It was a tree root, a root that had turned pinkish-white because it was covered with bits of flesh and blood.
The tree root emerged from the side of the great knight commander's waist, first the first, then the second, the third...
Symbiotic Tree!
That's his Symbiotic Tree! The Symbiotic Tree has run away from home!
How is that possible?
Burns felt nothing but absurdity—just a single blow from that wooden staff had rendered a Middle Tier Grand Knight incapable of resistance.
Not only that, his Symbiotic Tree actually began to actively escape from its host!
He had never heard of such a scene in his more than forty years of involvement with the Tree Worship Church.
Killing an enemy is easy, but stripping the Symbiotic Tree is extremely difficult. Even the three cardinals probably couldn't do it, so how could that knight, who wasn't even covered in any trace of plants, possibly do it?
No, it's not him, it's that wooden staff!
Without that piece of wood, even a Middle Tier knight who had reached the threshold of High Tier wouldn't have been able to withstand the combined onslaught of the six of them.
But with that thing in hand, everything changes.
Seeing the roots constantly sprouting from the Grand Knight's waist, Burns was immediately filled with apprehension.
What kind of tactic is this?
He felt his heart begin to race, the rate almost exceeding a certain untouchable threshold.
Because he clearly remembered that the person who had been struck by that wooden staff wasn't just the high knight commander lying on the ground, but also... himself!
not good!
The archbishop gasped inwardly and immediately looked down at his hands.
The hands, which were originally covered in cracks, were now beginning to heal uncontrollably.
No matter how wildly his heart pounded, no matter how rapidly he breathed, the flesh and blood in his palms, which had been burning like fine charcoal, simply withdrew from that state.
Familiar plant leaves appeared on his wrist. Burns looked at the broad leaves, which had turned yellow from the residual heat, and realized that his body was slowly cooling down uncontrollably. Even the gruesome cuts on his face were healing rapidly, as if someone had taken pity on his self-harm and helped him.
As he felt the last flame die out, Burns ' heart sank in as well.
As the flames disappeared, he could feel his integration with the symbiotic plant decreasing, and the leaves appearing on his body were proof of this.
It seems I'm not completely unharmed; I just wasn't whipped hard enough, which is why I didn't collapse instantly like that Grand Knight Commander.
His body went limp as if his soul had been ripped out, and he immediately knelt on the ground.
Hearing the dull thud of the knee hitting the ground, the four Middle Tier fighters who had been eyeing Xilǐ'er menacingly were instantly thrown into confusion.
No, boss, it's one thing for you to betray us, but with our strength, we wouldn't have been wiped out by the other side just like that.
We only lost one person, why are you surrendering already?
Where is the spirit of competition?
Where did that fierceness you had when you were making those harsh remarks?
Just as they were about to say something, they noticed Burns's dejected state.
The archbishop's current expression is unimportant; what matters is—where is his fire?
When did this crazed, vegetative patient, who habitually fights by burning himself, get doused with a bucket of water?
Amidst everyone's astonishment, Burns's utterly despondent words finally rang out:
"I lost."
After saying this, a hint of resentment crept into his voice:
"I first Ignite myself when I was ten years old, practiced diligently for over thirty years, and yet I lost to a piece of wood..."
Xilǐ'er, on horseback, looked at the distraught Burns and couldn't help but feel a surge of emotions.
This is the underlying logic of World of Disorder: the strong set the rules, and the rest can only obey them.
Not to mention that Burns trained for decades but was defeated in one blow by Ed's creation, before the Demonic Tide, countless mediocre people in the kingdom and empire who trained their whole lives but only remained at the Low Tier could be killed in one blow by a genius knight who had only trained for a dozen years and reached the Middle Tier.
While ultimately this is also due to Ed's arbitrary additions to creation long ago, he was, after all, just a child back then.
The kid was just being silly and playing with it, and besides, it still needed to be patched up all the time...
Compared to those whose Dao hearts Shattered, Burns was actually in a better position, since it wasn't Xilǐ'er himself who defeated him, but Ed was hundreds of miles away.
Xilǐ'er knew this too. Without the wooden staff in his hand, even if he fought with all his might today, he could only manage a draw against the six men. He would never have been able to kill the two strongest among them in just two moves.
However, he wouldn't voice his feelings at this moment. Xilǐ'er paused on the ground with his wooden cane, then suddenly raised it above his head and asked sharply:
"Who else dares to challenge the authority of the Son of God?"
Seeing the symbiotic plant that had run away from home on the Grand Knight Commander, and seeing Burns had already knelt on the ground and given up resisting, the remaining four exchanged a fearful glance and then hurriedly raised their hands.
Near the city gate, not far from the battlefield, nearly a hundred people who had come to greet the messenger of the Son of God were already bowing to the wooden staff that represented the Son of God, in accordance with etiquette.
Seeing the crowd completely subjugated, Xilǐ'er slowly lowered his wooden staff. Meanwhile, [Kunjinkao Tangtangtang] faithfully recorded everything, muttering to himself:
"No wonder there's a staff but no battle-axe; it turns out the two have been combined into one..."
Beside him, the foolish Pure Ones was already stunned by the scene before him. Only when he saw his companions in the distance bowing did he realize what was happening and begin to perform the standard greeting.
Xilǐ'er put down his cane, looked at the crowd, and said:
"My original task was simply to convey messages about the Son of God; accepting surrender was not originally within my responsibilities."
"But seeing how anxious you are, I'll take care of things in Golden Leaf City before I leave."
As Xilǐ'er announced this, the Grand Knight Commander, who had been in so much pain that he had fainted, slowly awoke.
The moment he opened his eyes, he saw the Symbiotic Tree that had uprooted him right in front of him. So, like a drowning person grabbing a lifebuoy, he grabbed the Symbiotic Tree, lifted his priest's robe, and intended to put it back under his ribs.
Without the Symbiotic Tree, a bloody, gaping hole had appeared in his body, and even his abdomen looked much looser, like a deflated balloon.
At this moment, the Grand Knight's fear is unimaginable. To the Tree Worship Church, Xilǐ'er's complete stripping of the Symbiotic Tree is like someone walking along in the real world having their kidneys cut off—it's as horrifying as a horror story.
Xilǐ'er looked at him, then glanced at Burns, who was slowly separating from the Symbiotic Tree, and said to the two of them in a low voice:
"Being deprived of your Symbiotic Tree won't kill you in the short term. Keep your Symbiotic Tree safe; the Second Holy See's Son of God Child will make new arrangements for you."
As for now...
Xilǐ'er turned to look at the four men who had raised their hands in surrender:
"Come, grasp the staff, and say: 'I am the Pure Ones.'"