Death… And Me

Chapter 3622: Easy?

Roots, roots, roots everywhere. They went up, down, right, left, back and forward. Everyone tried to prioritize the roots that went as high as possible, using them as vantage points of view to decide where to go next. Sometimes, they had to go back to the ground; others, they pressed forward in between the roots.

Consedu’s words proved true so far. They weren’t attacked by anything, and since they hadn’t found the next region, the roots also didn’t make a move against any of them.

”Consedu, how long did it take for you to cross this region back then?” Someone asked him. They know some regions can even take months to cross, so it was better to have an idea.

Consedu nodded. ”For me and my group, it took us three months and a half. But we didn’t move in a straight line. We often had to make many detours as the paths ahead were just too complicated to follow or outright blocked. The good thing is that I know more or less how these roots spread, so I can avoid such blocked paths much better, even if not completely. We should be able to make it to the crossing in two months and something.”

”But do we want to get there? Back when you came to this place, you didn’t have your cultivation suppressed. Still, seven members of your group died. What about now? A place that could kill Divinity Realm experts with their full power is not something we can mess with.”

”Are you an idiot?” Werkel asked in response. ”Did you forget how the palace works? It always regulates itself to match the experts’ strengths. Since our cultivation is suppressed to the Transition Realm, the roots should have power equivalent to that, too.”

”It doesn’t change the fact it will be dangerous,” Consedu said. ”I hope we find the Light Green Cocoon first. Sure, we can give it a try and see if we can cross the killing roots area. But don’t try too much. Initially, it will feel quite easy to avoid or defend against the roots, but the further you enter their area, the harder it becomes. Their power increases, their numbers multiply, and they gain various abilities, especially energy and life absorption.”

’Hey, these roots might actually be your siblings, Celis,’ Kentucky commented.

’I’ve never been the only plant race capable of high-level absorption, nor will we be the last,’ Celis commented, not surprised at all that the roots could do such things.

The group continued to follow Consedu, and his experience proved very useful. Sometimes, he took directions that, from afar, didn’t look to make much sense. But further away, some of those blocked places, where the roots were too high, were being avoided. It didn’t work every single time, but everyone agreed Consedu was doing a great job.

As he mentioned, two months passed. So far, their group had found almost three hundred Dark Green Cocoons. Once in a while, someone tried something different against those Cocoons just to see if they could perhaps destroy one of them. Naturally, nothing worked, so they could only follow Consedu further ahead.

Still, every time they passed by those Dark Green Cocoons, Rifindio’s senses towards them increased. The last ten ones felt almost like the Cocoons were talking to him, which made him think he was going crazy already. Even Celis, such a powerful Demon Plant, couldn’t hear anything.

He is a Camazotz Bat, although a mutated one. His abilities and such had absolutely nothing to do with earth, wood, or water elements, which were the things you would expect from plant life.

Then, when their group went up on another one of those higher-placed roots, Consedu finally saw something different. The horizon’s color changed, even if just slightly. There is no such thing as day and night in this place, so the sky, if you could call it that, had always been a hazy brown color.

”We are getting near there,” Consedu warned everyone. ”The horizon’s color seems slightly purple in the distance, a sign that the next region is getting close. From here onwards, the roots might come to life and attack you, so be careful. Don’t forget the placement of regions changes every time the Golden Palace opens, and some regions aren’t even used. Thus, I don’t know what to expect in the next region either.”

Everyone’s expression turned serious, and they now didn’t really need Consedu to guide them, as there was no way they could get lost. Nonetheless, they stuck together, now moving a lot slower, taking hours to cover what they did in half of the time before.

From the looks of the roots, they all looked the same. But Consedu told them that the roots that attacked his group back then were also just like that. They looked exactly the same... until they didn’t.

*Vup!*

Suddenly, a small gap appeared between two giant roots, so small it was almost imperceptible. From there, another root shot out, moving so fast that any normal Transition Realm expert usually wouldn’t be able to react in time.

Fortunately, every single Transition Realm expert here was actually a much stronger expert with their own laws available to use. The guy who was targeted noticed a change on his side, and without even looking, a small red sphere appeared, and a firewall materialized almost instantly.

*BANG!*

Fire laws, Divine Energy, and Fire Element burnt brightly, blocking the root in its path.

*Tssssss!!!*

Yet, to his surprise, a green light appeared around the root, shielding it against his firewall’s power, breaking through it a second later.

”Shit!”

He jumped back, increasing the Divine Energy infused into the little red sphere. A Dragon made of Fire shot out of it, bitting that root with much more strength. Finally, the green light couldn’t protect the root enough, and it burned from the inside, dying.

He sighed in relief for a moment, but then...

”Don’t drop your guard!” Consedu warned him, but it was too late.

*Puft!*

Another vine came out of nowhere, piercing through his abdomen and going straight for the man’s Dantian. He was lucky, though. Everyone was sticking together, making sure they were covering all sides. The moment that root pierced him, Werkel, who was the one closest, slashed with his saber.

*Swish!*

Werkel saw the power of that root earlier, so he didn’t hold back. Thanks to that, he cut the root off, and the guy who was injured pulled the remaining root out of his body. There was more; the guy could feel the Wood and Earth Laws inside that root, as well as some kind of poison. He had to use even more energy to push everything out, and only then he managed to stabilize himself.

”How are you, Granfil?” Werkel asked the guy.

Granfil nodded, wiping the blood off his mouth. ”I-I’m fine. I didn’t notice that other root appearing at all. It was like it even avoided the fire laws I spread around me.” He then took a pill, and the injury on his body quickly recovered.

”This is just the start,” Consedu warned again. ”Those were just tiny roots, and we are still far from the area where they really become a problem. Get ready, because things will get really dangerous. Do you see these giant roots we used to walk on all the way here? They will be the ones that will come after you later, and they won’t be any slower.”

”Didn’t you say it would look easy at the start?” Xonhei asked, skeptical.

Consedu bitterly smiled. ”This is the easy part.”