Chapter 26: The Choice
The black poisonous mist instantly invaded Linley’s mind, even beginning to erode the repaired gap in the membrane of his soul defense. This was something Linley had spent over two hundred years to repair to its current state after reaching the Highgod level. Once it was breached, the fruits of those two hundred years of effort would be lost in a single day!
“Hmph.” Linley’s soul force immediately struck at the black poisonous mist like a shockwave.
Soul force suffused with a cyan halo continuously battered the black poisonous mist like lightning, until it was completely annihilated.
“Boss, this big snake is really troublesome,” Bebe transmitted.
“Roar!” The enormous green serpent angrily lashed its tail, its long body turning into a green blur as it whipped toward Linley and Bebe.
Linley’s gaze turned cold.
“Swish!” Linley’s dragon tail also lashed out fiercely, colliding with the serpent’s tail. With a “crack!”, Linley’s body was uncontrollably sent flying dozens of meters back, while the green serpent coiled back around the trunk of the Netherworld Fruit Tree.
“This big snake’s hide is really tough,” Linley thought in surprise. “And slippery too!”
“Hmph.” Bebe, however, took advantage of Linley’s rebound to charge straight toward the Netherworld Fruit. The green serpent naturally whipped its tail, twisting space like a whirlwind as it struck directly at Bebe. But Bebe grinned slyly, suddenly producing a divine artifact dagger in his hand and stabbing viciously at the incoming tail!
“Pfft——”
The dagger slid across the snake’s skin, leaving only a relatively deep white mark, and a few scales cracked and broke off.
“Eh?” Bebe was astonished. At the same time, he transmitted mentally, “Boss, why is this big snake’s body so much tougher than those little green snakes? And so slippery too—even my divine artifact couldn’t pierce it in one go! Hey, Boss… you go grab the Netherworld Fruit! I’ll hold this big snake off! It can’t do anything to me!”
“Brat, I’ll kill you!”
Seeing that a few of its scales had cracked, the green serpent flew into a rage and roared as it lunged at Bebe again. Its venomous fangs were sharp, but not tough. When it came to toughness, its hide was the strongest. For so many years… no one had ever left a wound on it.
“Swoosh.” Trusting Bebe completely, Linley shot straight toward the Netherworld Fruit.
“Whoa!”
Bebe was startled. The moment the green serpent touched him, it coiled around him entirely, binding him tightly as if trying to strangle him to death. “Hey, your strength isn’t bad. But if you think you can squeeze me to death with this little bit of power, you’re dreaming.” Bebe raised his head, staring at the serpent’s head, completely unafraid.
The green serpent strained with all its might, trying to crush Bebe.
It was naturally gifted; killing a Highgod by constriction was an easy task for it. Even a Highgod artifact, once twisted by its body, would be bent out of shape. But today, it discovered… the youth it had coiled around felt like an unyielding lump of metal. The serpent also kept an eye on Linley’s situation.
“Huh?” Bebe suddenly tensed.
He saw that as Linley approached the Netherworld Fruit, a large number of branches, like flexible willow twigs, all swept toward him. Linley angrily swung his Shadowless Sword, channeling the Laws of the Earth. The Shadowless Sword’s power reached its peak, and with a faint sound, space itself split open with cracks.
“Pfft!” The Shadowless Sword struck a branch.
The branch was as thick as a thigh, but Linley’s full-powered strike with the Shadowless Sword only managed to cut halfway through it, getting stuck. “Huh?” Linley suddenly sensed… at the point where the Netherworld Fruit Tree’s branch met his sword, a powerful wave of energy surged forth.
It struck directly at his mind!
“Ugh…” Linley’s head spun, but he managed to withstand it. At the same time, countless other branches swept toward him.
“Retreat!” Linley pulled his sword free and leaped back!
At the same time, a layer of earthy yellow light spread across his body, forming a spherical Blackstone Space. A powerful repulsive force immediately acted on the branches. Though their speed slowed, they still closed in from all sides. Linley had no choice but to dodge farther away.
If Linley was struggling, then Bollerey wasn’t faring any better. He too was helpless against the Netherworld Fruit Tree.
“Bollerey, you said this Netherworld Fruit Tree is controlled by the serpent spirit? How can the tree also launch soul attacks?” Linley shouted. Having retreated a hundred meters, he saw Bollerey also pull back the same distance. Bollerey shook his head and said, “When I first saw the Netherworld Fruit… back then, there were too many green snakes, and I couldn’t get close. I didn’t know the Netherworld Fruit Tree could launch soul attacks either. It seems this tree has developed its own intelligence!”
Linley suddenly understood—
What the red-haired, beautiful woman meant by “tree” and “serpent.”
“The ‘serpent’ she mentioned must be this big snake. And the ‘tree’ must be the Netherworld Fruit Tree.” Linley had also felt the tree’s power earlier. Just one branch… could withstand his full-powered strike. His divine artifact sword had only cut halfway through it.
“Hmm, healed?” Linley noticed with surprise that the branch he had cut was already fully restored.
“This Netherworld Fruit Tree is just like a normal god—it can easily heal physical injuries.” Linley felt a headache coming on.
“Haha… can’t do it, huh? Then it’s my turn!” Bebe’s voice suddenly rang out.
Linley couldn’t help but look over—
Bebe was being coiled by the green serpent, which seemed intent on squeezing him to death. But at that moment, “Yaw!” A piercing, frenzied cry rang out. Bebe opened his mouth, and a massive phantom of a God-eating Rat appeared around him. The phantom’s cold eyes fixed on the green serpent. The serpent froze, sensing something was wrong!
A cold glint flashed in Bebe’s eyes!
“Ahh—” A scream had barely begun when a black divine spark emerged from the green serpent’s head. It was directly swallowed by Bebe. The green serpent fell limply, dead!
Innate Divine Ability—God Devouring!
The moment the green serpent died, all the remaining little green snakes on the Netherworld Fruit Tree’s leaves turned into green energy and dissipated into the air, all of them dead!
“Oh?” Linley began to understand.
Those little green snakes were likely part of the big green serpent, or perhaps they existed by relying on it. Now that the serpent spirit was dead, the little snakes perished too.
“Still trying to act tough with me!” Bebe snorted.
In the distance, Bollerey and Buron stared at Bebe in disbelief. They had just witnessed Bebe use his God Devouring ability. This innate divine ability didn’t belong to any laws or rules; it transcended them. Once activated… it sent a chill down Bollerey and Buron’s spines.
How could one defend against such a move?
It directly targeted your divine spark. No matter how profound your insights into the profound mysteries, you wouldn’t even have time to act!
“The Netherworld Fruit is mine!” Bebe charged at the Netherworld Fruit Tree again.
“Rustle, rustle.” The Netherworld Fruit Tree seemed to go berserk. Countless branches whipped through the air like tendrils, sweeping toward Bebe to entangle him. Linley, seeing this, willed it and a Blackstone Space rapidly spread from his body, covering an area of several hundred meters.
Gravity—downward!
Many of the branches drooped, struggling to lift themselves and reach for Bebe.
“Swish.” Linley flew over as well.
“Swoosh.” Bollerey didn’t hesitate either, seizing the opportunity to dart forward.
The Netherworld Fruit Tree’s trunk moved much slower now, making it hard to catch Linley and Bebe. But… the branches didn’t need to catch them at all. Instead, they twisted and coiled together, wrapping the Netherworld Fruit in a dense cocoon.
Linley, Bebe, and Bollerey were dumbfounded.
It was all wrapped up—how were they supposed to get the fruit?
“Last time, the Netherworld Fruit Tree only gave a half-hearted block. It wasn’t this crazy!” Bollerey said in confusion.
Linley and Bebe hovered, staring at the tree.
“Boss, what now?” Bebe asked.
“This is troublesome.” Linley frowned, then gripped his Shadowless Sword and slashed fiercely at the Netherworld Fruit Tree. The sword turned transparent, and as the blade rippled, space cracked open. Strike after strike landed on the branches, but each one was hard to cut through.
Hundreds of strikes! But every time he cut a branch, it healed instantly.
“Whoosh!”
Suddenly, a mass of branches erupted, attacking Linley from close range.
Linley’s expression changed. In an instant, the Blackstone Space’s gravity shifted—repulsion!
The branches slowed considerably, and Linley retreated rapidly.
“Bebe, these branches are too tough, and there are too many. By the time I cut one, it’s already healed before I can strike again. And they carry powerful soul attacks. One branch isn’t a problem, but hundreds? And their strength is immense. If they bind you, it’ll be worse than being coiled by that green serpent,” Linley transmitted.
“Looks like there’s only one way.” Bebe flew forward.
Suddenly—
A phantom of a God-eating Rat, dozens of meters tall, loomed behind Bebe. Its powerful aura made Bollerey and Buron’s hearts pound. A strange energy enveloped the Netherworld Fruit Tree.
“He’s using that again. After this, Bebe will need to rest,” Linley thought.
Linley had great faith in Bebe, but what happened next shocked him: “How is that possible?” The Netherworld Fruit Tree didn’t produce a divine spark, nor did it show any injury. Bebe fell back, looking puzzled: “Boss, I… I can’t sense a divine spark from it!”
“Can’t sense it?” Linley was stunned. “The Netherworld Fruit Tree has no divine spark,” Bebe said with absolute certainty.
“If that’s the case, this is troublesome. This tree… no wonder it can nurture a spiritual treasure like the Netherworld Fruit. It’s truly tenacious.” Linley frowned. “But from what Bollerey said, last time the fruit appeared, the tree barely resisted—just a token gesture. Someone picked it easily. Why this time?”
Just then—
“Swoosh!” Bollerey shot toward the Netherworld Fruit Tree like a blur. Linley and Bebe didn’t rush in, watching to see what Bollerey would do.
“There’s no way to deal with this tree,” Linley thought.
He didn’t think Bollerey had any chance!
“Whoosh!” The branches that had been coiled around the fruit suddenly spread apart and swept toward Bollerey. But Bollerey slashed through the nearest branch, using the momentum to accelerate toward the fruit. The other branches seemed a beat slow—
Bollerey slipped through the encirclement and grabbed the crystal-clear Netherworld Fruit.
“It’s mine!” Bollerey was ecstatic.
Without hesitation, he bit into the fruit and swallowed it in a few bites.
Linley and Bebe stood frozen, as if struck by lightning.
“What’s going on?” Bebe couldn’t believe it.
“Why didn’t the tree stop him?” Linley couldn’t understand either. With so many branches, the tree could have easily blocked Bollerey. Even if it couldn’t stop him, it could have wrapped the fruit up like it did with Linley and Bebe. Bollerey would never have gotten it.
But…
The tree had actively spread its branches, only putting up a token resistance.
“It seems the Netherworld Fruit Tree deliberately helped Bollerey,” Linley said in confusion.
“Crackle…” Suddenly, the entire Netherworld Fruit Tree trembled. Its trunk began sinking into the ground, followed by the branches, and even the green serpent’s corpse was dragged underground. Within a few breaths, the tree had completely vanished into the earth.
The Netherworld Fruit Tree was gone!
“Haha…” A burst of excited laughter rang out. Bollerey opened his eyes again.
“Huh?” Linley sensed that Bollerey’s entire aura seemed to have changed.
“Thank you both,” Bollerey said, looking at Linley and Bebe. Buron ran over excitedly: “Big brother, you succeeded!” Buron knew how much his brother had suffered for the Netherworld Fruit. The first time he entered Netherworld Mountain, he saw the fruit but couldn’t get it.
Then he waited stubbornly, training and preparing for the next chance.
Endless years of solitude, and he had persevered. Finally, he succeeded. “You two, last time, the tree only gave a simple block. This time, it clearly targeted you,” Bollerey said, smiling at Linley and Bebe. “I think it’s because Bebe killed the serpent spirit!”
“Serpent spirit?” Linley and Bebe were startled.
“The serpent spirit and the tree have been together for countless years. They must have developed deep feelings. Do you think… the Netherworld Fruit Tree would willingly give its fruit to you?” Bollerey said with a smile.