Chapter Twenty-Two: Regeneration
The Queen Mother "Rashabel" had the face of an angel, but her methods were those of a devil.
"Children, guard this passage with your lives. As long as even one of you still breathes, none of them are getting through." The Queen Mother "Rashabel's" voice echoed between heaven and earth, and immediately countless roars of response erupted from beneath the desert.
Innumerable vines and roots erupted from the desert surface, shooting skyward. The black pyramid-shaped structure was then wrapped tightly—layer upon layer, inside and out—until not a crack was visible.
Rashabel's lips curled upward ever so slightly. Then—whoosh! The air trembled faintly, and the Queen Mother "Rashabel" transformed into a streak of emerald light, pursuing Lin Lei's group at staggering speed. There was no denying it: the Queen Mother "Rashabel" was terrifyingly fast. In mere moments, Lin Lei and the others realized she was closing in from behind.
"Faster! Faster!" Every member of Lin Lei's group pushed their speed to the absolute limit.
"Lacerford and Karlssa—two powerhouses—were swallowed and killed in the blink of an eye. This Queen Mother's strength is horrifying." Lin Lei felt his heart clench. The subsidiary monster that Bei Bei had pulled out earlier had initially enveloped them all, yet it hadn't managed to kill a single person. Lin Lei and Fa En hadn't even been scratched. The gap between a subsidiary and the Queen Mother was simply enormous.
"Boss, watch out!" Bei Bei's voice suddenly rang in Lin Lei's mind. Lin Lei immediately glanced back and saw a vine—green, translucent, as thick as an arm—piercing through the void like an arrow and hurtling toward him with terrifying speed.
Among the eleven remaining powerhouses, Lin Lei's speed ranked only in the lower-middle tier.
"Break!" Lin Lei whipped out the Purple Blood Flexible Sword and slashed. The blade trailed an eerie purple afterimage as the fabric of space blurred and warped around it. The sword bit into the translucent vine.
Wind's Profound Mystery—Second Stage of the Wind's Cadence!
Lin Lei felt as though he were a child chopping at a tree with an axe.
Tsss—the Purple Blood Flexible Sword sank partway into the vine. Lin Lei's full-powered strike had severed only about eighty percent of the arm-thick vine. At the same time, he felt a constriction around his waist—the vine had already coiled around him.
"It didn't cut through?!" Horror surged through Lin Lei's heart. He knew exactly how devastating a full-power strike from him could be. Yet a single vine from this Queen Mother "Rashabel" was this terrifyingly tough. There was no time to think. The Purple Blood Flexible Sword in his hand began to vibrate.
Wind's Profound Mystery—Wind Fluctuation!
In the span of a single heartbeat, the sword, embedded in the vine, vibrated over ten thousand times, slicing through the remaining twenty percent of the vine's thickness.
But in the moment it took to sever that one vine, Lin Lei's speed was already compromised. Instantly, hundreds of vines surged toward him from every direction. The color drained from Lin Lei's face until not a drop of blood remained. "One vine was already so hard to cut through… and now there are hundreds…"
Seeing hundreds of vines closing in on Lin Lei all at once, the others fleeing ahead felt their hearts shudder. Not long ago, something similar had happened. Lacerford and Karlssa had been enveloped by those vines, and the result—nothing remained but bare bones. Lin Lei was the most powerful attacker in their group. If even he fell, what hope did any of them have?
"Boss!" Bei Bei cried in alarm.不顾 danger, he immediately wheeled around and flew back toward Lin Lei.
Whoosh—Bei Bei became a streak of black light and shot forward.
As hundreds of vines closed in from every side, a black jade heavy sword appeared in Lin Lei's hand in an instant. His right hand gripped the black jade heavy sword while his left held the Purple Blood Flexible Sword. The heavy sword moved with deceptive lightness, yet it slashed forward with the speed of lightning.
Earth's Profound Mystery—Earth's Pulse: Sixty-Four Layers!
This was a fight for survival.
"Break! BREAK!!!" Lin Lei's face twisted into a savage mask.
Vines surrounded Lin Lei on all sides—dozens of them twisted together, descending upon him from the front alone.
The dozens of vines struck by the black jade heavy sword shuddered, but these supple, tenacious vines were extraordinarily resistant to vibrational force. Even with Lin Lei executing Earth's Pulse at sixty-four layers at full power, the black jade heavy sword managed to pulverize only about a dozen vines; the remaining dozens were untouched.
Whoosh!
A trail of eerie purple light followed immediately after. The dozens of vines in front seemed to have become brittle, and the Purple Blood Flexible Sword cleaved through them cleanly.
Lin Lei seized the opening and shot through the gap at full speed.
"Boss." Bei Bei was already upon him. "Quick, get on my back."
Bei Bei's body had already expanded. Without a moment's hesitation, Lin Lei leaped onto Bei Bei's back, and Bei Bei's speed instantly skyrocketed. Bei Bei, De Sli Li, and Fa En were the fastest among all the powerhouses. Once Bei Bei accelerated, the pursuing vines were left behind in an instant.
Whew—only then did Lin Lei let out a long, shaking breath.
Being surrounded by hundreds of vines just moments ago had truly felt like the end of the world.
Because the Queen Mother "Rashabel" had pursued Lin Lei, she had opened up distance from the others. And after witnessing Lin Lei's near-death crisis, the rest had learned their lesson.
"Quick, Olivier, get on my back!" one of the six-eyed golden lions barked. The other six-eyed golden lion called out to "Rosaly" beside him as well. Among this group of powerhouses, the fastest were Bei Bei, Fa En, and De Sli Li. After them came the three six-eyed golden lions, Tu Li Lei, and the black-armored giant scorpion.
As for Lin Lei, Olivier, and Rosaly—they were a shade slower still. Whether it was Olivier, who cultivated the laws of the Light element, or Lin Lei, who cultivated the laws of the Wind element, both were in fact extremely fast. Olivier combined Light and Darkness, and Lin Lei had the body of a Dragon Blood Warrior… but compared to Bei Bei, Fa En, Tu Li Lei, and the six-eyed golden lions, they fell slightly behind.
"That black-armored giant scorpion is quite fast," one of the six-eyed golden lions remarked casually as they flew.
The black-armored giant scorpion clan was only a ninth-grade magical beast species. For this individual to have reached the pinnacle of the Saint Realm was already remarkable. The fact that it could also move this swiftly… truly impressive.