The center of the grove was dominated by seven massive trees, arranged in a perfect circle around the largest tree he'd ever seen. Its trunk was wider than a house, its branches spread like a canopy over the entire clearing.
Royal Guards.
Each had cultivated for at least five centuries. And beyond them, the Mother Queen with a millennium of accumulated earth qi given form.
Through the deeper root network, older and more ancient, a different conversation flowed through their connected spiritual senses. They were slower and more deliberate. But they were still overlapping, and of course chaotic.
Through it all, Lu Chen felt another presence watching. The Mother Queen observed from her throne, making no move to intervene. Perhaps she viewed this as entertainment. Perhaps she had confidence in her children. Perhaps both.
So. This is the one slaughtering our children. Fifty of them. Fifty. He doesn't look like much, does he?
Agreed. His blood qi aura is weak. Barely Body Tempering 8. How did he kill so many?
Luck. Has to be luck. Or those annoying movement techniques. He keeps flickering like a wounded fly.
Doesn't matter. He killed Geng Lei. Geng Lei owed me ten years of sap essence. High-quality sap. Now I'll never get it back.
You're still on about sap?
It was AGED sap. Decades in the making. You don't understand the investment.
I understand that he's killed fifty of our children. Focus.
I am focused. On my sap.
...I mean, he's right here. Watching us.
Let him watch. He is intimidated.
He looks bored.
He's not bored. He's calculating. I've seen that look before.
When?
That cultivator three hundred years ago. The one who killed Kai Wen.
Kai Wen? We had a Kai Wen?
We had several Kai Wens. They all died. It's a cursed name.
Somewhere in the great beyond that is, if trees had such a concept.
A spirit currently en route to the circle of reincarnation would have coughed out a mouthful of sap blood if he'd heard this.
Kai Wen, apparently, was a cursed name.
And he was the one forcefully given that name right off the bat.
A long, uncomfortable pause passed through the roots before someone finally muttered, shut up. You're ruining the mood.
[Alert: Royal Guard Trees detected. Body Tempering 8 Peak. ]
[Warning: These are not ordinary demonic trees. Each has cultivated earth qi for over five centuries. ]
[Recommendation: Do not underestimate them. ]
Lu Chen watched them. He couldn't understand their root-talk, but he felt their auras. Seven distinct pressures pressing down on him like mountains.
His blood qi circulated faster in response. Then he raised his sword.
He's raising his sword!
That's what swords do!
I know what swords do! I'm just saying!
Everyone shut up and fight!
Lu Chen didn't wait.
Phantom Mirage Step.
The first Royal Guard reacted instantly with branches like spears descending, each strike carrying the weight of five centuries of accumulated earth essence.
DIE, INSECT!
Lu Chen twisted mid-air, avoiding three branches by a hair's breadth. His sword traced a crimson arc.
Flowing River Slash.
Green sap sprayed like blood essence.
OW! HE CUT ME! MY BARK! I SPENT CENTURIES ON THIS BARK!
Stop whining and seal his escape!
Earth Binding Technique.
Roots erupted from the earth.
They wrapped around his ankles, trying to root him in place and drain his blood qi. Lu Chen channeled his blood qi to his feet.
Phantom Mirage Step again.
Leaving afterimages behind. The roots clutched empty air.
He disappeared again! Behind you!
Too slow. Lu Chen reappeared behind the Guard and drove his sword deep into its trunk. Thunder Strike. The blade sank to the hilt, piercing its tree core.
Lights faded from it's eyes.
DE GUI IS DEAD!
DE GUI! NO! He also owed me sap!
HE OWED EVERYONE SAP! THAT WAS HIS WHOLE PERSONALITY!
He was going to pay me back! Next spring! He promised!
De Gui always promised. De Gui never delivered.
That's what made him De Gui.
[Defeated: Royal Guard — De Gui (520 years cultivation) ]
[EXP Gained: +100]
[Breakthrough Progress: 991 / 1280 → 1091 / 1280]
One down. Six to go.
The second Guard, the one who'd been complaining about De Gui's debt and also the one Geng Lei owed, let out a roar through his spiritual senses.
YOU! YOU KILLED MY DEBTOR! WHO WILL PAY ME NOW?!
It attacked with reckless abandon, branches swinging wildly, no technique at all just pure rage.
Lu Chen ducked under the first swing, dodged the second, and took the third on his shoulder. His thick skin, rather Iron Hide held.
Got him! I got him!
You barely scratched him!
It's more than you've done!
Lu Chen's eyes narrowed. The angry ones always make mistakes. He waited for the next wild swing, stepped into it instead of away, and drove his sword up through the branch and into the tree core.
QIAN DE! NO!
He was so close to collecting that debt!
Decades of waiting! Gone like a puff of smoke!
At least now he can collect from them in the circle of reincarnation.
And somewhere beyond time and space, in a realm that no living cultivator had ever lived, a very strange accounting session was being held.
The circle of reincarnation had seen many things. Samsara. Karma. The endless cycle of birth and death.
But it had never seen a debt collection dispute quite like this.
[Defeated: Royal Guard — Qian De (550 years cultivation) ]
[EXP Gained: +100]
[Progress: 1091 / 1280 → 1191 / 1280]
Two down. Five to go.
The remaining five Guards abandoned individual attacks and formed a formation
Seven Directions Wooden Execution Array.
Unfortunately it required seven trees to bring out it's true power but they underestimated Lu Chen so now it's adapted to five. Their auras linked through the root network, amplifying each other's earth qi. The pressure in the grove intensified.
He's too fast alone. Together, we crush him.
Agreed. I'll take high.
I'll take low.
I'll take left.
I'll take right.
What about me?
You're backup.
I'm always backup!
Because you're slow. Now fight.
Branches descended from all directions simultaneously. It was a cage of wooden spears designed to leave no escape route, each one saturated with five centuries of earth qi.
Lu Chen's eyes narrowed.
"I can't dodge this".
He dropped low, planted his feet, and raised his sword in a defensive stance.
Iron Mountain Stand.
His blood qi flooded into his arms, reinforcing his guard.
The branches slammed into his sword.
The impact drove him into the earth up to his knees. Dirt exploded outward. The force would have shattered a normal cultivator's bones.
But his thick skin, rather Iron Hide held.
HE BLOCKED IT!
HOW?!
HIS DEFENSE...IT'S NOT BODY TEMPERING LEVEL!
THAT'S BODY FORGING DEFENSE! HOW DOES A BODY TEMPERING 8 HAVE BODY FORGING DEFENSE?!
I DON'T KNOW! BUT HE'S STILL STANDING!
HIT HIM AGAIN!
Before they could react, Lu Chen exploded upward
Phantom Mirage Leap into a spiral path through their formation, severing three branches in one continuous motion.
[Discovered: New Skill — Crimson River Ascent]
[A mid-air assassination technique combining Phantom Mirage Leap with continuous Flowing River Slashes. User becomes a spiral of death. Effectiveness: High. Style: Excessive. ]
OW! OW! OW!
My branches! I grew those for centuries! They were symmetrical! PERFECTLY SYMMETRICAL!
Regenerate later! Kill him now!
But the vain one. Jing Rong. Was too distracted examining his damaged branches, mourning their lost beauty. Lu Chen landed on a branch, ran up it toward the trunk, and drove his sword home. Sent him straight to the circle of reincarnation. Hopefully symmetry awaits him there.
JING RONG! NO!
HE WAS SO VAIN!
AT LEAST DIE FOR A GOOD REASON!
[Defeated: Royal Guard — Jing Rong (600 years cultivation) ]
[EXP Gained: +100]
[Progress: 1191 / 1280 → 1291 / 1280]
[DING!]
[Cultivation Level Up: Body Tempering 8 → Body Tempering 9]
[New EXP Cap: 2560 required for Body Forging]
[Excess EXP: 11 stored]
The warmth exploded through him mid-fight. His meridians expanded. His bones creaked and groaned. They reformed, and grew denser. His blood qi surged with renewed power. Iron Hide strengthened further, taking on a deeper, and more resilient quality.
He flexed his hand. The sword felt lighter. His body felt lighter. The soreness that had been in his joints moments ago now barely registered.
Through the roots, the remaining Guards felt it too.
HIS AURA—
HE JUST BROKE THROUGH! MID-FIGHT!
THAT'S NOT POSSIBLE!
HE'S BODY TEMPERING 9 NOW!
WE'RE SO DEAD!
Three down. Four to go. But these four didn't know what Lu Chen already realized.
They weren't his equals anymore.
The remaining four regrouped, their spiritual senses buzzing with panic.
One Guard, the silent one who hadn't spoken once moved differently. Its branches didn't slash or stab. They probed. Testing. Feeling for openings.
At BT8, that probing had been unnerving. At BT9? It felt like a mosquito circling.
Lu Chen didn't bother with complex tactics this time. He charged straight at the silent Guard. It reacted instantly, it's branches whipping, roots rising, vines shooting but everything seemed slow. Like watching a technique moving through water.
Phantom Mirage Step.
He flowed through the defense like smoke. Thunder Strike. His sword pierced its trunk before it could even register he'd moved.
WHAT—
HE JUST—
HOW—
[Defeated: Royal Guard — Chen Mo (650 years cultivation) ]
[EXP Gained: +53]
[Progress: 11 / 2560 → 64 / 2560]
Four down. Three to go. The remaining Guards stared through their spiritual senses.
He killed Chen Mo in one exchange!
Chen Mo was our strategist!
IT TOOK HIM MINUTES TO KILL THE OTHERS!
HE'S STRONGER NOW! MUCH STRONGER! RUN!
They ran. Lu Chen let them. For about three seconds. Then he moved.
Phantom Mirage Step.
He appeared beside Yong Bei, the one who'd always been backup, and had complained about it for centuries.
The tree's branches flailed wildly without technique or coordination. Just blind panic. Lu Chen sidestepped a wild swing, stepped inside its reach, and drove his sword home to win EXP.
Yong Bei's final thought, went through the roots: ...even in death... still backup...
[Defeated: Royal Guard — Yong Bei (580 years cultivation) ]
[EXP Gained: +47]
[Progress: 64 / 2560 → 111 / 2560]
Five down. Two to go.
The last two Guards ran in oppo
site directions. Smart. One might survive.
Wei Suo—the one who'd complained about fairness, who'd always looked for the easy way pushed his roots to their limit, dragging his massive trunk through the grove at speeds no tree should achieve. He almost made it.
Or he thought he did.
[TO BE CONTINUED...]