Chapter 11: Plant Life
"Keep your voice down." Linley was very cautious. "See that green giant serpent down below?"
Bark glanced downward and nodded. Linley said seriously, "That green giant serpent just now shrank to the size of a finger, hid in the foliage, and suddenly struck at me. If I had been too arrogant and hadn't transformed into my Dragonblood Warrior form, my 'Pulsating Defense' in human form definitely wouldn't have withstood that blow. I could have lost my life here."
"That serious?" Bark couldn't help but click his tongue in surprise.
Linley's expression was grave as he looked around and lowered his voice. "According to what Desri told me, the Yulan continent has three passages leading to three different Necropolis of the Gods. This is the most dangerous one. Back then, Desri and the others hid on the fifth level, staying there until the ten-year term was up."
Bark looked somewhat astonished. "I was thinking of going to the eleventh level."
"The eleventh level? Even Desri back then didn't dare to challenge the sixth level, and you're talking about the eleventh?" Linley stared seriously at Bark. "Bark, don't think that just because your defenses are high, you can afford to be careless. In this damned place, many creatures from different planes appear. One might show up that can counter your abilities. If you're not careful, you could lose your life."
"Remember what Desri said? If you're greedy, it's good if even ten out of eighty-plus survive." Linley glanced at Bark. "If ten really do survive, I reckon that would include the five peak Saint-level experts, as well as those who've been here before and have experience. Even I could die if I'm careless."
Hearing Linley say this, Bark became much more cautious.
After all, if it came down to who could survive, those who had been here before and had experience naturally had a higher chance. Moreover, among the eighty-plus experts, including the three 'Six-Eyed Golden Lions,' the terrifying magical beasts of the Dark Forest, and the human experts, there were definitely at least ten whose strength matched Bark's.
"Let's move out." Linley said quietly.
"Alright." Bark immediately followed. The two of them moved cautiously, each holding their weapons—Linley with his Violet Blood Soft Sword and Bark with his great axe. Both were ready to fight at any moment.
This actually made many of the terrifying creatures in the jungle refrain from attacking them.
...
"Lord Linley, the vines and leaves are so dense here that we can't even tell which direction we're going." The two had been flying for a while and were starting to get anxious. When they had first seen the Necropolis of the Gods, its base seemed to be only ten thousand meters long. But the space inside was much larger.
Linley and the others could only look up to such methods in awe.
"Don't worry. Stay calm and search carefully." Linley said in a low voice.
Suddenly, "Ah!" A piercing scream came from afar. Shattered leaves also flew wildly from that direction.
Linley and Bark exchanged a glance and quietly moved closer to the scene of the battle. In just a moment, they saw something shocking—a conspicuously huge flower had opened like a bloody maw and swallowed a Saint-level expert whole. The inside of the flower was trembling, clearly indicating that the Saint-level expert was resisting.
But in just a few seconds, the inside of the flower fell silent.
That Saint-level expert was already dead.
"Eating people?" Linley frowned.
He remembered back in the Dark Forest, when he had seen that living metal castle. He understood then that it wasn't just humans and magical beasts that possessed life. Even metal or plants could have intelligent life, and sometimes these lives were even more terrifying.
"Lord?" Bark lowered his voice.
Linley gave him a look. At this moment, Linley also noticed something suspicious... vines were slowly moving.
"These vines have life. It seems some plant life wants to kill us." Linley's lips curled slightly. Against plant life like this, using the Black Heavy Sword wasn't very effective. After all, cutting off a section still left a huge amount behind.
At times like this, using the sharp, fast Violet Blood Soft Sword was much more effective.
"Chi chi—" Suddenly, dozens of meters of winding vines on the ground far away sprang up, directly wrapping around Linley and Bark. Vines coiled around the big trees also detached and shot toward them. Vines in the grass also lashed out.
In an instant—hundreds of vines, some thick, some thin, covered the sky and earth. From above, from all sides, from below, even from the soil, vines emerged. Linley and Bark were instantly trapped in this prison. Countless vines wrapped around them.
Countless vines twisted together into a green vine ball ten meters in diameter.
Linley and Bark were inside this ball.
...
"This is troublesome." Linley tried to force the vines apart with his arms, but they were extremely tough and could even stretch a little. Relying on brute force alone, it was impossible to break through this vine prison. He also felt countless needles piercing through the vines, stabbing into his entire body.
Although his 'Pulsating Defense' could withstand it, his battle qi was rapidly depleting.
"Lord, I can't break it open." Bark was also anxious. He wanted to swing his great axe, but his arms, bound by the thick vines, couldn't move. Those vines were terrifyingly tough and strong. "Lord, what do we do?"
Bark was panicking.
He was strong, but this giant vine life form was much stronger.
Suddenly—
"Haha, you two, accept your deaths! After I kill you two, I'll kill three more. Then I'll have enough corpses and heads to offer to my lord, and I can become a god. Don't resist; you can't resist. The strength of you humans can't match mine." A sharp, arrogant voice echoed within the vine prison.
"Enough corpses and heads?" Linley was shocked.
He was beginning to understand why all the creatures in the Necropolis of the Gods wanted to kill them.
"Die!" The sharp voice sounded again.
Linley felt a terrifying force transmitted through the vines. Each vine possessed immense strength, and now, with hundreds or even thousands of vines exerting force simultaneously, even Linley and Bark felt a crushing pressure.
Bound by the mass of vines, Linley's arms, legs, and dragon tail were all entangled. Even with his brute strength, he could only move slightly.
"Want to kill us two?" Linley sneered. With a flick of his wrist—
An eerie purple light flashed. Under the attack of 'Rhythm of the Wind,' wherever the Violet Blood Soft Sword passed, the vines were all severed. Linley's Violet Blood Soft Sword turned into a blur in an instant. Countless vines snapped, accompanied by a piercing scream.
The remaining intact vines immediately fled rapidly.
In just a moment, all the intact vines had disappeared, while the severed vines writhed on the ground like living tentacles.
"Hmph." Linley glanced around.
He was searching for the core of this vine life. After a short while, he found some clues, but the result made him shake his head and sigh. "This thing's main body is actually hidden underground. Going down to kill it would be troublesome."
Bark also felt a lingering fear. "Lord Linley, if I had encountered this vine life alone, what would I have done? Your Violet Blood Soft Sword is small and can be wielded with just a wrist movement. But my great axe, if I only use my wrist, its attack power isn't enough to cut through those vines."
Linley nodded slightly.
Bark relied on strong defense and power, using his great axe for heavy swings. But when his whole body was bound and his arms couldn't exert force, it was indeed hard to break free from the vines.
"Against this kind of plant, brute force is far less effective than sharp weapons." Linley glanced at Bark.
"The main issue is that your understanding of the laws is still shallow. Even unarmed, I could use 'Rhythm of the Wind' to cut through those vines with a palm strike, or use 'Earth's Profound Truths' to shatter them." Linley reminded Bark. "On the Yulan continent, relying on your strength and defense works fine. But if you encounter creatures with strange abilities, you'll be in trouble."
"Mm." Bark firmly remembered this lesson.
"Let's go." Linley said.
But when they had flown only a few dozen meters, Linley suddenly dove downward like a bolt of lightning, raised his right arm like a heavy hammer, and slammed it fiercely into the ground. The entire earth trembled.
Earth's Profound Truths—Earth Pulse
This was Linley's current limit, far more powerful than the 256-layered vibration waves of the past.
"Ah!" A scream came from underground.
"Hmph. Consider yourself lucky if you survive." Linley quickly flew up. "Bark, let's go."
From the direction the vines had fled, Linley could roughly calculate the location of the vine life's main body underground. But it was only an approximate position. In Linley's view, this vine life's main body must have been enormous.
He estimated the central area and directly struck with 'Earth's Profound Truths.'
"Even if I don't hit the core, I'll still hit other parts of the main body." Linley thought to himself. He was right. His attack didn't hit the core, and the vine life barely escaped with its life. But Linley still inflicted heavy damage.
...
Not long after their battle with the vine life, Linley and Bark found the passage. It was a staircase covered by dense plants. Following the stairs, they finally discovered the entrance to the third level.
"Be careful. Any level might have a divine-level magical beast, the 'Basilisk.' Don't let your guard down." Linley reminded Bark.
"Got it. If I spot the Basilisk, I won't even speak." Bark nodded.
Then, Linley and Bark stepped directly into the third level. As soon as they entered, both of them couldn't help but shiver. It was too cold—a cold they had never felt before.
This was a world of ice.
Endless ice mountains stretched out, surrounded by swirling white mist. When the white mist approached, Linley and Bark couldn't help but shudder.
"Why is it so cold?" Linley was secretly alarmed. "I have Pulsating Defense and scale armor for protection, and I still feel this cold. This is insane."
But no matter what they thought, neither of them dared to make a sound. Until they were certain that this level didn't have the divine-level Basilisk, they wouldn't dare to speak. Linley and Bark flew cautiously.
Suddenly—
"It's Idens." Linley spotted a Saint-level expert not far away. Idens was flying carefully with two other Saint-level experts.
When Linley and Bark approached them, Idens seemed to notice Linley and urgently signaled him with his eyes.
"What's wrong?" Linley was startled.
Idens's expression was clearly anxious, and he pointed in a certain direction.
Linley immediately followed his gaze and looked into the distance. He saw a body covered in cyan scales, resembling a serpent. It was over ten meters in diameter, and as for its length... Linley could only see a few dozen meters; the rest was hidden behind the ice mountains.
"Could it be the Basilisk?" Linley's heart trembled.
Bark was also shocked. He and Linley exchanged a glance and, without a word, quietly flew on. Both of them, as well as Idens and the other two Saint-level experts ahead, dared not make a single sound, afraid of waking the terrifying divine-level Basilisk.
After flying for a while, Linley saw the main part of the Basilisk's body.
Its winding serpent body coiled around a massive ice mountain, stretching beyond sight. But the part visible around the mountain was already several thousand meters long. This was the largest magical beast Linley had ever seen in his life. Ordinary magical beasts were at most a hundred meters long.
But this Basilisk—just what he could see was several thousand meters.
"Could it be over ten thousand meters?" Linley, Bark, and the others continued to fly quietly, searching for the passage. Linley glanced back at the other Saint-level experts who had also entered the third level. "I hope these guys don't wake the Basilisk. If they drag us down with them, we're really done for."
There were already quite a few Saint-level experts on the third level. If any one of them made a mistake, everyone would suffer.
"The Basilisk's head." Linley saw the massive serpent head, over twenty meters high, in the distance. The Basilisk had its eyes closed. Its breathing wasn't loud, but in the silent environment of the third level, Linley and the others could clearly hear it.
As the Basilisk slept, it rhythmically exhaled black mist from its mouth. The black mist swirled like a whirlwind, spreading outward. Wherever the black mist touched the surrounding ice mountains, the ice instantly turned to powder.