Obviously, the Netherfruit Tree that had only revealed a mere "tip of the iceberg" could not possibly be the same one that appeared in the Gray Fog Region. This one was terrifyingly large — a single branch of this Netherfruit Tree exceeded the size of the entire tree they had seen before.
"Boss, such a huge Netherfruit Tree." Bei Bei felt a creeping sense of unease.
Just moments ago, he had been completely powerless against the Netherfruit Tree.
"Keep moving forward," Lin Lei said in a low voice, while the Blackstone Space that had long since spread outward expanded once more, forming a hemispherical domain a full twenty meters in diameter. A tremendous repulsive force permeated this Blackstone Space — any foreign object that entered would be repelled.
They walked, and walked…
After traveling several thousand meters, the view before Lin Lei and Bei Bei remained unchanged — a canopy so enormous it was mind-boggling. That shockingly vast crown was supported by countless extremely thick branches woven tightly together.
"Boss, look up there," Bei Bei suddenly said.
Lin Lei couldn't help but follow Bei Bei's gaze upward. Among the tangled leaves above, a small green snake had just emerged from one of them.
"A green snake!" Lin Lei startled. "The presence of these small green snakes means there must be giant green snakes nearby! Every one of these little creatures exists in symbiosis with a Snake Spirit. In other words… besides the Snake Spirit Bei Bei killed, there are others!" Lin Lei felt his heart tighten.
Suddenly —
Lin Lei narrowed his eyes. On the leaves above, more and more small green snakes began emerging one after another. These palm-sized, finger-thick green snakes all stared at Lin Lei and Bei Bei. However, they did not attack.
"So many!" Bei Bei transmitted his voice in shock.
"Keep going," Lin Lei said, paying the green snakes no mind as he pressed onward.
As they advanced, Lin Lei and Bei Bei found swarms of green snakes appearing at every turn. The sheer number they spotted along the way numbered in the hundreds of thousands, even millions — far exceeding what they had encountered last time in the Gray Fog Region. Such a staggering quantity made even Lin Lei shudder.
If there were this many small green snakes, what about the Snake Spirits?
"The main trunk!" Lin Lei and Bei Bei couldn't help but focus their gazes on something in the distance.
After first spotting the canopy, they had traveled nearly ten thousand meters. Lin Lei and Bei Bei finally laid eyes on the trunk of this Netherfruit Tree. At first glance — it didn't even look like a trunk. It was essentially a wall! A curved wall! The diameter of this Netherfruit Tree's trunk was a staggering several hundred meters!
A trunk with a diameter of several hundred meters!
And the crown's radius reached nearly ten thousand meters!
What an immense tree. But most importantly… it was a Netherfruit Tree. In the Netherworld and in Hell, trees that thick did exist — but the wood of those trees was worthless. After all, even a branch of this Netherfruit Tree as thick as a man's arm could only be cut halfway through by Lin Lei's full-power sword strike.
The more precious something was, the rarer it became.
The wood of such a massive tree was simply too tough, which meant the tree ought to be smaller. But this one was absurdly, impossibly large.
"Just that trunk several hundred meters thick — if I tried to cut it, I wouldn't stand a chance," Lin Lei sighed inwardly. The wood of the main trunk was generally even tougher than that of the branches. And with a main trunk this thick? How could anyone possibly destroy it?
"Boss, up there — look quickly. Netherfruit!" Bei Bei exclaimed.
Lin Lei looked up.
High above on the Netherfruit Tree, glimpses of purple peeked through the dense foliage. Though the distance was great and the purple haze shrouding everything made it hard to see clearly, those spots of purple glowed like gemstones, unmistakable and striking. "It's Netherfruit! And there are dozens of them!" Lin Lei couldn't help but move closer, with Bei Bei following right behind.
The nearer they got, the clearer the sight became.
There, crystalline and translucent, so tender they seemed ready to drip juice, hung dozens of purple Netherfruits nestled among the green leaves. Each fruit dangled like a small lantern — a full several dozen of them.
"So many Netherfruits!" Bei Bei was dumbfounded.
"But in all the countless years of the Netherworld, even adding the one Berleray obtained, there have only been four! And here there are this many!" Lin Lei remained remarkably calm, because he understood — these Netherfruits were absolutely not something he could simply take at will. Otherwise, someone would have claimed them long ago.
Since entering this Purple Fog Region, they had yet to encounter any real danger.
"Haha, Netherfruit — so there were this many all along!" Bei Bei's eyes began to gleam.
"Snake Spirits, come out," Lin Lei said coldly, while his gaze swept across the canopy where countless green snakes — all staring intently at Lin Lei and Bei Bei — blanketed every branch. Bei Bei immediately laughed and called out, "Hey, what's with all these little green snakes showing up? Trying to scare someone? Why don't you come out yourselves?"
"As you wish!" A cold, harsh voice issued from within the Netherfruit Tree.
Lin Lei and Bei Bei immediately turned toward the sound.
Hissing filled the air as a massive green snake — thick as a man's arm yet eight or nine meters long — emerged from the foliage. Its sinuous body coiled around a thick branch while its head rose high, cold eyes fixed upon Lin Lei and Bei Bei.
"You —" Bei Bei was about to speak when he suddenly froze.
Because right beside this giant green snake, another one had appeared — this one slightly larger. Its tail was wound around a branch while its body hung downward against the limb. Its eyes glowed with an eerie purple light, and they too locked onto Lin Lei and Bei Bei, brimming with killing intent.
Hissing…
The leaves trembled ceaselessly as one giant green snake after another emerged from the depths.
Bei Bei counted under his breath: "Three, four, five… eight, nine!"
At last they stopped — a full nine giant green snakes. Some were intertwined with one another, some coiled around the main trunk, and others were wound tightly about it. All nine glared furiously at Lin Lei and Bei Bei. In terms of size, these giant green snakes were comparable to the one they had encountered back in the Gray Fog Region.
"Nine of them — that's going to be troublesome," Bei Bei said, his brow furrowed.
These giant green snakes were formidable opponents. The only way Bei Bei could kill them was by relying on his innate divine ability, God Devour. Though his soul power had fully recovered over the long period that had passed, facing nine giant green snakes all at once was another matter entirely.
"Nine of them!" Lin Lei also found the situation棘手.
I apologize — there is a persistent generation issue with the character 棘手. Let me render the final two paragraphs cleanly:
"Nine of them!" Lin Lei also found the situation difficult.
"Bei Bei, forget the Netherfruit for now. Let's pull back," Lin Lei transmitted telepathically. In all the countless years, no one had ever managed to harvest this many Netherfruits. Leaving aside the nine troublesome giant green snakes, the most terrifying thing of all was the Netherfruit Tree itself with its shockingly enormous size. If such a colossal Netherfruit Tree decided to deal with the two of them — that would be the real crisis.