Chapter 22: Regeneration
The Empress 'Lashabelle' had a face like an angel, but her methods were those of a demon.
"My children, seal this passageway tightly. As long as even one of you remains alive, you must not let them pass." The Empress 'Lashabelle's voice resounded through heaven and earth, and immediately a vast number of responses rose from beneath the desert sands.
Countless vines and roots shot up from the desert surface into the sky, wrapping the black pyramid-shaped structure in layer upon layer, sealing it completely tight.
The corners of Lashabelle's mouth curled upward slightly. Then, "Swish!" The air merely trembled faintly.
The Empress 'Lashabelle' transformed into a streak of green light, chasing at extreme speed toward Linley's group. There was no denying it—this Empress 'Lashabelle' was far too fast. In just a short while, Linley's group discovered 'Lashabelle' pursuing them from behind.
"Faster, faster." Every member of Linley's group pushed their speed to the absolute limit.
"Two powerful experts like Rutherford and Carrosa were swallowed and killed in the blink of an eye. This Empress's strength is terrifying." Linley felt his heart tighten. Earlier, the offspring monster that Bebe had pulled out had wrapped around everyone at first, but it hadn't managed to kill a single person.
Especially Linley, Fain, and the others—they hadn't even been injured.
The difference between an offspring and the Empress was enormous.
"Boss, watch out." Bebe's voice suddenly rang out in Linley's mind. Linley immediately looked behind him. He saw a translucent green root, as thick as an arm, piercing through the void like an arrow, hurtling toward him at incredible speed.
Among the remaining eleven experts, Linley's speed was only in the lower-middle range.
"Break!" Linley swung his Violet Blood Soft Sword in a backhand strike. The sword carried a bewitching violet light, the space around it blurring and twisting, before it slashed into the translucent root.
Wind Essence—Second Layer of the Rhythm of Wind!
Linley felt... as if he were a child again, chopping at a tree with an axe.
"Chii—" The Violet Blood Soft Sword sank into the root. Linley's full-power strike had only managed to cut about eighty percent through the arm-thick root. At the same time, Linley felt his waist tighten—the root had already coiled around him.
"Didn't cut through?" Linley was horrified.
He knew exactly how powerful his full-strength strike was. Yet one of the Empress 'Lashabelle's roots was tough to such a terrifying degree. Without time to think further, Linley's Violet Blood Soft Sword began to vibrate.
Wind Essence—Wind Vibration!
In an instant, the Violet Blood Soft Sword, embedded within the root, vibrated over ten thousand times, directly severing the remaining twenty percent thickness and cutting it apart.
But while cutting through that one root, Linley's speed had already been affected. Immediately, hundreds of roots simultaneously surged toward him, wrapping around him. Linley's face turned deathly pale: "One root was that hard to cut through, but hundreds..."
Seeing hundreds of roots converging on Linley in an instant, the hearts of the others fleeing ahead trembled.
Not long ago, this was exactly how Rutherford and Carrosa had been wrapped by those roots—the result was that not even bones remained. And Linley, as the strongest attacker among their group—if even he died, what would the rest of them do?
"Boss!" Bebe shouted in panic, disregarding the danger as he immediately turned and flew back toward Linley.
"Swish." Bebe transformed into a black streak, shooting over at extreme speed.
...
As the hundreds of roots closed in around him, Linley instantly produced the Black Gorge Heavy Sword in one hand. In his right hand was the Black Gorge Heavy Sword, in his left the Violet Blood Soft Sword. The Black Gorge Heavy Sword felt light and ethereal, but in reality, it swung forward like lightning.
Earth Essence—Sixty-Four Layers of Earth Pulse!
This was the moment to fight for his life.
"Break for me!!!" Linley's face twisted ferociously.
Roots surrounded him on all sides. Just in front, dozens of roots were intertwined, surging toward him.
The dozens of roots touched by the Black Gorge Heavy Sword all trembled. But these soft yet tough roots had an excellent resistance to 'vibration waves.' Even with Linley's full-powered Sixty-Four Layers of Earth Pulse, only about a dozen roots were reduced to powder where the Black Gorge Heavy Sword passed. The remaining dozens were still intact.
"Swish!"
A demonic violet light followed closely, slashing out. The dozens of roots ahead seemed to have become brittle, and they were directly severed by the Violet Blood Soft Sword.
"Swoosh." Linley immediately seized the opportunity, shooting out from the gap at extreme speed.
"Boss." Bebe flew over at once. "Quick, onto my back."
Bebe had enlarged his body, and Linley didn't hesitate, leaping directly onto Bebe's back. Bebe's speed immediately surged. Bebe, Desri, and Fain were the fastest among the group of experts. Once Bebe accelerated, he quickly left the pursuing roots behind.
"Whew." Only then did Linley let out a long breath.
The feeling of being surrounded by hundreds of roots just now truly felt like the arrival of doomsday.
Because of the chase after Linley, the Empress 'Lashabelle' had also fallen behind the others. And after Linley's close call, the others had learned their lesson.
"Quick, Olivia, onto my back." A Six-Eyed Golden Lion barked. Another Six-Eyed Golden Lion also barked at 'Rosalie' beside it. Among this group of experts, the fastest were Bebe, Fain, and Desri. Next were the three Six-Eyed Golden Lions, Tulily, and the Black Armored Giant Scorpion.
As for Linley, Olivia, and Rosalie, they were slightly slower.
Whether it was Olivia, who cultivated the Laws of Light, or Linley, who cultivated the Laws of Wind, both were actually very fast. Olivia combined light and darkness, and Linley was a Dragonblood Warrior... but compared to Bebe, Fain, Tulily, and the Six-Eyed Golden Lions, they were slower.
"This Black Armored Giant Scorpion is quite fast." One of the Six-Eyed Golden Lions remarked casually while flying.
The Black Armored Giant Scorpion race was only a rank 9 magical beast race. For this particular Black Armored Giant Scorpion to reach the Saint-level peak was already remarkable.
And its speed was this fast... truly impressive.
The eleven experts fled at their maximum speed. In the end, the Empress 'Lashabelle' gave up the chase.
"That human youth's sword strike just now was truly bizarre." The Empress 'Lashabelle' watched Linley's group disappear over the horizon. "With just one strike, I lost over a dozen roots. What's most frightening is... the other dozens of roots that were in the path of that sword, though they didn't turn to powder, their internal structure was severely damaged. Their toughness is less than a tenth of what it was."
...
"Whew, let's rest for a bit." Desri spoke up.
The eleven experts didn't dare land on the desert surface; they stopped midair. Clearly, that 'Lashabelle' had truly frightened the group.
"This Empress, I feel she's too abnormal." Fain frowned. "Even Rutherford and Carrosa died in an instant. Seeing her chase us so frantically just now, I felt extremely tense."
Everyone was resting now.
During the escape just now, none of them dared to be careless in the slightest.
"Linley, I noticed that the Empress attacked you just now. What did you think of her?" Tulily looked at Linley.
Linley's expression was grim.
That scene just now had been far too dangerous. Linley shook his head solemnly and said, "This Empress is far more dangerous than the Flame Sovereign. When I attacked her with the Violet Blood Soft Sword, my full-power strike couldn't even cut through her root. And mind you... she has tens of thousands of those roots."
"Your full-power strike couldn't cut through it?" The faces of the experts present all changed.
There was no need to mention how strong a Dragonblood Warrior's power was, and with the addition of Wind Essence—yet Linley couldn't cut through a single root with one strike. The toughness of those roots was unimaginable.
"Later, when a large number of roots surrounded you, Linley, we were all very worried. How did you break out? Given the toughness of those roots, it should have been extremely difficult." Desri inquired. The other experts all looked at Linley.
Experience was crucial now.
And both Rutherford and Carrosa, who had been wrapped by the Empress's roots, had died. Only Linley had escaped.
"I escaped by the skin of my teeth as well." Linley spoke openly. "When a large number of roots closed in, in that situation, I had to fight for my life." Linley had a bitter smile on his face. "I immediately took out the Black Gorge Heavy Sword and used both swords."
"First, I used the Black Gorge Heavy Sword to execute the Earth Essence—the same strike that killed the Flame Sovereign." Linley shook his head. "Even my strongest strike only destroyed a little over a dozen roots."
"But the strange thing was... when I followed up with the Violet Blood Soft Sword, it easily sliced through several dozen roots ahead, and I seized the chance to charge out." Linley said. Earlier, at the start, he had used the Violet Blood Soft Sword to attack that root.
But his full-power strike hadn't cut through it. Yet now, he had severed several dozen.
"How is that possible?" The others were puzzled.
During the escape, Linley hadn't had time to think it through carefully, but now, in an instant, he understood somewhat: "Right, Earth Pulse relies on internal vibrations to damage the enemy. The first dozen or so roots were directly shattered into powder. The several dozen behind them, though not broken apart, probably suffered severe internal damage."
With the material severely damaged, those roots naturally lost their toughness.
Under a full-power strike from the Violet Blood Soft Sword, severing several dozen roots wasn't difficult.
"Don't dwell on that now. What we need to think about is... how to deal with this Empress. If we don't eliminate her, she probably won't let us pass through the passageway to the eighth floor." Desri frowned and said.
The experts nodded.
"How should we deal with her?" Each of them furrowed their brows in deep thought.
One of the three Six-Eyed Golden Lions spoke up: "From what we know, once the roots and vines of plant-type lifeforms are severed, regrowing them is very difficult. The higher the level of the plant lifeform, the tougher and more resilient its vines and roots are. But likewise, once destroyed, regrowing them is very hard."
"So, we can split our efforts into several opportunities. Each time, we destroy a few roots. In the end... when the Empress has hardly any roots left, she'll be at our mercy."
Hearing the Six-Eyed Golden Lion's words, Linley, Fain, and the others nodded.
If they joined forces—for example, using forbidden spells or ultimate techniques—several experts attacking simultaneously should be able to destroy some roots. Whenever the Empress 'Lashabelle' chased them, they would flee. Then they would sneak attack again, over and over...
Gradually reducing the Empress's roots was achievable.
Slowly, they might eventually succeed.
"No." Bebe shook his head.
The group of experts looked at Bebe in confusion. Bebe shook his head and said, "When I went to save the boss, I saw it very clearly. After the boss cut through those roots and escaped onto my back, the severed roots actually regrew. And they regrew very quickly, recovering in no time."
"How is that possible?" The three Six-Eyed Golden Lions couldn't believe it.
"Impossible! Absolutely impossible!!!" The Six-Eyed Golden Lion shook its head.
"But I, Bebe, saw it with my own eyes. Could it be false?" Bebe retorted. "And in a matter like this, would I lie?"
The three Six-Eyed Golden Lions fell silent. They also believed... that at this critical moment, Bebe wouldn't lie. But their trio had indeed encountered this type of plant lifeform back in the day and knew something about them.
"Regardless of the reason, the fact remains that this Empress's roots can regenerate." Desri said solemnly. "We must now figure out how to kill this Empress."
Everyone remained silent.
The roots were so tough that even Linley's full-power strike with the Violet Blood Soft Sword couldn't cut through them. And worst of all... the Empress's roots could regenerate.
What could they do?
The scene of Rutherford and Carrosa's deaths was still vividly etched in every expert's mind.