Chapter 213 – The Dense Tree Realm, Blood-Colored Great Buddha

The movement speed of the Treants was remarkably slow; even the War Treants and Treant Lords could not escape this flaw.

However,

once Tree Spirit Grandma entered the ‘I Am the Forest’ state, she could not only integrate the surrounding vegetation into a unified whole but also increase the movement speed of the entire forest by several, dozens, or even scores of times!

Wherever it passed, the earth remained undisturbed, and the vegetation swept along left no traces of pits or scars in its wake.

It was as if the rings of trees surrounding the Treant Legion had always been guarding the Treants.

The entire forest had been this way since time immemorial.

This defied science, and even defied the principles of thaumaturgy.

But it was profoundly epic.

The ‘I Am the Forest’ epic ability had a wide range of effectiveness, entirely dependent on the amount of vegetation within the forest.

At this moment, the forest not only contained sixty exceptional Treants but also encompassed the Cat Demon Tribe within its domain.

This was a battlefield meticulously chosen by Mu Yuan!

Under the enhancement of ‘I Am the Forest,’ the Treant Forest surged forward at full throttle, expanding like a rolling snowball, resembling a tidal wave of forest crashing directly into the chaotic battlefield.

The two Lords were stunned for a moment.

If they hadn’t witnessed it with their own eyes, and if someone had told them that a forest was running, they would have undoubtedly responded with a sharp slap.

What nonsense are you spouting!

It would be more believable to say pigs were flying, but a forest running… how could that be reasonable?

Whether it was reasonable or not, they had no time to ponder.

As the forest surged like a tide, the two Lords had to consider: what should they do?

The Lord wearing sunglasses glanced at the Cat Demon King, who was still wreaking havoc and hunting down their Generals, and decisively said, “Retreat!”

“Retreat already?”

The other Lord was somewhat unwilling. “We’ve already breached the tribe and slain countless Cat Demons.”

The Sunglasses Lord replied, “If we don’t retreat, it will be difficult for us to take down this Cat Demon Tribe—in fact, it’s nearly impossible. The Cat Demon King is too powerful. But if we withdraw for now and let this unknown forest and the Cat Demons fight to the death, we might still have a chance to profit.”

That made sense!

They hadn’t yet managed to break through the toughest defenses of the Cat Demon Tribe.

Let the forest and the Cat Demons battle it out.

Though the logic was sound, as they began their retreat, the two Lords still felt their hearts bleeding.

They could only withdraw a few elite troops.

Not only did they need to leave some behind to cover their retreat, but the ordinary soldiers also lacked the ability to disengage from the fierce battle.

Once the commanders and elites withdrew, it meant all these soldiers would perish here, regardless of whether they achieved their strategic objectives in the end.

Meanwhile,

the Treant Legion had arrived on the battlefield.

The vast forest spread directly across the entrance of the Cat Demon Tribe, enveloping many Cat Demons and human troops locked in combat.

In the next moment,

“Take Root!” “Take Root!” “Take Root!”

At the heart of the forest, the Ancient Treants and War Treants revealed vague, aged human faces on their trunks. Their roots writhed like serpents before plunging deep into the earth, burrowing into its depths.

Simultaneously,

“All Trees Grow!!” ×60Sixty treants simultaneously unleashed this advanced skill, and in an instant, the entire forest and region trembled violently as if struck by a magnitude ten earthquake.

Amid the intense shaking, fragments of stone kept jumping up, the ground cracked audibly, and thick, gnarled roots burst forth from the soil, growing and spreading at an alarming rate.

At the same time, four treants, including Tree Spirit Grandma, activated their innate ability ‘Root Spirit Draw’.

Their roots plunged into the earth, crazily drawing from the earth’s energy and the power of plants. The war treants began to rumble and grow, their bodies expanding to majestic heights, becoming impervious to sabers and swords.

Yet, outside the range of ‘I Am the Forest’, lush trees withered visibly, transforming into nourishment and strength for the treants.

The forest guardian treants were going all out.

“Meow—!”

The cat demons fixed their sights on the treants.

A cat demon leader extended its sharp claws, morphing into a brown hurricane that, in the blink of an eye, mowed down and severed sturdy trees like a powerful storm ravaging a small grove.

However, these were merely trees the treant forest had recently assimilated. Essentially, they were destroying their own vegetation.

The toppled and shattered trees quickly decomposed into nutrients, nourishing new trees.

The trees were endless!

Under the might of ‘I Am the Forest’, the already rapid growth of trees has reached an extraordinary level.

Vines torn apart by cat demons regenerated in an instant, coiling around them like pythons and tightening relentlessly. Thorns on the vines pierced the cat demons’ fur, draining their blood.

In no time, the cat demons were reduced to desiccated corpses.

Various dust particles drifted through the forest, inhaled by cat demons and human troops alike. Weaker individuals immediately grew dizzy and were easily dragged underground by roots to be buried.

Still, this method of combat was too slow, and delays could lead to complications.

“Implement the B2 Tactic.”

Mu Yuan, observing from the war falcon hidden within the forest, issued the order to Tree Spirit Grandma.

The next moment—

Boom—

Another violent tremor erupted.

This time, it was Tree Spirit Grandma exerting her power. Wielding the authority over the entire forest territory, she gathered the strength of all trees and maximized the output of the field skill ‘Myriad Tree Realm’.

Instead of radiating outward, the tree realm concentrated at a single point in front of the treant forest.

Dozens, then hundreds of gnarled roots surged from the ground with a roar, like countless earth dragons bellowing. These roots intertwined and combined mid-air, weaving together as if crafting a woolen garment, and in the blink of an eye, formed a colossal entity.

“What is that?”

Two lords who had just extricated themselves from the cat demons and retreated from the main battlefield stared wide-eyed.

They watched as a massive shadow gradually rose amidst the vigorous, lush forest. Surrounding trees either collapsed or merged into the enormous form. Instantly, a towering figure, possibly a hundred meters tall and entirely constructed of wood, materialized.

It sat upon a lotus throne, fingers forming a lotus mudra, with pairs of hardwood arms sprouting from its back.

It cast a chilling, fearsome shadow over the forest, the earth, and the cat demon tribe.

“What in the world is that thing!”Mu Yuan was also seeing the complete form of the Tree World Giant for the first time—this technique usually had no opportunity for practice.

Its core still relied on the “I Am the Forest” ability to integrate chaotic vines and wood into an orderly whole.

But why did you deliberately expend energy to shape the Tree World Giant into the form of a great Buddha?

Perhaps Tree Spirit Grandma had been reading too many comics in her spare time.

Somehow, many books in the previously constructed ‘Academy’ building had transformed into comic book formats.

Tree Spirit Grandma probably learned it from those.

Such energy-wasting behavior isn’t commendable, though this Tree World Buddha is carved with remarkable precision, dignity, and martial spirit—perhaps it even possesses a slight ‘intimidation’ effect?

Many Cat Demons were startled, screaming in panic.

But driven by the Cat Demon King, they quickly suppressed their fear, pouncing forward one after another—some tearing with sharp claws, others biting with fangs.

The Cat Demon King itself transformed into a brown-red tornado, crashing down.

It tore through, shredding the Tree World Buddha’s body piece by piece.

However,

while ordinary-sized units like the Black Knight might fear the Cat Demon King—where a single careless moment could mean instant death—the Tree World Buddha’s massive scale meant that even when the Cat Demon King tore open huge gashes, they remained insignificant compared to its overall form.

The Cat Demon King kept tearing.

The Tree World Buddha kept healing.

Aside from the Cat Demon King, other monsters—even Cat Demon Commanders at the War General Rank—couldn’t create more than one-meter-long gashes on the Buddha’s body with each attack.

Rounding off, it was basically no damage at all.

Some Cat Demon Commanders charged into the forest, constantly tearing through vines and roots, but were soon surrounded and could only fight like trapped beasts.

“Indeed, the Treant Legion perfectly counters these Cat Demons,”

Mu Yuan murmured.

The Cat Demons’ main skills were tearing, biting, and phantom images, with a few possessing slightly more advanced abilities like shadow tearing, bloodlust, and berserk. Their characteristic was that none had large attack ranges.

Whereas the Treants and Tree World possessed massive size and rapid recovery.

Plus, they were in a forested area.

With combat methods that countered the enemy and environmental advantages… this was the fundamental reason Mu Yuan had the Treant Legion head straight for this target.

He chose this battlefield!

If this Tribe were to be subjugated by Dolai’s squad, the process would likely be quite difficult. Even if Dolai’s Grand Fireball Art rained down, it would struggle to eliminate the high-Rank Cat Demons inside.

Conversely, these extremely fast Cat Demons with powerful single-target lethality posed significant threats to Dolai.

General Dolai could easily get injured with the slightest carelessness.

If the Frost Dragon squad were to subjugate them, it would be even less effective.

With dense forests blocking the way, even Dragon Breath couldn’t achieve much.

But the Treants that perfectly countered Cat Demons were, in turn, perfectly countered by the Crimson Dragonkin with its flight and fire specialties.

In a one-on-one fight, Tree Spirit Grandma would definitely lose to the Crimson Dragonkin.

Even with the entire Treant Legion, it would be… a tough battle.

Rapid flight could evade vines, firmly controlling combat initiative, while transforming into a crimson sun could destroy vast swathes of trees—its area destructive power far surpassing the Cat Demon King’s.

When Ranks weren’t high enough and gaps weren’t wide, factors like environment, combat methods, and numbers could significantly influence battle outcomes.

“However, even with all these advantages, the Treant Legion’s strength being insufficient remains an undeniable fact.”

In the blink of an eye, the great Buddha had been wreaking havoc for several minutes.Countless Cat Demons were smashed to death or injured, with the Treants also suffering slight losses.

Blood trickled across the ground, only to be absorbed by the Root Spirit Draw ability, transforming into nutrients that continuously replenished the great Buddha’s consumption.

Gradually, the brown great Buddha turned blood-red, shimmering with an even more terrifying radiance under the sunlight.

The Treant Forest sustained its warfare through combat, possessing unparalleled endurance.

However, even though the Tree Realm’s great Buddha had shattered the entire monster Tribe to pieces, it struggled to kill the strongest few Cat Demons. Especially the Cat Demon King.

Countless blood-red roots were chasing after that reddish-brown figure.

In the sky, the great Buddha’s massive palm was expanding inch by inch.

“Ding!”

“Prompt: Your unit ‘Tree Spirit Grandma’ has gained an Epiphany during intense life-and-death combat, comprehending the ‘Forest Domain,’ while also elevating her Concept.”

The lush forest seemed to undergo some invisible change.

This change was hidden within the woods, barely noticeable.

Yet it caused the Cat Demon King’s body to shudder abruptly.

Continuously dodging and shifting, it finally seemed to make a mistake at this moment, rapidly entangled by one vine after another.

The next moment,

“Rip—”

The Cat Demon King tore through the vines as easily as tearing cloth, but…

The massive palm descended, like a blood-red sky collapsing, enveloping everything below.

The Cat Demon King’s pupils narrowed vertically, its fur standing on end.

Boom—!!!

The blood-red giant palm struck down, the entire hand cracking and fracturing under the violent impact, yet firmly imprinting itself upon the earth, leaving a massive palm print.

Within, roots writhed, emitting rumbling noises.

After another dozen seconds,

“Ding!”

“Prompt: You have slain the Cat Demon King and the ten great Cat Demon commanders. You may now destroy the Tribe’s totem pillar.”

Thus,

The blood-red great Buddha interwove and grew another large hand from its back, descending to strike the only standing totem pillar amidst the distant, ravaged wasteland.

“Prompt: You have successfully subjugated a level three monster Tribe, obtaining battle achievement points…”

The great battle gradually subsided.

The wind brushed through the leaves.

A leaf drifted into the gaping Lord’s mouth.

The Lord, who had originally planned to scavenge leftovers, now dared not approach at all, fearing that he too might be brutally smashed by that blood-red great Buddha and die on the spot.

“But whose subordinate is this?”

The forest was no longer lush.

They stared intently.

Faintly, from the remaining grove above, they glimpsed a blurred…

“Yuan.”

Second update…

(End of chapter)