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Chapter 437: Evil Spirit Tree

Westwind defense line, the final refuge of the Panhuman Alliance.

More than a thousand asteroids had been hollowed out and fitted with large cannons and fortifications. They were like warships that did not move, ready to defend against any enemy invasions.

A long time ago, when the other neighbor of humanity, the Na’vi, made their move, the Alliance had relied on these natural asteroids to build bunkers. Many years had since passed, and the Na’vi no longer invaded the Panhuman Alliance, and it was instead the insectoids, their much farther neighbor, who pushed their way to the Westwind defense line.

The last six hundred fleets under the Alliance command, including the supercapital ship fleet, Freedom Calvary, as well as the forces from both the Adjudicator Union and the Monastic Order, were all in formation by the Westwind defense line, ready to fight against the insectoids to the death in an effort to protect the civilian fleets from leaving as soon as possible.

The soldiers used what time they had left to call or write to their families, while those who had lost their family due to the war kept cleaning their weapons. The atmosphere was extremely tense and grim.

Command room.

Reconnaissance report after reconnaissance report came flowing into the room, non-stop, as the military triumvirate faced their task ahead with great solemnity.

“The situation is bad. The majority of the insectoid fleets did not rush in as we hoped, but instead are warping over to the Westwind defense line six and gathering. It looks like they are preparing to rely on their superior military strength to break past our defensive line in a single assault. At present, over a thousand fleets have gathered, and they are all combined fleets.”

Chief of Staff Williams said after setting down the phone. A thousand combined fleets were far stronger than the forces the Panhuman Alliance had gathered here. Just the number of capital ships they had under their command numbered over two thousand!

Engaged in positional warfare, the defense and firepower of capital ships were the deciding factor in achieving victory. In terms of the number of capital ships, the Alliance was no doubt at an absolute disadvantage. Even though the Alliance had their Freedom Calvary, the dozens of super capital ships they had stood no chance against an attack from over two thousand normal capital warships.

More importantly, a thousand combined fleets were hardly all of the insectoids’ military strength. By the time they were really done gathering and launching their assault, there might very well be 1500 combined fleets in total! That was 2.5 times the military strength of humans!

Tai’s left eyelid twitched as he somberly said, “No matter what, the Alliance can’t give up on this defensive line and take the initiative to attack. Our fleets have to work in concert with the war asteroids in order to maximize their combat power. After all, none of these asteroid fortifications can move.”

“The defenses of the fortification will decrease drastically without the warships’ mobile assistance. Meanwhile, warships will lose half their fighting power without the support of the fortified mega-cannons. As the situation stands right now, all we can do is make our last stand and defend this place to our death.”

Williams chuckled, tossing a maple syrup candy from his pocket to his mouth. “You’re absolutely right. Our goal is to help protect and secure the departure of the civilian fleets, giving the Panhuman Alliance a seed of resurrection. The longer we drag things out, the more beneficial it is for us, so let’s just keep on waiting.”

...

At the end of the first floor of the Holy Realm was a circular platform, an ancient stone structure that looked like it had weathered against time and nature. Just like Serenity’s Gate where everyone first entered into this space, the platform was also split in both black and white, each taking a side.

“This should be the way that leads to the second floor, so why aren’t there any stairs or gates?” Phantom asked quizzically.

Xia Fei lit a cigarette and replied, “We’ll know once we get on.”

The platform was wide enough for thousands of individuals to stand on top of it. In a matter of seconds after Xia Fei got on, a beam of white light shot down from the sky and trapped his entire body within. In the next moment, all Xia Fei could feel was a wave of warmth rush over him as his entire person swiftly flew upward with a *whoosh*.

By the time the beam of light dissipated, Xia Fei had already arrived on the second floor of the Holy Realm, and the scenery all around him had changed!

“What a mystical power! It’s almost as if some power instantly pulled you into a different space!” Phantom exclaimed.

Xia Fei also found it equally inconceivable. In the moment when the space around him changed, aside from that brief instant of emptiness around him, his body did not feel anything else out of the ordinary. Could that have been the use of the Law of Space?

Before him was a large swamp, the black and brackish water coming up to his knees. Some gnarled trees were growing out of this water, half submerged and the other half above the water surface.

These trees were too peculiar; their black tree branches had no barks or leaves, and each was oddly shaped and untamed, like a dark forest in which a magician would live in legends. A gaggle of One-eyed Crows was perched upon the branches, staring at Xia Fei.

Upon seeing Furball perched on Xia Fei’s shoulder, though, the One-eyed Crows all began crowing loudly. Some even fell into the water in panic, while the rest began flapping their wings wildly and fled as if their lives depended on it.

The point counter on his wrist vibrated for a while, and Xia Fei noticed that his score was still climbing, already about to pass the hundred-thousand-point threshold!

What was shocking was it also indicated that he had arrived on the second floor; a quick look at the map showed that the second floor of the Holy Realm was smaller than the first floor by some, and there was practically no exotic beast living here. The only thing around was the trees and the swamp.

Getting to the third floor would mean getting through this approximately one thousand miles of swampland, and there was no way around it.

Phantom shook his head. “What a pity. The second floor doesn’t have any exotic beasts, so you can’t pummel Uti’s troops like what you did with the exotic beasts from the first floor.”

Xia Fei casually said, “Using the same method again might not yield as effective of a result. Let’s try and think of another plan. In any case, we’ll try and get rid of as many of the guards Uti has around him as possible, all the while keeping myself protected.

“As we slowly whittle their number like this, by the time we reach floors four and five, Uti will probably not have too many people with him, and that’s the perfect time for us to strike.”

Phantom looked all around, unhappily stating, “This second floor is far too quiet, with almost nothing we can use.”

“That’s not necessarily true. Look!”

Phantom looked at where Xia Fei was pointing and saw a tree vine slowly binding up the carcass of a One-eyed Crow, its movement very slow. By the time the carcass was less than half a meter away from it, a big gash on that tree trunk suddenly opened to reveal its sharp, yellow teeth!

“Oh, heavens! That tree actually has teeth!! Just what strange creature is that?!” Phantom was shocked.

Xia Fei observed it carefully and realized that every tree here had a gash, with most having only one, though some of the thicker and sturdier trees had two or even three gashes on them!

These gashes, which were about the size of washbasins, were hardly noticeable when closed, looking like the mark left when someone had previously tried to chop away at the tree trunks. However, these marks were definitely not as simple as they looked because inside them hid circular mouths! The sharp teeth were like the enlarged version of what man-eating sharks would have!

They moved very, very slowly. That strange tree picked up the carcass of the crow and sent it into its mouth, and this half a meter distance actually took several minutes to complete.

*Crunch!*

The sharp teeth made contact with the crow as blood spurted out.

In the instant that the scent of blood was released into the air though, that tree actually moved as if it had come alive! It waved its flexible tree branches like an octopus, while letting out blood-curdling growls!

The nearby trees seemed to have been infected by this growl, for all of their movement abruptly sped up! They fought to snatch the carcasses in the water, and because the trees did not differentiate friend from foe, they actually began fighting with one another!

Phantom was speechless. “What just happened? Those trees were as slow as snails just moments ago, yet they all turned so fast and vicious in the blink of an eye. Could something have triggered them?”

“It must be blood!” Xia Fei excitedly said. “I dare to say that these strange trees aren’t your usual biological organisms. Before we entered, these trees could already move, except they did so very slowly. Were I not closely observing them, I wouldn’t notice that these trees will only explosively reveal their true nature after they get stimulated by the presence of blood!”

“If they’re so bloodthirsty, why haven’t they tried to attack you?”

Xia Fei chuckled. “I have Breath Control shielding me, so my presence barely registers, but Uti and his men won’t be the same.”

With that said, Xia Fei went dashing out like a burst of lightning!

“Celestial Moon!”

*Swoosh*

Circular blades flew out!

Several One-eyed Crows, which were flying in the sky, instantly got sliced and diced by the eighteen circular blades, causing blood to rain down from the sky.

The trees in the swamp instantly went berserk after smelling the scent of blood in the air. They fought over the carcasses of the dead crows, their vines dancing wildly as the entire dark forest appeared to have gone insane!

There were hardly any living creatures in this swamp. Aside from the crows, there were also a few chameleons and several strange looking crocodiles.

Xia Fei’s Celestial Moon slew them all, and the scent of blood quickly spread across the entire dark forest. The blood mixed in the water was slowly being propagated in such a fashion.

This produced a chain reaction, and the eerie silence turned demonic! The large swamp slowly became even more chaotic, as more and more of these strange trees awakened from their slumber, eager for lifeforce, thirsting for blood and kills!

*Bang!*

Xia Fei tossed a crocodile king, which was over twenty meters long onto the platform, and Celestial Moon began working like a meat grinder. It did not take long for him to turn the crocodile meat into minced meat, and Celestial Moon smeared it on the entire platform. Anyone who arrived from the first floor would immediately be stained in the blood and its sanguinary scent, becoming a target for the dark forest’s assault!

...

By the time Uti managed to climb out from the pile of dead bodies, it was already evening. On the first day of entry into the Holy Realm, his ten thousand elite insectoid warriors had been the recipient of the most insane attack from exotic beasts!

The faces of the survivors were pale and their steps were heavy. The wails and cries from the injured could be heard; dead bodies and fresh blood were everywhere. It was a devastating sight to behold!

Li Mo sat atop a large boulder, his hand holding onto meat coming from unknown origins. He was taking bite-size chunks out of it with great relish, and Uti could feel his stomach doing backflips just looking at this, nearly vomiting from the gruesome sight.

Fini, one of the Seven Champions, handed Uti a bottle of alcohol. In order to keep a clear mind, Uti would normally abstain from drinking, but today had been such an ordeal that he could not resist taking that bottle and having a fitful swig.

“How’s our casualties looking?” Uti asked in a grave tone.

“Nearly fifty thousand dead. Most had lower cultivation and barely experienced much real combat. Our main force is still intact,” answered Fini equally solemnly.

When Uti heard that the main force was still intact, he felt slightly better. Looking all around, Uti asked, “We’ve lost quite a bit of people, haven’t we?”

Fini laughed bitterly. “For some reason, it appears as if the darkness ability user, Halleh, including the five thousand insectoids under his command, has disappeared after the fight.”

“Disappeared?” Uti’s expression momentarily paled. Halleh had a very high cultivation, so if even something happened to him, it was not hard to imagine the severity of the trouble they were in.

Fini saw his master’s worry and consoled him. “Emperor, actually, no matter how many warriors we have, most are just cannon fodders. What’s important is that the two experts we have hidden among the insectoids and High Priest’s disciple are still around. As long as they’re here, I’m sure that you can make it out of here without any problems.

“The plan right now is still to make it to the fifth floor as soon as possible. According to historical records, there are some Evil Spirit Trees on the second floor, so as long as we clean ourselves off any scent of blood, we’ll very easily make it through the floor.”

Easy?

Fini was completely unaware that Xia Fei had already set up a flawless trap on the second floor, so getting through this level would not be as easy as he claimed it.