Sacred Giant Tree
(The third update is finally finished!)
Hearing the whooshing sound behind him, Gu Ding made a decisive move. He spread his fingers wide, and ten black chains shot out from his fingertips, wrapping around the vines behind him.
With the Weakening Shackles applied, the vines' attack speed decreased drastically, Gu Ding to quickly create distance again.
"Your current flames are completely ineffective against this Bloodthirsty Demonic Vine of the God, and you can't attack it at close range, otherwise you'll be torn to shreds in an instant. So, for now, you can only wait it out and wait for Willis to arrive." The Sea Emperor analyzed the current situation. Gu Ding has always had a fiery temper, and he was a little worried that Gu Ding would get impatient with the pursuit and impulsively rush forward to clash with the Bloodthirsty Demonic Vine.
With the Weakening Shackles, the Bloodthirsty Demonic Vine's attack speed was reduced tenfold, now less than 80% of Gu Ding's. Gu Ding deliberately slowed himself down, keeping a distance to prevent it from giving up the chase because he had escaped too far. However Gu Ding also sensed that the Bloodthirsty Demonic Vine's determination to pursue him seemed very strong, because after bypassing two groups of beasts, it did not turn to attack them, but instead followed closely behind him. Given its ferocious nature, the probability of it turning to attack the beasts was high.
"This guy keeps chasing me and every now and then he lets out an angry roar. Does he have a grudge against me?" Gu Ding couldn't help but mutter to himself.
"That's quite possible..." The Sea Emperor seemed to suddenly remember something. "Although I don't have any records of this mutated plant in my database, I know that most mutated plants are extremely difficult to reproduce. Because of this, once they become demonic beasts and gain intelligence, they are extremely protective of their offspring. Moreover, the Bloodthirsty Demonic Vine looks extremely irritable. It's probably an extremely protective creature. I suspect that the Bloodthirsty Demonic Vine you killed in Johnny's territory was its offspring. That's why it Will Projection there and attacked you first. And now it's relentlessly pursuing you."
The Sea Emperor's reasoning does indeed sound somewhat reasonable.
"They've arrived!" The Sea Emperor's voice had barely faded when Gu Ding saw two figures rushing towards them, one after the other—it was Willis and Queen.
The two first saw the Bloodthirsty Demonic Vine vines flailing wildly in this direction from a distance, and then they saw Gu Ding being chased by the Bloodthirsty Demonic Vine.
The two instantly appeared beside Gu Ding. Willis noticed that Gu Ding's black chains were wrapped around the massive body of the Bloodthirsty Demonic Vine. The Bloodthirsty Demonic Vine's aura seemed to have weakened considerably. Without asking further questions, he produced a giant golden axe, gripped the handle with both hands, and began to slash wildly without restraint.
After the giant axe was swung, a golden blade of light shot out from its blade. Originally only a few tens of centimeters long, the blade of light spread rapidly in the void like ripples on water, eventually growing to several thousand meters before crashing into the Bloodthirsty Demonic Vine.
Strangely, the Bloodthirsty Demonic Vine seemed unconcerned about being attacked, and countless vines continued to strangle Gu Ding.
Willis found this a bit strange, but didn't think too much about it and let out a loud roar in the direction of the vines, "Roar!"
A sonic wave, sharp as a blade, swept out, slicing through the vines that were reaching towards Gu Ding, instantly snapping them in two.
At the same time, the giant axe's blade struck the Bloodthirsty Demonic Vine, the terrifying power of High-rank God unleashed directly through the enormous vine, piercing through it. The Bloodthirsty Demonic Vine's body slammed heavily into the ground.
Logically speaking, a deity struck by such an attack from High-rank God should be utterly dead. But strangely, the Bloodthirsty Demonic Vine didn't seem to suffer fatal damage; its injuries were healing at a visible speed, and it even retreated directly into the ground.
Seeing the Bloodthirsty Demonic Vine try to escape again using the same trick, Willis unleashed several axe strikes, all of which landed on the Bloodthirsty Demonic Vine, causing it to let out a piercing scream.
As it fled, several more vines shot out, heading straight for Gu Ding. It seemed determined not to give up easily.
Willis swung his giant axe, severing several more vines, and then appeared beside Gu Ding in a flash. He asked with some surprise, "Gu Ding, what did you do to it? Why does it keep attacking you?"
"Perhaps it's because I killed another Bloodthirsty Demonic Vine..." Gu Ding then recounted the Sea Emperor's earlier speculation.
"Your guess is probably right. I have a friend who has studied this mutated organism. This plant contains a strange phytoestrogen, similar to progesterone in humans, which greatly stimulates its protective instincts towards its offspring." Willis nodded; he finally understood the whole story.
Meanwhile, the Bloodthirsty Demonic Vine had already burrowed more than 10,000 meters underground, and the Weakening Shackles that Gu Ding had placed on it automatically dissipated because they had exceeded the range of the Weakening Shackles.
This made Gu Ding frown slightly, and he looked at Willis with some curiosity. "Uncle, logically speaking, your attack just now should have been enough to kill it, so why was it able to escape so quickly?"
"It was the same the first time. I also found it strange. No matter what, my attack shouldn't be something a peak five-star god could withstand. That guy's Combat Strength is at most a two-star god. Although the Bloodthirsty Demonic Vine has energy spheres at its roots, it shouldn't have had time to recover from the intensity of my attack before it perished. I can't figure out what methods he used..." The first time Willis was escaped by this guy, it was the same scene as just now. His attack was clearly enough to kill the opponent, but the opponent just didn't die.
"I think I've found the reason!" The Sea Emperor's voice suddenly came from Gu Ding's ear. "That guy's roots connect the roots of the vast majority of plants in the entire forest. Fighting it is equivalent to fighting all the plants in the entire forest. To truly kill it, unless the entire forest is destroyed, its vitality will be endless."
As the Sea Emperor spoke, it directly imprinted several photos into Gu Ding's brain, photos that it had taken underground itself.
In the photos, countless roots were intertwined, making it impossible to distinguish which were vines and which were other plants. Gu Ding frowned as he looked at them. However, a few photos caught Gu Ding's attention. They showed a type of golden root, and the black roots of the Bloodthirsty Demonic Vine seemed to be deliberately avoiding it.
Noticing that Gu Ding was repeatedly examining the picture of the golden roots, the Sea Emperor finally spoke, "These golden roots are the roots of the Sacred Tree, and also the only High-rank God plant on this planet. Although the Bloodthirsty Demonic Vine is connected to the roots of many other plants, it dares not overstep its bounds in front of the Sacred Tree. Therefore, if you want to win this time, you must have the help of the Sacred Tree."
After listening to the Sea Emperor's explanation, Gu Ding turned to Willis and asked, "Uncle, is there a Sacred Tree on this planet?"
"That's right, it's a giant tree that's 3.6 billion years old, and it's also the plant of a High-rank God. Why are you suddenly asking about this?" Willis asked, somewhat puzzled.
"That giant tree should be able to understand our language, right?" Gu Ding then asked.
"Of course he can understand, but it's no use even if he understands. It's not like the Bloodthirsty Demonic Vine, which can move around freely, and it doesn't have much attack power..." Willis still didn't understand why Gu Ding was asking this.
"Uncle, let's go to the Sacred Tree, I have a plan!"
Although they didn't know what Gu Ding meant, Willis and Queen still chose to follow.
Gu Ding led the two at breakneck speed and soon arrived at the Sacred Tree.
The Sacred Tree was an enormous plant. Although he had expected it from the beginning, Gu Ding was still awestruck when he saw it.
The trunk and branches were so thick that their diameter stretched for several kilometers, resembling a towering wooden city wall. Even a single, ordinary leaf on the tree was tens of meters long. The height of this giant tree was completely beyond the reach of sight. This peculiar plant was simply unbelievably enormous.
"Gu Ding, just tell me your ideas quickly, I'm really in a hurry." Willis was indeed a little anxious; the faster this matter was dealt with, the less likely it would be leaked.
"Uncle, the only way to deal with that Bloodthirsty Demonic Vine is to ask the Sacred Giant Tree for help," Gu Ding suddenly said. "Because that Bloodthirsty Demonic Vine has connected its roots to more than ten percent of the other plants in this forest, it can freely draw upon the life force of the entire forest. So, no matter how many times you kill it, as long as the forest doesn't perish, it won't die!"
As Gu Ding spoke, he placed one hand on the Sacred Giant Tree, compressing the photo the Sea Emperor had given him into his mind and transmitting it into the giant tree.
The Sacred Giant Tree quickly received this message from Gu Ding.
Seeing its roots tangled and intertwined with the Bloodthirsty Demonic Vine, the Sacred Giant Tree was genuinely angered. An aged voice broke the silence, "Young man, I've seen those pictures. The Bloodthirsty Demonic Vine have indeed gone far beyond what they should have done over the years. Before, they only caused small-scale damage to the ecosystem, which I turned a blind eye to. But now they've gone so far as to use life force so shamelessly."
"We need your help. If his roots are still connected to other plants, it will be difficult for us to cause him any real harm. On the contrary, if we touch it, it will reduce the vitality of other plants," Gu Ding explained.
"Alright, I'm not a combat-type plant. What do you need me to do?" the Sacred Giant Tree asked.
"It's very simple. You just need to help us break the connection between its underground roots and other plants, and we'll take care of the rest," Gu Ding grinned. He had thought it might require some persuasion, but he hadn't expected the Sacred Giant Tree to be so easy to talk to.