"To my shame, I followed our ancestors of the Red-Fruit Green Willow Clan to the Yulan Plane. Unfortunately, before they could even meet Lord Beirut or enter this Necropolis of the Gods, they were killed by a powerful enemy. Our clansmen scattered and fled, but I was fortunate enough to escape the great war five thousand years ago. Later, when Lord Beirut was clearing the battlefield, he found me as a survivor and assigned me to guard this place."
Giant Tree Pan and Jason have been living together on this fifteenth floor for seven years.
Jason had been entering a meditative state from time to time during this period, but unfortunately he had not been able to find the opportunity to break through to the Midgod level in the Water Element.
Jason wasn't sure if Pan had cultivated, but his enormous body remained in the same state, except when the two were communicating; he was like a real giant tree.
Occasionally, when the two communicated telepathically, Pan showed great curiosity about the changes outside.
With one year remaining before the Necropolis of the Gods reopens, Jason plans to visit the entrance to the sixteenth floor.
"Are you confident you can defeat the guardian of the sixteenth floor?" Pan's tone revealed his concern.
"To be honest, not at all. I just wanted to take a look at the entrance; I'm already here—"
Pan remained silent for a moment, then said, "Then, please be careful, sir."
Jason nodded. "Okay, I'll record a Floating Shadow for you, so you can see what your neighbor is like."
Jason arrived at the entrance to the sixteenth floor, but did not enter. He stopped ten meters away from the entrance and looked towards the sixteenth floor.
Through the exit of the passage, Jason could see that the sixteenth floor was a vast ocean. He spread his divine sense and discovered that there were many plants and animals in the sea, but the magical beasts were relatively weak, with the highest level not exceeding level seven.
"Not bad for Midgod who has passed the fifteenth level." A deep voice rang out.
Through the passage, Jason saw the entire ocean churning. First, a dozen tentacles shot out from the seabed, followed by a colossal creature resembling a mountain gradually emerging from the seabed, causing the sea level to drop rapidly.
The giant sea monster was actually quite fast, but due to its enormous size, it took nearly thirty seconds to fully reveal itself.
The behemoth was still quite a distance from the cave entrance, but it still occupied Jason's entire field of vision. Judging from its shape, it should be an octopus, with several tentacles extending from the seabed, standing there slowly swaying. Obviously, there should be a considerable volume of it below the sea surface, and its total volume is probably equivalent to an imperial province of the Yulan Continent!
"It's a pity he's only Midgod, otherwise we could have sparred." The giant octopus sounded somewhat forlorn. "Sigh, I must have been out of my mind back then to have the audacity to challenge Beirut for the Sovereign Artifact. Now I'm imprisoned here by him, and I don't know when I'll be free."
From the other party's words, Jason deduced that the other party was one of the Highgod who descended back then, with strength at least at the peak of Seven Star Fiend! However, this also showed the other party's pitiful state from another perspective. Because the probability of one or two Midgod appearing on the Yulan Continent is still somewhat high, and the guardians of the fourteenth and fifteenth floors can leave as long as they kill the intruders.
To wait for the Highgod to enter the Necropolis of the Gods, one would have to wait for someone from the Higher Planes to descend. However, Highgod who can descend from the Higher Planes are not so easily trifled with. Moreover, this octopus directly offended Beirut; even if it successfully kills an outsider Beirut might not let it go.
Jason held a crystal ball, gazing at the giant octopus outside the passage, Jason no intention of moving.
"Don't worry, I can only be released by killing Highgod; killing Midgod won't count," the giant octopus said.
"Hmph, I would have believed it if it weren't for the Soul Defense Divine Artifact." Now, the shield in Jason's sea of consciousness was filled with black smoke, like squid ink.
Jason hadn't originally planned to come here, because he had seen those Deity-level in the Netherworld with bizarre methods who could erode the soul of their enemies when they weren't on guard, causing them to make unconscious actions.
It was precisely because of the Soul Defense Divine Artifact that Jason dared to come here to "broaden his horizons".
"An attack of this magnitude, if I were prepared beforehand, I should have been able to detect it even without Soul Defense Divine Artifact. But if I wasn't on guard, I might have fallen for his trick." He mentally estimated the opponent's strength to be that of a Seven Star Fiend- level expert with above-average soul attack power, but he couldn't judge anything else.
Without any response, Jason simply turned and walked back.
The giant octopus stared blankly as Jason's figure disappeared, showing neither joy nor sorrow. After a few minutes, it submerged its body back into the sea, waiting for the next intruder.
Jason's figure flashed out from the passage and flew directly off the altar.
Standing before the giant tree Pan, Jason took a deep breath. "Phew, even standing in the passage I was attacked by a soul, but luckily my soul cultivation is not weak."
"Mr. Jason, are you alright?" Pan's tone was flat and monotone, with a dullness characteristic of plants.
"It's alright. The sixteenth floor is a giant octopus. It tried to erode my soul through the passage, but I noticed and ran away as soon as I realized it." Jason took out the crystal ball. "This is its Floating Shadow. Take a look."
"Wow, it's huge—BOOM!!!"
A thick tree root suddenly emerged from where Jason had been standing.
How did you sense that I had malicious intent?
Pan's tone remained calm and even, but the altar had been completely sealed off by tree roots extending from the ground.
Jason turned his head and glanced at the fourteenth-floor passage in the distance, which was also blocked by tree roots.
"Sometimes you're uninterested in leaving here, sometimes you're full of curiosity about the outside world. You've been chatting quite easily these past few years, but when I hurriedly left the altar, your tone was completely flat. You must have been incredibly nervous seeing my soul injured and leaving that altar—wanting to claim all the rewards for this level?"
Despite saying that, Jason still took the opportunity to glance at the entrance to the fourteenth floor. Although nothing had changed, Jason guessed that Pan had probably set some traps there.
Pan didn't attack Jason earlier probably because he was far slower than Jason, and he only dared to make a move after blocking both exits.
"I was quite nervous, but I could also sense your wariness towards me. Given your cautious nature, you wouldn't have left the altar so rashly if your soul had truly been damaged—"
Actually, you want to have a fight too, don't you?
"Heh, as if you don't want to fight. How could Deity-level chosen by Beirut as a guardian be without desires? But today's opportunity is indeed excellent. As fellow Midgod, without external interference, and able to fight with all our might without holding back—such an opportunity is hard to find even in the Netherworld!"
Jason, wielding a long sword in one hand and Holy Bible in the other, adjusted himself to his strongest stance.
Pan adjusted his giant tree trunk to a height of ten meters, with vines coiling around him. "To correct you, I am Red-Flame Green Willow, Pan!"
As soon as he finished speaking, the sixteen crimson fruits on the tree instantly opened like flower petals, revealing the blazing flames inside.
Sixteen tree roots burst forth from the ground, gathering together with a fierce wind to intercept; while sixteen vines above ground, carrying sixteen crimson flame fruits, slammed towards Jason like a chain hammer.