Chapter 467
Chapter 467 - 447 Awakening and Destruction (Third Update)
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10 min read
"We found a high pollution area... In your words, it’s the source of mutation, possibly the Wolf King’s den. Are you interested in checking it out?"
Lu Ping’an approached Knight Ben and handed him a messy drawn map.
"This shows all the detected sources of pollution. Understanding their intensity should be helpful for you guys."
Even for the battle-hardened Knight Ben, hearing that the map was full of pollution sources made his hand tremble, almost dropping the map.
"Impossible... There’s no way there could be so many." He initially exclaimed loudly but quickly lowered his voice, whispering to Lu Ping’an. "It doesn’t make sense that there could be so many."
"If you ask me, who am I supposed to ask? Maybe your lord would have a more accurate answer." Lu Ping’an shrugged his shoulders, clueless and without any solution, as he was just a teenager.
The Knight Commander took a deep breath, gripped his spear tightly, silently glanced at Lu Ping’an, and then started to move into action.
"Get up, we have a mission! Put on your equipment, not the usual set but the spare one. Lazybones, get up!"
Soon enough, the knights were ready, leaving only a small group behind to watch the camp.
Indeed, it didn’t take long – about ten minutes – for them to reach the spot on the map.
"I can’t understand it. How could we have not noticed this place so close by?" Not only were the knights baffled, but even Lu Ping’an and his group also doubted whether their Spirit Vision and Spirit Perception had malfunctioned.
But at that place, aside from towering trees and a small creek where the beasts were drinking water, there was nothing peculiar.
"Madame Feng?"
She stepped forward and once again opened her third eye. The next moment, she sighed helplessly and sat back down.
However, her right hand pointed forward to where everyone was looking.
There was a lush, dense and sturdy forest, with trees over a hundred meters tall, believed to be centuries old.
They were near the creek, surrounded by animals drinking water at their feet.
"Spirit Vision."
Those with abilities opened their eyes one by one, and the harmonious and beautiful natural scene transformed instantly.
What were thought to be grand trees were actually... a collection of countless twisted faces!
Black resentment twisted together, densely packed on the trunks that reached into the sky.
And at their feet, the mixture of blood-red, putrid dark red water formed a nauseating creek, which the animals... demons, were happily savoring.
Suddenly, the wind stopped and the branches ceased to sway with it.
Drinking animals such as deer, wolves, and rhinos all simultaneously turned their heads. Their eerie green pupils stared straight at the intruders.
Were they still alive? How could their heads twist more than 180 degrees and still stare you dead in the eye?
"Prepare for battle! Knights, form up!"
In the next moment, the Knight Commander’s roar echoed through the night sky.
Although they were frightened, the knight corps’ rigorous and disciplined training allowed them to form up quickly. However, those bizarre beasts went back to drinking water.
A strange scene unfolded. Although these creatures were clearly polluted and mutated, they showed no aggression.
They even made a path for the visitors, leading to the creek... inviting the guests to share the delicious and sweet water source together.
"What on earth has happened in this forest?!"
The knights could no longer keep their calm, discussing amongst themselves without receiving any answers... unlike Lu Ping’an, they felt genuine unease and even fear.
Someone, unable to control their bowstring, shot an arrow and a mutated deer fell to the ground with its head thrown back.
The next moment, as if a signal was activated, all the beasts launched their attacks.
Charging, colliding, falling... They were all weaker than expected, just slightly stronger than ordinary herbivores.
This senseless war lasted less than a minute before it came to an end. This time, without the Wolf King’s cry, not one of them escaped.
They just quietly charged, fought, and fell to the ground.
The losers turned to dust and returned to the Earth, while the winners looked bewildered, still in a daze.
Especially Captain Ben, who had no idea what had happened in the forest during these few "Long Night" months, making the outer part of the forest he had visited countless times feel so unfamiliar.
"...It’s those trees! Attack!"
The knights hesitated, but under the old Captain’s glaring eyes, they hurriedly launched a new round of attacks.
But... it was ineffective.
Flames burned away the tree’s outer skin, yet it regenerated in the blink of an eye. The tree didn’t fight back and didn’t need to.
The incredible concentration of pollution radiation stood there silently, so stable that one couldn’t help but wonder if past Night Watchmen’s textbooks were wrong.
"This, is a Magic Plant..."
Xia Qin asked, looking at Lu Ping’an, and the others also looked over... In their eyes, Lu Ping’an was indeed an expert in Magic Plants.
Lu Ping’an, however, shook his head directly. Even for him, he had a little common sense.
"No, this is not a Magic Plant or even a plant at all. It is a highly static pollution leakage. It is... never mind, I am not sure yet. Let’s talk about it later."
Is he unsure? Lu Ping’an actually already had an answer, but that result might be unbearable for many people.
"Your Excellency, we need some time to deal with this."
"Can you handle it?"
"...Probably not, but we can try. We can try to return it to the earth."
At these words, Lu Ping’an’s expression became more subtle, still going through with this, huh?
Previously, Lu Ping’an had seen the sealing skills used twice and was shocked by its function – once sealing ordinary pollution onto the Sealing Object, and the other time was in the current situation.
The knights gathered around the tree and started to recite hymns, but this time, instead of praising or proclaiming any of the seven Main Gods, it was the name of a strange deity.
"Compassionate and generous Mother of All Things, forever loving and embracing your children in your sleep, your children devoutly pray to you..."
Pale green lights lit up one by one, forming a halo around that small grove.
It was the Earth Mother Sealing Skill, the highest and simplest power among the sealing skills.
Pollutants need to be sealed in "something" to be stable... but are there so many objects in this world that can be used as a basis for sealing?
For some higher-level pollution, it is impossible to find suitable sealing objects from the beginning, so what should be done?
"...With your boundless heart, seal the evil and chaotic existence, with your firm will, appease the endless restlessness of chaos..."
What the knights are doing now is the answer.
Earth Mother Gena, the Eighth Main God, or the First Main God.
She is the eighth one who is very normal among the seven Main Gods that Lu Ping’an mentioned earlier, and also the one who has disappeared for hundreds of years from the Main Gods... If it weren’t for her power still being usable, many people would think that she has really fallen.
She is the Earth God and also the incarnation of the earth.
The pale green light is her power. She... the earth is the endless and vast ultimate sealing object.
The halo has formed, and it binds and drags the forest, trying to return it to the earth... return it to the earth once again.
For thousands, or even tens of thousands of years, the supernatural ability users of this world have been living in happiness like this.
After defeating the pollution, they only need to use the power of the Earth God to permanently seal it in the limitless earth... This is the fundamental reason why this place has always remained a low-pollution-like world. The majority of pollution has been buried in the earth.
Simple, safe, and effective, except for the ability and number of people required for the user, it is an omnipotent power and a profitable deal...
"... This damned world, there are no Masters who can get a harvest without having to pay, when the bill comes and has to be settled, the price secretly given by fate may be too expensive to bear, even if you sell everything..."
But Lu Ping’an silently watched everything in front of him. His past amazement and love for the Earth Sealing Skill had been completely replaced by another emotion.
Fear? Anxiety? Or regret?
There was an explosion, and the knights fell to the ground. The next moment, the forest suddenly swelled up several meters... The sealing had failed, fortunately, the forest did not attack.
Ben, sitting on the ground, was a little discouraged, feeling that his group was probably not enough.
Perhaps they should bring the whole Knight Corps over, and then they might be able to seal one by one... But thinking about the dozens of points on that small map, he felt his scalp tingle.
"Maybe, I’m really getting old..."
But Lu Ping’an knew that even if the Knight Corps called over more people, even if you called the World Rules-level Sealing Skill experts from your world, this Earth Sealing Skill would still fail.
"... It’s already full down there, overflowing, and you’re still trying to stuff it down, it’s strange that it can be stuffed at all..."
Yes, in Lu Ping’an’s eyes, this is not a Magic Plant at all, not even some out-of-control pollution... It is still in a sealed state, stable and firm, silent and patient.
"Heh, this is not some Magic Plant at all, this is... hair, the hair of the earth and even the planets."
This is the answer.
If someone could see the world from the infinitely high starry sky... like those Earth Gods floating in the Foreign Domain, they would see a very exaggerated scene.
Valastalod, the once-beautiful planet, has grown countless "spikes," some long, some short, some crazy, some stable.
And without exception, they are all "tree sprouts" that emerge from the ground... Perhaps the entire planet is "sprouting."
But sometimes, intuition is more effective than perception and knowledge, and Lu Ping’an’s subconscious guess is actually closer to the truth.
Suddenly, a strange and unsettling fluctuation radiated into the universe.
Many Gods floating in the void involuntarily floated back, because at that moment, they saw the same scene.
It was a face, a funny face... a smiling face that appeared above the planet Valastalod.
"It’s about to wake up."
— End of Chapter 467 —