier? Array cultivator, can your array plate gather spiritual energy?"
"Okay, I'll adjust it right away."
"I need you all to infuse your spiritual energy into this special..." She glanced at the thick pine trunk and said slowly, "Those at the fifth level of Qi Refining or above in the special demon beast pouch, please step forward and prepare to infuse your spiritual energy."
.....
Zhong Ming was completely unaffected and remained "on guard" in the surrounding area.
The smell was awful. Burning pine wood usually has a pleasant aroma, but when mixed with the charred remains of squirrels, especially their fur, the smell became extremely unpleasant.
He looked up and saw a series of black, pearl-like eyes staring at him, filled with fear, confusion, and unease.
'Is what we did any different from what Gao Jin did? Perhaps... he genuinely believed that taking our souls would allow us to live longer? Just like how we now have a purpose that these little brains can't comprehend.'
The moment the thought crossed his mind, Zhong Ming slapped himself hard.
A pine cone fell from the sky, hit a point some distance away, and exploded.
A little squirrel tucked its head in and was dragged deep into the layers of branches by the other squirrels.
They still gaze at humans in the same way.
'Only the strong can set the rules. Gao Jin is strong, Shuanglong is strong, and Shuanglong's master is also strong. I stand here now because we are stronger than them.'
Zhong Ming looked at himself, then at the crowd behind him. 'Strength isn't necessarily an individual; the power unleashed by a group united should also be considered in judging strength. I only have one path to take: become stronger, and recruit stronger individuals. This path has no end.'
He paced under the tree, pondering how to become stronger.
Another pine cone fell, but he dodged it this time. The pine cone exploded upon landing, and splinters pierced his clothes, injuring him.
'Hey, this is good stuff!'
Zhong Ming immediately perked up. These pine cones were powerful enough to be used as cheap explosive tokens. If another explosive token were attached to them, and some pine needles as hard as iron were tied together into a ball, the power would be much greater than it is now.
Thinking of this, the frustration of not being able to find a quick way to become stronger was instantly thrown to who-knows-where. There are good things everywhere! It would be a fool not to pick them up if you have money to burn.
While most people were resting and recovering their spiritual energy and preparing for the ceremony, Zhong Ming began a frenzied sweep of pine cones and needles.
He found some fragments and began to study them, trying to figure out why this thing had exploded.
After examining many fragments, he was certain the explosion had initially occurred in the very center of the pine cone. Looking back, he saw the recruits still meditating, spirit stones clutched in their hands. He immediately conducted several experiments.
Judging from the height at which the squirrels were standing, it must have reached a certain speed to generate enough impact force to detonate it.
He climbed up the tree like a monkey, carefully picked a pine cone like a squirrel, and threw it on the ground.
Hey, it's blown up.
What about a lower one?
It was thrown down, but it didn't explode.
After determining the approximate impact force required, Zhong Ming began his shopping spree.
"Brother Tree, I'm sorry to offend you, but you can't take it with you anyway, so just give me some." Zhong Ming said to the tree bark, not caring whether it understood or not, and started picking everywhere.
An hour later...
"Brother Cuihong, come here quickly!" Yue Kaishan shouted. "We need to retreat now and prepare to take away the tree demon."
The three teams jumped onto the rocks, gathered around their instructors, and witnessed this momentous occasion.
As the amount of spiritual energy injected into the array plate grew larger and larger, the light from the demon beast bag began to shine. After a brief pause, this light actually started to flow and began to envelop the huge thousand-year-old pine tree.
This mountain shines like a lighthouse in a sea of trees. If viewed from a distance, one might wonder why there is a second moon where the mountain meets the sky.
At the moment when the light reached its peak brightness, between the first and next heartbeat, the radiance suddenly contracted, and the original crater at the top of the mountain was transformed into a deep, dark hole.
mission completed.