The two Borley brothers and the two brothers Lin Lei and
"Boss, what do you think that Netherfruit looks like—the one that can massively boost your strength?" Bei Bei's eyes were brimming with curiosity as he transmitted his voice.
Lin Lei scanned the surroundings. "Netherfruit, Netherfruit… maybe it looks like an ordinary fruit. Hmm, something's not right!" Lin Lei sniffed the air and caught a remarkably unique, fresh scent. After inhaling it, his mind instantly cleared, and even the gray mist that had been clouding his soul in his mind dissipated considerably.
"Boss, the gray mist ahead has thinned a lot," Bei Bei said quickly.
A thought struck Lin Lei. "Looks like we're almost there. Let's go!"
He strode forward. The two Borley brothers beside him did the same. After advancing roughly another hundred meters, Lin Lei found that the surrounding gray mist had completely vanished. "What kind of tree is that?" He couldn't help but look toward the open center ahead. In that clearing stood a squat, broad tree with incredibly lush branches.
The short tree had a trunk that would take two people to wrap their arms around, and the entire tree was less than thirty meters tall.
Yet this tree bore countless branches—thousands upon thousands of them—each one stretching one to two hundred meters long. From these exceedingly long branches, numerous smaller offshoots extended sideways. As a result, this single squat tree blanketed an area spanning several hundred meters.
"Boss, look—what's that?" Bei Bei exclaimed.
Lin Lei's gaze sharpened.
There, amid the foliage on one of the great branches above the crown of the squat tree, sat a fruit slightly larger than a fist. It was nearly spherical, with a purple skin that was crystalline and translucent, shimmering with flowing light and color—utterly dazzling. Faint, misty vapor drifted from it.
"What an incredibly fresh aura." Lin Lei drew a deep breath. His mind grew even clearer, and his soul felt wonderfully comfortable. "This… is the Netherfruit?"
Lin Lei couldn't help but glance at the Borley brothers beside him. Borley's eyes were gleaming as he stared at the Netherfruit. Yet he didn't rush forward. Instead, he called out in a clear voice, "Lin Lei, that is the Netherfruit! But I must warn you—it won't be easy to harvest. The serpent spirit guarding the Netherfruit hasn't appeared yet."
Borley had lived through countless years and had witnessed the last harvest of the Netherfruit. He clearly knew the danger.
Lin Lei understood as well…
The Netherfruit might look like it was just sitting there, but if someone charged in blindly, they would be in for a world of trouble.
"Boss, let me go!" Bei Bei said confidently, ready to dash forward.
"Bei Bei, don't rush," Lin Lei ordered.
"Hmm?" Bei Bei looked at him.
"Watch first!" Lin Lei scrutinized the surroundings carefully. Suddenly— *Rustle, rustle~~* The green leaves spread across the branches of the Netherfruit tree trembled as if blown by a wind, and the sound shattered the surrounding silence. At the same time, green energy light began to glow across the branches and leaves that blanketed the area for hundreds of meters, gradually forming…
Palm-sized green snakes materialized upon the leaves.
"So many!" Bei Bei sucked in a sharp breath.
He wasn't afraid of these green snakes, but seeing so many of them made his scalp tingle. Lin Lei couldn't help narrowing his eyes… A single sweep of his gaze revealed tens of thousands of green snakes. Dense and tightly packed, the little green serpents appeared on virtually every part of the tree.
"That's just the appetizer," Borley said coldly.
"Serpent spirit, why don't you come out?" Borley called in a loud voice. "What? You want me to come over so you can ambush me?"
Lin Lei and Bei Bei were startled.
Serpent spirit? These green snakes weren't the serpent spirit?
"Haha, I didn't expect you to know I was here!" A crisp, eerie voice drifted from the trunk of the tree. "How boring. I wanted to play with you all a bit longer, but now you've forced me to show myself… No surprise left at all." As the voice still echoed, the true form of the Netherfruit tree's guardian gradually emerged!
Lin Lei, Bei Bei, and Brun couldn't help but feel a chill run through them.
A massive green serpent—thick as an arm and nearly ten meters long—slowly emerged from within the tree trunk. The enormous green snake coiled around the trunk, its head raised high, its cold, purple-gleaming eyes sweeping over Lin Lei, Borley, and the others in the distance.
Those serpent eyes were piercingly purple!
Lin Lei and Bei Bei squinted, unwilling to meet the green giant's gaze.
"Lin Lei, what we need to do now is seize the Netherfruit while warding off countless green snakes and that serpent spirit," Borley said flatly. "One more thing—the serpent spirit can also control the Netherfruit Tree to hinder and restrain you. Well then… whoever gets the Netherfruit keeps it."
With that, an earthen-yellow glow gradually began to radiate from Borley's body.
"Earth divine power?" Lin Lei frowned.
Bei Bei, on the other hand, licked his lips in excitement. "Boss, leave the Netherfruit to me! I don't care about those little green snakes. The Netherfruit… I'm definitely getting it!" A divine-grade dagger appeared in Bei Bei's hand as he watched Borley carefully.
Borley was clearly gathering his power— "Ha!"
With a sudden explosive shout, the earthen-yellow glow on Borley's body instantly concentrated on his right leg. He raised his right foot and then stomped down hard on the ground. *BOOM!* The entire earth let out a terrifying rumble as all the earthen-yellow light surged from his leg into the ground.
Strangely— The earth beneath Borley's feet was completely unscathed.
"Pulse transmission, explosive release?" Lin Lei guessed the profound principle behind this move, though he himself couldn't achieve it yet. He immediately looked toward the Netherfruit Tree ahead.
*BOOM!* *BOOM!* *BOOM!* *BOOM!*