webnovelvip Chapter 67 The Corrupted Ancient Tree Guardian, Phase 1 Gatekeeper
Chapter 67 The Corrupted Ancient Tree Guardian, Phase 1 Gatekeeper
After resting, the team continued their advance deeper into the Peach Blossom Spring.
Equipped with their new gear, the members of the seventh and eighth squads followed behind the first squad, their steps now carrying a newfound confidence. They felt as if they could tear this dilapidated valley apart.
After passing through a peach grove littered with ghastly white bones, the terrain suddenly drops ahead, revealing a bottomless canyon. A single log bridge, twisted from massive peach trees, connects the two banks of the canyon.
At the other end of the bridge stood a huge figure.
It was a living ancient tree.
The tree trunk is so thick that it would take more than a dozen people to encircle it. Its bark is like the dry skin of an old man, full of wrinkles and cracks. It has no crown; instead, countless thick vines dance and coil in the air like a swarm of snakes. At the center of the trunk, a huge wooden carving of a human face is faintly visible, with its eyes closed.
[Guardians of the decaying ancient tree].
The first checkpoint leading to the core area.
"The goalkeeper," Zhao Leiguang tapped the bridgehead with his shield, "looks like someone you don't want to mess with."
Lei Zhan stepped forward and retrieved the intelligence he had gathered earlier on his personal terminal: "Its vines have an extremely wide attack range and are incredibly resilient, making them difficult to cut with conventional physical attacks. Once entangled, they will continuously drain your life force."
His second-in-command, a young shieldbearer named Li Mo, added in a low voice, "Our team perished here last time. Its regeneration speed is too fast; we simply couldn't damage it."
Xiao Qianyu didn't rush to give the order. Her gaze passed over the ancient tree guardian and looked at the cliff face on the other side of the bridge. There were several inconspicuous caves there, and some fist-sized, jet-black beetles were crawling in and out of the cave entrances.
The Withered Beetle is a companion monster that is described as "non-threatening" in the data.
"Tactics unchanged," Xiao Qianyu said. "First squad to attack, third squad to provide support and suppression, seventh and eighth squads to clear out any accompanying monsters that may appear. Maintain formation and prepare to cross the bridge."
"Understood!" Lei Zhan's voice was steady and powerful.
He led the way onto the log bridge, with the members of the seventh squad following closely behind.
The moment they stepped onto the bridge, the ancient tree on the opposite bank, its tightly closed wooden carving eyes suddenly opened.
There was no roaring, no howling.
A series of sharp, whistling sounds filled the air.
Dozens of vines, as thick as basketballs, burst forth from its body, intertwining to form a giant net that swept over the people on the bridge.
"Raise your shields! Hold on!" Lei Zhan roared, his dark gold shield shining brightly, and a huge energy barrier unfolded in front of the team.
The vines lashed against the barrier with dull thuds. The energy barrier fluctuated violently, but ultimately withstood the impact.
However, this is only the first wave.
More vines attacked from all directions, like endless tentacles, bypassing the shield wall in front and wrapping around the rest of the team from the sides and below.
"Watch out for the flanks!"
The seventh squad's vice-tank, Li Mo, reacted quickly. He sidestepped and used his shield to knock away a vine that was attacking the healer. But just as he lost his strength and before he could generate new strength, his ankle tightened.
An inconspicuous vine sprouted from under the bridge and wrapped tightly around his ankle.
Li Mo's heart skipped a beat. Just as he was about to use his battle blade to cut it, more vines climbed up his calves, thighs, waist and abdomen, wrapping him up like a green dumpling in the blink of an eye, leaving only his helmet sticking out.
"Li Mo!" Lei Zhan's eyes widened in fury.
Li Mo's health bar is dropping at an alarming rate.
In almost three seconds, a fully healed heavy shieldbearer's health bar was reduced to zero. His newly equipped legendary gear didn't even cause a splash.
Meanwhile, the ancient tree guardians on the opposite bank, which had previously appeared somewhat withered, visibly recovered.
The healers in the team frantically cast healing spells on Li Mo, but the holy light falling on the vines was like a stone thrown into the sea, having no effect whatsoever.
"Physical attacks are ineffective! Bloodsucking! It's sucking Li Mo's blood!" Lei Zhan's voice trembled slightly.
This mechanism is more disgusting and unreasonable than the one they encountered last time.
"Don't worry about me! Captain! Retreat!" Li Mo, wrapped in vines, shouted with his last bit of strength, and the light from his helmet dimmed.
The system's cold notification sounded: [Team member Li Mo has been forcibly removed from the secret realm, equipment frozen for one month].
The confidence and elation that had just risen on the faces of the members of the seventh and eighth squads were instantly extinguished by a bucket of ice water.
Their new equipment was as fragile as paper in the face of absolute systemic suppression.
"Captain Xiao!" Lei Zhan turned his head, his eyes pleading for help.
Xiao Qianyu's expression was also grim. She was preparing to activate her abilities, using her superior mobility to force her way across the bridge and interrupt the BOSS's spellcasting.
"etc."
He walked from the back of the group to the bridgehead, his gaze not falling on the strutting ancient tree, but on the black beetles crawling on the cliff face across the bridge.
"Wen Yue."
"Yes!" Wen Yue responded immediately.
"See those beetles?" Lu Yan pointed. "Kill one of them."
Although Wen Yue was puzzled, she immediately drew her bow and arrow. A wind element arrow whistled out and accurately struck a withered beetle that was lingering at the entrance of the cave.
The beetle burst open and turned into a pool of black water.
At the very moment the beetle died, an inconspicuous change occurred.
The vines that were wrapped around Li Mo's corpse seemed to have been scalded by something, and they all retracted at an astonishing speed.
The once indestructible vines have now become as soft and fragile as cooked noodles.
Lei Zhan was stunned.
The members of the seventh and eighth squads were also stunned.
Xiao Qianyu watched this scene, and then, recalling Lu Yan's instructions, she seemed to be deep in thought.
"So that's how it is..." she murmured.
"Zhao Leiguang." Lu Yan's voice rang out again.
"Alright!" Zhao Leiguang couldn't hold back any longer. He strode onto the log bridge, the Taotie belt around his waist flashing red light.
Swallow.
The target was the withered beetle that Wen Yue had just shot dead.
Zhao Leiguang instantly gained a temporary buff.
[Power of Withering]: Your attacks will have a withering effect, causing structural damage to plant units.
He grinned, picked up his two shields, and swaggered towards the ancient tree guardian on the opposite bank.
The ancient tree guardians launched another attack, with countless vines emerging like pythons from their caves, sweeping over Zhao Leiguang.
Zhao Leiguang neither dodged nor avoided, letting the vines wrap around him layer by layer.
This time, the anticipated bloodsucking and imprisonment did not occur.
Any vines that came into contact with Zhao Leiguang were like those that had come into contact with concentrated sulfuric acid; they withered and carbonized at a speed visible to the naked eye, then broke into pieces of charcoal that fell off his body.
Zhao Leiguang is like a walking plant incinerator, carving out a path through a sea of vines.
He walked up to the ancient tree guardian and raised his shield.
He slammed his shield down.
The shield bash, imbued with the power of withering, struck the hard tree trunk, no longer producing a dull thud, but rather a "crack" sound similar to rotten wood shattering.
A large piece of bark, along with the wooden structure, was smashed off, revealing the black, rotting core inside.
The ancient tree guardian let out a painful wail; this time, the sound was no longer a mental shock, but a pure physical scream.
Its proud infinite vines and life-sucking mechanism were completely destroyed by an inconspicuous companion monster.
"Seventh team, eighth team!" Xiao Qianyu's voice rang out. "What are you all standing around for? Wen Yue, Lin Rui, clear out all the withered beetles! Everyone else, cross the bridge and start firing!"
Lei Zhan seemed to wake from a dream. He glanced at Zhao Leiguang, who was strolling leisurely in front of the BOSS, and then looked back at Lu Yan, who had remained calm and composed throughout.
He took a deep breath, raised his shield, and let out a long-suppressed roar.