Just then, the World Tree powerhouses in the command room suddenly paused. Their movement trajectory, as seen in their High-Dimensional Information Vision, suddenly split into seven, each heading in a different direction.
"The outsiders have deployed decoys to split our forces and confuse our tracking targets. This is an attempt to distract us, and it seems they intend to launch a counterattack."
Seeing this, Tedrian narrowed his eyes, his tone becoming serious.
One of the Thirteen Ancestral Spirits named Roxilian, who was standing to the side, habitually pinched a tuft of small, beard-like tentacles on his chin and slowly spoke, "In that case, we can only split up and act separately; we can't afford to miss any clues."
While High-Dimensional Information Vision can identify "Information Closure" and trace traces, it cannot trace back to specific content like a photographic recorder.
The World Tree still has its limits, so they can't immediately identify which of the seven tracks Han Xiao belongs to. They need to collect enough information samples to distinguish the differences in the traces, which will take some time. They need to follow the tracks and collect samples to pinpoint the main body of the outsider.
If the outsiders' goal is to escape, scattering thousands or tens of thousands of trails would be a good way to confuse them and buy them more time. However, since only seven trails have been scattered so far, Tedrian guessed that the outsiders were still determined to fight back.
Even if the other six trails are just bait, they still have to deal with them to prevent outsiders from leaving troops or other dangerous things within the civilized territory.
"Then let's mobilize more manpower; our support can arrive quickly anyway."
High-ranking Sacred Tree Envoy Offerman nodded in agreement.
No one in the group had any objections. Within the territory of the World Tree Civilization, they could travel quickly using the World Tree. As long as someone spotted the target, they could share the location via the Psychic Network, and the others could quickly arrive.
"Leave some people behind as mobile support troops, and the rest will split up and act separately."
Tedrian nodded.
They not only pursued from behind, but also sent some troops directly to the front to intercept and block the enemy along the direction of the trajectory, confirming changes in the trajectory and constantly narrowing down the search area.
The World Tree's forces continued to arrive, gradually forming a large encirclement.
A fleet followed one of the tracks for quite some distance, with the Sacred Tree Envoy on board diligently maintaining their High-Dimensional Information Vision.
Just then, a message came from the Psychic Network, sent by the intercepting force at the front of this pursuit route.
"No follow-up information has been found ahead. We are turning back towards you to narrow the search area. Please proceed with caution."
Upon hearing this, the Sacred Tree Envoy immediately perked up.
They were some distance from the intercepting forces ahead. Since the trajectory ahead had been cut off, it meant that the target was likely within this distance and was very likely to encounter them.
"Be careful, the enemy could appear at any moment."
The Sacred Tree Envoy gave an instruction to the crew, cautiously sensing his surroundings, feeling somewhat annoyed.
Unfortunately, the Information State Imaging Device was useless this time; otherwise, whatever arrangements the enemy made would have been completely Nowhere to Hide, and there would have been no need to be so cautious.
After traveling a distance further, the spaceship's radar suddenly sounded an alarm.
"High-energy attack Detection en route. Shield automatically activated. Please take precautions!"
At the same time, beams of light shot out from a distance, piercing through the fleet's formation and quickly destroying several warships.
"Enemy attack!"
The Sacred Tree Envoy was startled and, without hesitation, called for support through the Psychic Network. He then immediately deployed an energy shield to protect himself.
Suddenly, a small mechanical force, wreathed in golden Mechanical Force, appeared from beyond visual range, rapidly closing in and firing continuously.
In the High-Dimensional Information Vision, the source of this trajectory is this military unit, but there seems to be no outsider among them.
"It seems the path I followed was a decoy." The Sacred Tree Envoy looked annoyed, as if regretting that he hadn't caught up with the outsider's true form.
At this moment, spatial rifts opened up all around, from which numerous roots emerged, and batches of support troops quickly arrived. In the blink of an eye, six or seven Beyond Grade A descended upon this place.
Upon seeing this mechanical squad engaged in battle with the fleet, everyone knew that this path was not where the outsiders' main body was located.
"After removing one spurious path, six remain."
"Take care of this mechanical squad first. Let the Sacred Tree devour them and then analyze the information."
Without a word, the group immediately pounced on the enemy, intending to finish the battle quickly.
However, at that moment, one of the mechanical soldiers in the squad suddenly self-destructed, and a burst of blue Psionic Energy light erupted, instantly engulfing the surrounding mechanical squad. The ball of light then rapidly expanded, growing as if it would never stop.
"Damn it, it's Primal Psionic Energy!"
The expressions of the several World Tree experts present changed drastically, and they hurriedly stopped and retreated.
The fleet that had initially surrounded them scattered and quickly turned away, but some ships were still unable to avoid it and were swallowed up by the Primal Psionic Energy.
The larger the light cluster, the faster it expands, and all matter and energy it comes into contact with are assimilated, constantly undergoing Psionic Energy Expansion reactions.
But at that moment, spatial rifts reappeared all around, and roots of the World Tree probed into the Psionic Energy orb, rapidly absorbing energy like sucking up jelly. Only then did the Psionic Energy orb stop expanding, slowly shrink, and eventually disappear.
Everything that had been consumed by Psionic Energy was completely annihilated, leaving not even a trace.
The several World Tree experts who had run a long way finally stopped, looking disheveled and humiliated.
This is not stable secondary Psionic Energy, but Berserk Primal Psionic Energy, and the amount is not small. Although they are Beyond Grade A powerhouses, they do not want to test the power of Primal Psionic Energy with their bodies.
The Sacred Tree Envoy, still shaken, said angrily, "That outsider must have planted Primal Psionic Energy on all the baits, trying to blow up the pursuers. Tell everyone else to be careful!"
The message quickly spread from the Psychic Network to the members of the pursuit team, and each team immediately became more cautious and took much more careful action.
"Has a squad already detonated it...?"
Han Xiao was speeding through space when he suddenly sensed the feedback from the Mechanical Force, and his eyes flickered slightly.
He recently dispatched six mechanized squads to operate separately, partly to disperse the pursuers' forces and partly to act as scouting points to assess the size of the pursuers.
Mechanical units themselves do not enjoy the protection of the Child of Destiny's mark, meaning that all their actions can be seen through by the Information State Imaging Device. However, by accepting the Mechanical Force connection, mechanical units can share the disguise of the Child of Destiny's mark and use it as bait.
Han Xiao left some tricks on these baits, one of which was Primal Psionic Energy. He didn't mind spreading Psionic Energy Pollution extensively in the World Tree Civilization's territory, planting mushrooms in the enemy's home. This would not only damage the pursuers but also wipe out his own troops, preventing them from World Tree Devour and creating risks.
However, he did not intend to inflict too much damage on the opponent using Primal Psionic Energy. Having experienced the wars of his previous life, Han Xiao knew very well that the World Tree Devour energy was equally effective against Primal Psionic Energy, and that the method for controlling Psionic Energy Pollution was much more convenient than that of the Three Universal Civilizations.
Just then, Han Xiao's senses suddenly stirred. He turned his head and saw a spatial rift suddenly appear not far ahead, from which a World Tree fleet emerged.
"We've found him!"
The other Sacred Tree Envoy the interception fleet, was both surprised and delighted, and immediately sent the location via the Psychic Network.
Seeing this, Han Xiao turned and charged forward without saying a word. Golden Mechanical Force erupted, and a massive mechanical legion emerged from it, launching an unreserved barrage of fire at the fleet.
With his current level of power, the mechanical legion's destructive power was already extremely astonishing, annihilating the small interception fleet almost instantly.
The Sacred Tree Envoy hurriedly dodged and defended, but he couldn't withstand the mechanical legion's firepower and was wounded in a single exchange, leaving him terrified.
Just then, spatial rifts appeared one after another around them, and the first batch of reinforcements from the World Tree Civilization arrived at lightning speed. Han Xiao scanned the area with his senses and discovered five Beyond Grade A energy sources.
However, he ignored it and charged forward, his blood energy bursting forth. A portion of the mechanical soldiers quickly gathered and transformed into a small Mechanical Deity, which almost instantly reached the wounded Sacred Tree Envoy.
Rays of shattering energy were released from the Mechanical Deity's fingertips, instantly tearing apart the Sacred Tree Envoy's defenses. Han Xiao activated the accessory device on his palm, unleashing a spatial shockwave that briefly suspended the target in mid-air. Then, he threw a punch at the horrified Sacred Tree Envoy.
BOOM!!
The shockwave erupted, and the accumulated destructive power of [Charge - Endless Charge] struck the body of the Sacred Tree Envoy without reservation. The overwhelming force crushed muscles and bones, and cells instantly died.
Green blood exploded in mid-air, and the body of the Sacred Tree Envoy vanished, leaving only a pool of blood stuck to the mechanical fist.
One punch, and all health is gone!
"You dare to block my way if you're not even S+ rank? Do you think I flew all this way just for show? Let's kill one to start things off!"
Han Xiao grinned. Now that he was fighting the enemy, he held nothing back and went straight for the kill.
Battle information showed that this Sacred Tree Envoy's energy level was less than 50,000, slightly weaker than Babani. He had accumulated a lot of steps, and the power of [Charge - Endless Charge] was stacked very high. With the combined fire of the mechanical troops, the Sacred Tree Envoy was instantly killed.
Without delay, he immediately shifted his target, leading his mechanical troops towards the five World Tree experts who had just arrived as reinforcements. He unfurled the enhanced Star Slaying Blade in his hand and slashed it out with a whoosh, the surging Psionic Energy transforming into a chilling blade of light.
"Get out of the way!"
Seeing Han Xiao's incredible feat of instantly killing his companion, the five World Tree experts who had come to provide support changed their expressions drastically. They dared not confront him head-on and hurriedly abandoned their fleet, scattering in all directions to evade capture.
Rumble rumble--
The fleet was unable to dodge in time. The warships along the way Star Slaying Blade and instantly exploded into a sky full of smoke and fire. The fragments of the ship hull were picked up by the Blades and turned into scorching molten water, which splashed onto the surrounding ships that were not damaged, causing their shields to flicker incessantly.
Han Xiao raised his hand and activated Virtual Purification, quickly scanning the five people. However, the five people only swayed slightly before returning to normal, without showing the same confusion as Babani.
"The World Tree was on guard, didn't send any foreign races to hunt me down. Their reaction was quite quick."
Han Xiao narrowed his eyes, not surprised at all. He turned his Blades and locked onto the weakest of the five people shown in the battle information. He charged at the weakest one, scaring the opponent into turning around and fleeing.
The other four hurriedly moved around and launched ranged attacks, trying to restrain Han Xiao. However, it was like tickling him; the four of them combined their firepower and couldn't even penetrate the Mechanical Deity's shield. Han Xiao didn't even bother to defend himself.
Just then, more and more troops arrived to provide support. Seeing this, the World Tree experts immediately joined the battle, and the number of people besieging Han Xiao increased rapidly, quickly reaching double digits and still rising.
However, to the horror of the many World Tree experts, even with a double-digit number of attackers, this outsider still moved as if he were in an empty field. He disregarded the damage and only attacked without defending. He managed to withstand the concentrated fire of so many people and killed one of the Ancestral Spirit that he had locked onto and was chasing, adding a second casualty to their list!
However, with the arrival of more reinforcements, the group finally managed to hold back the outsider, resulting in a fierce and evenly matched fight that prevented him from continuing his killing spree.
Not long after the battle began, Tedrian and his group arrived on the battlefield aboard the World Tree Express. They immediately saw the Mechanical Deity, protected by a large number of mechanical soldiers, standing firm like an unyielding Mountain, locked in combat with dozens of World Tree powerhouses. Surprisingly, the mechanical god was not overwhelmed and held its own.
"This outsider's combat power is too exaggerated!" Tedrian's expression changed slightly.
"Could he come from a civilization where individual power is extremely advanced?" Offerman asked in horror.
"It seems I was too conservative before; he must be at the level of Tree King!" Roxilian looked at the chaotic battlefield with a pounding heart.
The three had previously assessed Han Xiao's combat strength based on his experience with Babani, but now they realized that this outsider's level seemed rather frightening, far exceeding their expectations.
"The situation is not good; I must summon the Tree King."
Tedrian acted decisively, immediately calling his superior via Psychic Network.
At this moment, the Mechanical Deity in the arena suddenly unleashed their full power, briefly forcing back the onslaught of attackers.
The next moment, the Mechanical Deity disintegrated, revealing Han Xiao's figure. The surrounding mechanical troops rapidly shrank, were drawn away by Mechanical Force, and merged into his body.
Han Xiao glanced at the situation in the arena. The number of Beyond Grade A experts who had come to the rescue had exceeded thirty, and there were several Peak Beyond Grade A experts as well. Under these circumstances, there was basically no chance to continue killing people. Moreover, the World Tree was still continuously sending in reinforcements. If he stayed here, he would definitely be used as a football in the end. Besides, the World Tree was not lacking in top-level individual power. The five Tree King were all more powerful than the last.
He turned and glanced at Tedrian and the others, narrowing his eyes.
"Tedrian, Roxilian, Offerman... hey, they're all acquaintances."
During the war in his previous life, powerful figures Explored Universe and the World Tree Civilization suffered casualties on both sides, and were renowned for their prowess. Han Xiao naturally knew some of the powerful figures from the World Tree.
If I remember correctly, these three guys all had Beyond Grade A lives on their hands in their past lives. The previous owner of the Space-Time Amber had his head smashed by Tedrian, which caused this Universal Treasure to fall into the hands of the World Tree Civilization. Later, he was killed by Carrot.
Just as Han Xiao was quickly recalling, a change occurred in the arena. Another World Tree appeared, and a powerful pressure far exceeding that of the others suddenly spread out.
The next second, a tall figure exuding an aura of majesty descended, with long white hair flowing down his back, cold eyes and brows, and his body wrapped in blue-green light, interspersed with dark red arcs of electricity.
This person had a light green mark on his forehead, shaped like a burning flame, and was staring indifferently at Han Xiao.
"Hey, here comes a hunk."
Han Xiao's brow twitched.
One of the Five Tree King, "Tranquil Tree King" Saint Grace Belando, Pugilist Class superhuman, caused massive casualties in the Explored Universe in his previous life. "Dragon King" Milizaus and "Beast Ancestor" Gorutan both died by his fists. In the end, Carrot and "Car" Silver Shadow combined to kill him with great difficulty, almost dying together.
In his previous life, during the war, he had personally witnessed the Tranquil Tree King take action many times, and had been killed by the aftershocks no less than twenty times, leaving a deep impression on him.
"If I could kill you, your resurrection time would probably be quite long..."
Han Xiao had this thought, but after glancing at the dozens of World Tree experts around him, he immediately dismissed it.
He's not afraid of a one-on-one fight, but in the enemy's stronghold, it's practically impossible for him to do so.
Just then, the many World Tree powerhouses who had been forced back earlier were about to surround them again.
However, right before everyone's eyes, Han Xiao suddenly vanished, leaving them empty-handed and bewildered.
"How did he disappear? Did the spatial anchoring fail?!"
Tedrian was startled.
To prevent outsiders from teleporting away, they anchored themselves in this space during the battle. In theory, apart from the World Tree Express, which is unique to the civilized territory, there are basically no other means of teleportation that can be effective.
But he soon received replies from others on the Psychic Network, indicating that the spatial blockade was proceeding as normal.
"He managed to escape when it was almost impossible for him to fail?" Roxilian was immediately dissatisfied.
"It seems he has some special teleportation method that can bypass spatial blockade... then we're helpless." Offerman frowned.
The group was immediately deflated. They had finally managed to surround their prey, and even the Tree King had personally descended, but they had failed at the crucial moment, and their sure-fire catch had slipped away.
Helpless, Tedrian stepped forward and bowed to the Tranquil Tree King Tree King, saying, "Your Majesty, we have failed in our mission, allowing this outsider to escape."
The Tranquil Tree King glanced at him and said indifferently, "He's lucky he escaped with his life. Otherwise, I would have sent him to the Mother Tree to be devoured, and then I could have located this alien civilization."
"Sorry, I ruined your plans, it was me... um?!"
Tedrian was about to continue his self-criticism when he suddenly stopped, his expression instantly becoming quite interesting.
At the same time, everyone present received the same message through the Psychic Network.
The pursuit team sent to track down another "bait" suddenly encountered the outsider's true form and was completely wiped out. The Sacred Tree Envoy the team only had time to send out a distress signal before his voice disappeared, indicating that he had been sacrificed.
Tedrian's face instantly darkened, filled with rage.
"This outsider didn't leave! He wiped out another army!"
Meanwhile, the location of a "decoy" mechanical squad.
Han Xiao grabbed a dying Sacred Tree Envoy and casually snapped off his head.
Immediately, he retrieved the Throne and the set of books that the mechanical squad had been carrying, a smirk playing on his lips.
He left behind more than just Primal Psionic Energy in these "bait" units; he even equipped each unit with a Throne, sparing no expense and disregarding potential losses.
This time, when they came to the World Tree Civilization territory, they didn't bring much other equipment, but the Sovereign brought a lot of it.
Over the years, he has used his wealth to amass a huge Sovereign, so he has no shortage of resources.
Putting aside the corpse in his hands, Han Xiao licked his lips.
"You really have to play guerrilla warfare when you're in someone else's home."