Chapter 667
Chapter 667 - 647: The Big Tree
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7 min read
The group of people in the caravan were tired and tired, and anxiety and anxiety made people’s physical and spiritual strength doubly consumed.
However, when they really entered the camp, they heard laughter and voices... The dense and familiar footsteps made people feel at ease.
"Welcome, welcome, welcome to all of you from the ancient city. Unfortunately, you are not at the right time. The scenery here is usually good, but your arrival means that today is our good time ...."
There were no slogans or welcome signs, but these familiar ancient city accents immediately put people at ease... Yet the few people in the team who had "boarded the wrong ship" showed subtle expressions.
Naturally, the first priority was to find out what the hell was going on with the fire.
"It’s nothing, a tree died."
When this answer came out, everyone was a bit dumbfounded. Was this just about a tree?
Lu Ping’an, on the other hand, nodded thoughtfully.
He figured out what that strange feeling along the way was. All those burning trees seemed to have their life force connected to each other, and the flames were conducted from below.
Moreover, this forest was too quiet, and Lu Ping’an’s party had not even picked up any animal corpses along the way.
Looking around, Lu Ping’an didn’t even see any other low plants like bushes, as if the whole forest only contained the burning firewood... Either it was a single plant forest, or other plants had already burned out first, leaving only this special plant to burn longer.
"We call it the ’great forest wood’, this entire forest is the body of a single plant... What’s exposed on the outside is similar to shrub branches, and the roots below are connected."
"It doesn’t seem to have died a natural death, right?" Lu Ping’an casually asked. In fact, he had already guessed what had probably happened, and in a sense, it was a bit related to him.
The middle-aged man leading the other party shook his head with a bitter smile.
"A while ago, we were annoyed by this forest and how fast it grew, so we went to find the teachers of the Ninth Vocational High..."
They naturally thought of weeding because the forest was annoying, and in this regard, the most professional people were the gardeners. This was within their area of expertise, but the most efficient and talented people were those who controlled the fiery elements... Destruction was always easier than creation.
"Our initial experiments were a failure. No matter what kind of fire, it could only burn a small area, although the efficiency was high, it would recover in a few days..." The speaker was a middle-aged man wearing black frame glasses. Lu Ping’an had seen his picture on the advertising board of the Ninth Vocational High, and his last name seemed to be Zhang, a Decree-level flame master.
When Lu Ping’an was seeking knowledge, he found that their entire group had been invited away.
"... Then, our gardeners found that their life forces were connected, and it seemed that there was some faint connection. We concentrated our strength and used a powerful ’Self-Ignition Curse’ on one target and successfully released it. As a result, it was a conceptual level of self-burning..."
So, naturally, this whole "forest" was burnt to the ground.
"Uh, perfect suicide..." Someone muttered, and the scene suddenly became a bit subtle.
"It’s all right, it’s all right. It’s been burning for four days, and our gardeners have observed that its life force is almost exhausted. I think it should be fine after burning for two more days..."
A large body does not necessarily mean high levels of life. When facing a conceptual level of self-ignition curse, converting its huge life force into firewood would cause it to burn even more fiercely and for longer.
Unfortunately, the original campsite couldn’t be used before the fire was completely extinguished... After all, the curse was spreading from its core.
And if the fire was really extinguished, could the camp still be used?
"Is the curse caster still alive..."
Obviously, this was an out-of-control result. Conceptual and rule-based curses generally require some connection between the two.
Since the big forest wood hadn’t died yet, the source casters naturally had to bear the backlash of the curse.
In a sense, both sides had become the players in a tug of war on the edge of a cliff, with the loser falling into the abyss.
"...They’re fine, at least they’re alive, but they may not be for much longer."
Fortunately, they cast the spell together, and the curse backlash was also shouldered by everyone... Now it’s a matter of who can hold out longer, whether it’s the tree or the person that dies first.
Rule-based and conceptual abilities are always double-edged swords. Either they don’t work, or if they do, they often mean some sort of "absolute priority", which naturally comes with higher risks and costs.
Why not interrupt? I’m afraid when this curse was designed, no one had considered the situation where "it’s burning, but it’s not burning up."
Alternatively, the curse might simply be out of control, but in fact, there is no essential difference; they’re all bizarre scenarios created by a tug of war with life.
From the looks of it, there’s a high chance that the tree will die first, but if one or two of the casters can’t hold on, it could also cause a chain reaction and an avalanche.
And in this level of conceptual struggle, outsiders are usually unable to interfere, but now, it’s not "usually"....
"I have a special self-healing ability that should work."
At this point, Lu Ping’an took the initiative to stand up.
Whether it was to leave a good impression on his future teacher or to take the initiative as an explorer, Lu Ping’an didn’t plan to hide.
Besides, what profession is more popular and protected than being a "healer" when traveling?
"Really?" The teacher was immediately overjoyed.
Not long after Lu Ping’an hurriedly followed Teacher Zhang inside, while the others were still busy with their tasks, suddenly, the outer fire became much more intense.
Instantly, the heat wave struck, making it hard for everyone to bear.
And after the initial shock and burning sensation, everyone reacted.
This should be good news. The stronger the fire, the stronger the effect of "Self-Ignition Curse".
Right after, Teacher Zhang, who was overjoyed, led the several flame-system teachers who had been lying down to come out, which naturally confirmed that everything was improving.
"... How can this be? Just a few hours ago, they couldn’t even move."
"What kind of healing ability is so outrageous...?"
"It may not be a healing ability of the healer category at all. In this level of soul confrontation, healers who can only treat the body are of very limited help, our healer said he basically couldn’t help much."
"It’s probably rule-based, healing type... Look, their spirits have also recovered, which is very unusual."
As people were discussing, the fire grew even stronger.
Meanwhile, the teachers who had been lying down for several days were excitedly moving around. The better their condition, the faster the tree would die.
And Lu Ping’an, for the first time as a healer, made his appearance before the ancient city’s explorers.
— End of Chapter 667 —