Chapter 148: The Lake

After arriving here, Demon King Mephistopheles no longer maintained the appearance of an elderly man. Instead, he kept the form of a youth, walking handsomely and cheerfully at the front of the group.

Having a powerful Demon King leading the way was quite reassuring.

Just then, he heard the System continuously broadcasting various Spiritual Power absorption notifications in his mind. Besides Skill Points, System Currency was also steadily increasing.

It seemed the matter with the Hero’s army had come to an end. The terrifying rate of Skill Point acquisition gave an idea of how many powerful Humans had fallen before Banwang City—and all in an instant. He had no idea how Xiong Da and the others had managed it.

Although Zhai Guangyi had sent Xiao Ai to help, he felt the System probably hadn’t contributed much; it was likely all Xiong Batian’s doing.

If all these souls were fully absorbed, his Skill Points should break through the 100,000 mark. A max-level ‘World’ was within reach, but fully absorbing them would still take considerable time. Of course, he could also rely on the ‘World’s’ characteristic to imagine he had fully absorbed them, but that would consume a lot of System Currency. Zhai Guangyi could afford to wait a little longer.

Since entering the ruins of the Elven Divine Tree, Zhai Guangyi and his group had experienced many battles. The enemies they encountered were all very powerful, mostly at the Demigod Rank. However, this was the Demon King’s most elite force; ordinary Demigods were no match for them.

From the moment they entered this crimson forest, Zhai Guangyi and the others began traveling on foot, walking for a full two months.

Along the way, Zhai Guangyi witnessed the former glory of the Elven Kingdom. Ruins and relics were everywhere, and even some barely functional Magic Artifacts were scattered about. Unfortunately, ordinary Adventurers couldn’t enter this area.

According to the Demon King’s explanation, the deeper one went into this entire region, the less one’s soul belonged to oneself.

Whether they encountered creatures or Demon Trees, most were products of mutation. This terrifying infectious power made it difficult even for Demigods to protect their souls properly. In this area, only those at the Transcendent Demigod level or above, along with Primordial Spirits, could maintain their souls free from contamination.

The Magical Beasts encountered over these two months had provided Zhai Guangyi with vast amounts of Spiritual Power and Skill Points. The gains were truly impressive. Not only Zhai Guangyi himself, but the overall strength of the entire team had significantly increased compared to when they first arrived.

Including Zhai Guangyi’s Elven Body and Lilith, their power had reached Level 70, attaining the Transcendent Demigod level. Zhai Guangyi’s True Body was even approaching Level 80, soon to cross into the realm of Demon King-level power.

However, throughout this journey, Zhai Guangyi still felt he couldn’t compare to Demon King Mephistopheles. Mephistopheles had been at this level for far too long, accumulating far too much. If he were fortunate enough to see Mephistopheles’s status panel, Zhai Guangyi believed it would be truly astonishing, likely dominated by a majority of max-level Ultimate Skills.

Zhai Guangyi was fortunate enough to witness Demon King Mephistopheles take action here. At that time, Lvqi was locked in a fierce struggle, suppressed by two Demon Trees simultaneously. It seemed they recognized Lvqi’s high magical prowess and wanted to devour and control his soul. Therefore, they never used their full strength to eliminate Lvqi but instead toyed with him, wearing him down, aiming to exhaust his Magic Power completely for easier control.

Such a Demigod-rank Demon Tree was not something a Demigod of the same rank could handle alone. Within the Demigod Demon Tree resided the souls of numerous powerful beings, including no small number of Demigods, creating a situation of many against one. At that time, nine Demigod Demon Trees appeared simultaneously. Zhai Guangyi and the others were stretched thin, and Lvqi was besieged by two of them.

Just as Lvqi was on the verge of collapse, Demon King Mephistopheles made his move. He had restored his youthful appearance but still held his cane. Protected by the others, he merely tapped the ground lightly with his cane, and the surrounding Demon Trees instantly withered. These trees, which fed on the lives of others, were instead devoured themselves. Not only their Magic Power and life force, but even their souls began flowing toward the Demon King.

Such terrifying power was displayed in such an unremarkable manner, instantly reversing the tide of battle. The nine Demon Trees offered no resistance, instantly turning into dry, shriveled trunks. A gentle breeze blew them into dust carried by the wind, as if they had died in an instant after enduring tens of millions of years.

With such a powerhouse, so close to a Deity, as his backing, Zhai Guangyi felt reassured. However, they were about to face a Deity-rank enemy, which made Zhai Guangyi slightly uneasy. Previously, merely being glanced at had forced his soul into slumber.

If the situation became too dangerous, Zhai Guangyi would use ‘World’ to imagine completing the Level Up. He still needed to quickly raise World to level 10 to give himself a little sense of security. But if he could wait a bit longer, absorbing and digesting more souls would reduce the required System Currency.

Demon King Mephistopheles and his group arrived once again at the blood lake Zhai Guangyi had seen before. In the center of this blood lake was the island of the Elven Divine Tree.

After arriving here, they encountered no more enemies. The entire area was eerily silent. Even having come this far, the Elven Divine Tree had not launched any attacks against Zhai Guangyi and the others.

“This lake, we cannot cross,” Demon King Mephistopheles turned to look at Zhai Guangyi. This was also the reason he wanted Zhai Guangyi to come.

Zhai Guangyi nodded, indicating he understood. His current body was essentially the Demon King’s tool, meant to assist the Demon King in killing the Elven Divine Tree as much as possible.

“This lake was originally the divine domain of the Elven Kingdom. The water here was a blessing from the Elven Divine Tree. Once, countless people dreamed of drinking just a sip, including myself back then.” Mephistopheles seemed nostalgic for those times, but now this lake was undrinkable.

Zhai Guangyi used Appraisal. The lake was filled with chaos and evil, seemingly capable of corrupting any life form—truly terrifying.

“But now, even touching it would kill me,” Mephistopheles sighed.

“Honored Demon King, why not simply fly across? Or I could transform and stride right over,” the little dwarf capable of Transformation into a giant said timidly.

“Foolish, if it weren’t for the Demon King continuously releasing his Domain to protect us, we would have already been corrupted. This terrifying Divine Power is beyond our ability to resist.” Lvqi sighed.

“Moreover, the power of this Lake is not confined to the ground alone; even the sky has been affected, including the air. If we were to leave the protection of our Honored Father, we would most likely be dead.”

Lilith explained succinctly. The Lake seemed to be constantly evaporating, and precisely because of this, the entire Forest had become contaminated.