Li Yuan launched a surprise attack about 50 meters away from the Flying Serpent’s alert circle, but the serpent circle surrounded the Soul-Nurturing Ancient Spirit Wood by about a hundred meters.
Hence, amidst Li Yuan’s furious burst, in just one second he avoided the attacks from several Flying Serpents and even killed one directly, leaving him less than a hundred meters from the ancient tree.
At this moment, the area that had been relatively quiet, with many craning their necks to watch the great battle above the canyon involving Level 19 Flying Serpents, erupted into complete frenzy.
“Ao~”
“Ao~” The dozens of Flying Serpents on alert around them let out roaring cries that crazily spread in all directions.
Their narrow, sanguine eyes were now fixed deadly on Li Yuan, wishing they could tear him apart and devour him alive without a moment’s hesitation.
Bang! Bang! Bang! These Level 19 Flying Serpents, while roaring, were already charging toward Li Yuan with their massive bodies, trying to stop him.
The spirit tree!
This was not only the guardian task given to them by their three leaders but also their own deep longing.
These Level 19 Flying Serpents were close to becoming Second Rank; they all understood that to break through the constraints of their bloodline and become Second Rank Flying Serpents, they must get permission from the three leaders to eat the strange fruit from the spirit wood.
This exceptional spirit tree was the ‘treasure’ of the entire Flying Serpent tribe.
It must not be lost.
And the short-statured alien in front of them was here to steal it.
No! Not steal!
It was outright robbery!
Oddly, the powerful serpents opposite the ancient tree didn’t rush in a straight line but circled around the Soul-Nurturing Ancient Spirit Wood, maintaining at least a seventy-meter distance as if wary of something.
“Are you panicking?” Li Yuan’s figure was like lightning.
The instant he broke through the defense perimeter, without any pause, his speed soared to a terrifying level, charging directly toward the Soul-Nurturing Ancient Spirit Wood.
Li Yuan didn’t dare to linger.
“Thirteen seconds!!”
“It takes at least five seconds for sound to travel from the bottom of the canyon to the top,” Li Yuan’s eyes were fixed on the three fruits on the Soul-Nurturing Ancient Spirit Wood: “And it’s estimated to take about eight seconds for the two Second Rank Flying Serpents to return to the bottom of the valley.”
“I have about 13 seconds to snatch the Soul-Nurturing Ancient Spirit Fruit and then make my escape,” Li Yuan thought rapidly, pondering in his mind.
Thirteen seconds were the line between life and death.
“Swish!”
Li Yuan’s burst of speed was astonishing, even though his velocity had greatly reduced after the collision with one of the Flying Serpents.
But after a slight adjustment and applying Vigor with Subtlety, his speed once again soared to over a hundred meters per second.
Faster than all the Flying Serpents present, he could even compare with a Level 20 Prime Warrior.
Whether it was treasure stealing or a battle for life and death.
Victory or defeat sometimes hinged on a split second.
In half a second, Li Yuan had once again covered 40 meters, and the Soul-Nurturing Ancient Spirit Wood was now within sight.
Just then.
“Bang~” As Li Yuan entered the vicinity of about 50 meters around the Soul-Nurturing Ancient Spirit Wood, without warning or any sign, his head felt as if it had been struck by a heavy hammer.
He was momentarily stunned, his legs went soft involuntarily, and he almost stumbled to the ground.
His movement speed also sharply decreased.
This was Spiritual Pressure!
“Damn!” Li Yuan was shocked inside; this was something neither he nor Liu Jing had anticipated.
This Soul-Nurturing Ancient Spirit Wood had been releasing a terrifying ‘Spiritual Pressure’ within a certain range all along.
Facing such Spiritual Pressure, even someone with spiritual power as strong as Li Yuan felt as if they had been struck by thunder.
One could imagine the strength of this pressure.
“Ao!”
“Ao~” The dozens of surrounding Flying Serpents, circling roughly sixty meters from the Soul-Nurturing Ancient Spirit Wood, saw that Li Yuan had entered the fifty-meter zone, their eyes filled with wariness, not daring to approach any closer.
Why did they circle a hundred meters around the Soul-Nurturing Ancient Spirit Wood?
It was because they had suffered for it before.
Even in their memory, when the Soul-Nurturing Ancient Spirit Wood was first born, some of the weaker Flying Serpents that carelessly approached too close were literally shaken to death, their consciousness shattered.
Their bodies showed no wounds, yet they died.
Rare Heavenly Materials Treasures are powerful, but the rarer they are, the more dangerous they tend to be.
“These Flying Serpents don’t dare to approach anymore?” Li Yuan noticed this.
His spiritual power was ultimately strong, he had recovered his clarity, and endured the force of the spiritual pressure.
He continued to walk towards the Soul-Nurturing Ancient Spirit Wood.
But most of Li Yuan’s energy had to be used to fend off the Spiritual Pressure, and his speed unconsciously slowed down.
“Spiritual Pressure?”
“A ten-meter-tall Soul-Nurturing Ancient Spirit Wood really is no ordinary entity,” Li Yuan’s eyes revealed shock and joy: “Previously, our Seven Stars human civilization had never recorded a ‘Soul-Nurturing Ancient Spirit Wood’ being so special.”
“Could it be a Fourth Rank treasure?”
On his first descent into Flying Serpent Valley, Li Yuan had suspected it to be a Fourth Rank treasure, but it was more of a comforting thought than true belief.
Now? Li Yuan felt it might indeed be a Fourth Rank treasure.
At the very least, judging from the current signs, its effects should far exceed the ordinary Soul-Nurturing Ancient Spirit Fruit.
“Strange, with my near Level 29 spiritual power and Level 30 willpower, I’m still finding it difficult; how did the Flying Serpents approach the Soul-Nurturing Ancient Spirit Wood before?” Li Yuan gritted his teeth as he endured and kept approaching.
Logically, Flying Serpents that hadn’t broken through should only be at Life Level 19, their spiritual power and willpower couldn’t be too strong. Read exclusive chapters at m v l e m p y r
There were only two possibilities.
First, this was the Soul-Nurturing Ancient Spirit Wood’s first fruit-bearing.
Second, once the Soul-Nurturing Ancient Spirit Fruits truly matured, this terrifying Spiritual Pressure would dissipate, or at least, its power would diminish greatly.
“These Flying Serpents can only watch me steal the treasure,” Li Yuan’s mind was racing, but his body didn’t dare to relax even slightly.
At this moment, every second was critical.
Seconds ticked by.
The hissing roars of the Flying Serpents echoed continuously.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
More Flying Serpents, sensing the disturbance, swiftly swooped down from the caves on either side of the cliff.
The number of Flying Serpents gathered at the bottom of the canyon surged, yet none dared to approach the Soul-Nurturing Ancient Spirit Wood.
Moreover, most of the Flying Serpents still in the caves were only about Level 15, with fairly ordinary strength.
“Ao!”
“Ao~” The dozens of Level 19 Flying Serpents at the very front were anxiously hissing, conveying their resolve but still not daring to come close.
In their subconscious, the spiritual pressure was too tormenting, and the overpowering presence was so strong that even their three leaders would find it difficult to break through directly.
Let alone them.
…
Above the canyon, on the cliff, thousands of Flying Serpents were frantically attacking Liu Jing.
Especially the two Second Rank Flying Serpents, fully unleashing their power, their bodies enshrouded in a hazy blue glow like azure dragons, appeared even more terrifying.
“Roar!” The two Second Rank Flying Serpents roared as they flapped their wings time after time, swinging their claws, and occasionally opened their gaping maws wide, trying to rip Liu Jing to shreds or even swallow him whole.
The explosive power of the Second Rank Flying Serpents was incomparable to that of the First Rank.
Huge rocks shattered thunderously as if they were simply tofu.
Boom! Boom! Countless pieces of rubble fell.
“Swoosh!” “Swoosh! Swoosh!” Luminous blades rose above the cliff, flames flowing on the blades, indicating terrifying lethality.
“Pfft!” Liu Jing’s eyes were ice-cold as he swung his saber swiftly.
And down plunged the corpse of a First Rank Flying Serpent.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Liu Jing’s Combat Saber was as ferocious as fire, and his movements as swift as the wind. He avoided the pounce of the two Second Rank Flying Serpents time after time.
“Second Rank Flying Serpents are truly troublesome. Although they are far weaker than me, the Origin Power protecting their bodies, combined with their massive size, means I can’t directly kill them for the moment,” Liu Jing frowned.
When it came to skills, the speed of his explosive power, or the robustness of his Origin Power, Liu Jing greatly surpassed both Second Rank Flying Serpents.
He tormented them time and again.
But due to their Origin Power shield and the large body size of the Flying Serpents, even after being attacked and injured by Liu Jing repeatedly, they were able to hold on.
The most crucial point was.
The Second Rank Flying Serpents could fly and might escape into the sky if they were not careful… and Liu Jing did not want to ascend onto their bodies.
To do so might allow him to quickly kill them, but the risk was also great, and he could likely be severely injured himself.
“If this goes on, my Origin Power will be completely exhausted,” Liu Jing’s eyes narrowed slightly.
Fighting in place, whether dodging or attacking, he couldn’t afford to spare his Origin Power. One misstep could cause severe injury, naturally leading to high consumption.
“Where is Li Yuan? So much time has passed, has he not succeeded yet?” Liu Jing wondered, “Could something have gone wrong?”
He was concerned for Li Yuan’s safety.
Suddenly.
“Roar~” “Roar~” A series of sharp and piercing roars erupted from the valley below, resonating through the Vast Sky.
In an instant.
The two Second Rank Flying Serpents immediately stopped their attacks on Liu Jing, their eyes filled with bloodlust.
They were highly intelligent, rivaling ordinary humans, and immediately realized that they had been lured away by a feint.
Their home had been stolen.
“Ao~”
“Ao~” The two Second Rank Flying Serpents roared with endless fury in their voices, their dragon-like tails swinging to adjust their massive bodies as they dove toward the depths of the clouds in Flying Serpent Valley.
This roar was also a command.
“Ao~”
“Ao~” The thousands of Flying Serpents trying to attack Liu Jing from various directions along the cliffside also began hissing.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Hundreds upon hundreds of Flying Serpents spread their wings and dived toward the fog below, and for a moment, the sky looked as though it was raining dumplings.
But what fell was not dumplings—it was Flying Serpents!
“Did he make his move?” Liu Jing instantly understood.
Li Yuan must have acted, maybe even already seized the Soul-Nurturing Ancient Spirit Fruit… Otherwise, these Flying Serpents would not be so frantic, completely ignoring their own safety.
Boom!
Liu Jing, just half a beat behind, leaned forward slightly, and as he tilted downward, his legs exploded with power, and like a meteor, he dashed towards the bottom of the canyon.
Boom! Boom! Liu Jing’s speed was so fierce that he even seemed a bit faster than the two Flying Serpents.
“Hold on.”
“Li Yuan, you must hold on,” Liu Jing focused intently, silently urging in his heart.
The entire plan’s first phase was for Liu Jing to withstand the attack of so many Flying Serpents.
The second phase’s key was for Li Yuan to withstand the siege of a large number of Flying Serpents.
…
At the bottom of the canyon, the spiritual pressure from the Soul-Nurturing Ancient Spirit Wood was astounding.
But relying on his own nearly Flying Heaven Warrior-level spiritual power, Li Yuan braved this terrifying pressure and, taking about five seconds, covered sixty meters, and reached the Soul-Nurturing Ancient Spirit Wood.
Without a moment’s pause.
Puff! Puff! Puff!
In a flash, Li Yuan’s figure shot up, his arms exerting force as he climbed the tree, and swiftly plucked the three yet-to-ripen ‘Soul-Nurturing Ancient Spirit Fruit,’ tucking them into his Battle Garment.
Success was in hand.
“Time to escape for my life,” Li Yuan glanced around, immediately realizing how dire his situation was.