Ye Zhongming was still perched on the shoulder of the level-eight Zombie Ape, giving him the best vantage point. He saw that the figure rushing into the pit was none other than the fully crystallized Death King Tree.
While at Cloud Peak, she had been steadily progressing toward becoming fully human. Now, the tree-like body encasing her had thinned to a mere layer, and perhaps it wouldn’t be long before she fully possessed a human form.
However, both Liu Zhenghong and Ye Zhongming understood that for her to have a body identical to a human’s truly, or to fully become human, she would need to evolve to level nine. Only then could the power of evolution break through the innate limitations of her physical structure.
The Death King Tree herself was also aware of this.
But evolving to level nine was no easy feat.
The Royal Water Ghost Vines had seemingly met the conditions to easily evolve to level nine, breaking through the barriers. However, this was a special case, tied to their rapid evolution and the massive number of monsters present.
It would undoubtedly be powerful once it reached level nine—neither the monster army nor Cloud Peak’s forces could handle it. However, its strength would not be exceptional among level-nine beings, as its accumulation was lacking, and its understanding of space and energy was rushed.
Yet, if any mutated lifeforms were given the choice, they would all choose to evolve to level nine as quickly as possible, even if it meant taking shortcuts.
This was exactly what the Death King Tree was doing now.
In the end, she couldn’t resist. She ventured out alone and disobeyed orders. Judging by the timing, she must have made her move when the Ghost Vines began their evolution and were caught in the crossfire.
Now, the pit wasn’t just occupied by the Death King Tree—it was also filled with monsters.
To secure the Ghost Vines’ roots, she had already taken action upon entering, extending numerous tendrils from her crystalline body to pierce and kill the surrounding monsters.
For the monsters, who currently held the advantage, this was undoubtedly provocation.
Moreover, from the monsters’ perspective, although the Ghost Vines were different from them, the roots of a lifeform on the verge of evolving to level nine—or perhaps already at level nine—were of great value. The Death King Tree’s actions were no different from snatching food from a tiger’s mouth.
The lifeform commanding the monster army from the shadows issued another command, and the monsters around the pit immediately attacked the Death King Tree.
Having just faced a half-step level-nine Ghost Vine without fear, they certainly weren’t afraid of the Death King Tree, who was still at level eight.
“Get back here now!”
Ye Zhongming frowned, raising his gun to provide cover while ordering the Brain Child to have the remaining zombies take the initiative to distract the monsters around the pit.
However, he soon lost sight of the Death King Tree. The pit was instantly filled with monsters, and even more were charging toward the Cloud Peak battle formation.
Ye Zhongming had no choice but to retreat with the Brain Child and the giant Zombie Ape. Even high-level beings could be in danger when facing a tidal wave of enemies.
But just a few seconds later, Ye Zhongming stopped, cursing under his breath. His eyes turned pitch black, and mysterious, faint patterns emerged on his skin.
He had activated his bloodline!
Those familiar with Ye Zhongming knew that when he activated his bloodline, it meant he was going all out.
The Cloud Peak forces, seeing Ye Zhongming suddenly leap off the Zombie Ape’s shoulder and charge toward the monster army, were thrown into chaos. It wasn’t until Ye Zhongming’s voice came through the Battle Contribution Badge that the order was restored.
“Proceed according to the original plan. Follow Xia Lei’s commands. I’m going to rescue the Death King Tree.”
Earlier, even when he saw the Death King Tree surrounded, Ye Zhongming had confidence in her.
The Death King Tree was one of Earth’s veteran level-eight beings. Within Cloud Peak, only Ye Zhongming, Red Hair, and Yangos were on the same level. Even Yellow Ball and Xia Bai were slightly inferior.
Her ability, Heaven Nature, was particularly effective against groups of enemies. Ye Zhongming estimated that the Death King Tree would account for around 200,000 kills this time.
That’s why he had retreated with the Brain Child—he was confident that the Death King Tree, who dreamed of becoming human, could escape.
But then, Ye Zhongming received a message from the Death King Tree: she was about to evolve.
The Death King Tree’s evolution was different from the Ghost Vines’. Hers required hibernation!
Evolving to level nine at this critical moment, surrounded by a sea of monsters—was there anything more unfortunate than this?
Yet, Ye Zhongming couldn’t abandon her. Although the Death King Tree never explicitly said it and wasn’t anyone’s battle pet, both Cloud Peak’s members and the Death King Tree herself considered her a part of Cloud Peak. She had even claimed a section of Cloud Peak’s back mountain, where Ye Zhongming had built her a beautiful woodland cabin, which she called her home. When she wasn’t in the lab, she was there.
Such a member was someone Ye Zhongming would never abandon.
Xia Lei pushed aside her worries and began issuing orders one by one. She knew that the more monsters Cloud Peak eliminated, the more they could alleviate the pressure on Ye Zhongming.
Over half of the evolved began repositioning, moving to the front lines. They carried ranged weapons.
These evolved weren’t ranged job users—they were simply ranged troops. Around 30,000 of them held crystal firearms, while the rest carried regular firearms, crossbows, and similar weapons.
Ye Zhongming had processed each weapon and its ammunition. While the weapons averaged around silver grade, the ammunition was lower, mostly white-grade.
Their power couldn’t compare to that of the shooting squad, but their mission was different. The shooting squad specialized in sniping high-level monsters, while these ranged troops would form a firepower net, inflicting wide-area damage)on the monsters and halting their charge. They aimed to win through sheer volume.
The evolved wielding crystal weapons carried at least 200 backup demon crystals, while those with firearms and crossbows had ammunition measured in crates.
As Ye Zhongming boldly charged into the monster horde, causing a section of the monsters to stall and fall into chaos, the rest of the monster army quickly spread past Ye Zhongming, engulfing the King of Cloud Peak and surging toward the battle formation.
Once they entered the firing range, Cloud Peak’s ranged troops opened fire!
For a time, the sounds of gunfire and the twang of bowstrings became the battlefield’s main theme.
Magic crystal energy, metal bullets, and various arrows formed a massive hammer that seemed to cover the battlefield’s cross-section. With a swing, it smashed down on the monster army.
The first wave of monsters, numbering over ten thousand, was shattered by this ‘giant hammer.’ Their bodies exploded, blood dyeing the vision of all living beings.
The direct clash between Cloud Peak and the monsters had begun in this manner.