Chapter 42 - Strange Evolution!
In the quiet forest, the sound of clear footsteps could be heard coming from behind.
Seemingly sensing this, the investigators all turned around, staring at the newcomer who was coming from a distance. They didn’t show any surprise. After all, the only people who could come here were probably the investigators who had come to sit for the assessment.
Only Lin Lei turned to look at the youth in the distance, frowning slightly as he said, “You are an investigator who’s here for the assessment as well? Unfortunately, this battle has already ended.”
“No, it probably hasn’t,” Wang Ye said, “This is a very rare purple-thunder jacaranda. How can the battle be said to have ended?”
“Hm?” Lin Lei’s eyes focused, “Interesting. You’re here to snatch the materials? I’m afraid this isn’t a good idea, right? We went through a lot of trouble to defeat this fierce beast.”
The emotions in the eyes of the other investigators immediately changed as well.
“The word ‘snatch’ isn’t quite appropriate,” Wang Ye said slowly, “I’m here to save the lot of you.”
“?” Everyone.
“Oh?” Lin Lei laughed, “Bro, this fierce beast is dying. We don’t seem to need you to save us. Still, for you to reach this place by just relying on your green sparrow, you’re quite powerful.”
He glanced at Xiao Jiu, who was on Wang Ye’s shoulder.
“Dying?” Wang Ye waved his hand, “I can tell with a glance that all of you are newbies who don’t have much experience.”
“?” Everyone.
They were all here to sit for the assessment. It couldn’t be that there were veterans here, right?
As he spoke, Wang Ye walked over and continued, “Let me tell you, when you encounter a boss-level fierce beast like this in a secret realm, you must consider a fatal factor! If you forget this, then you are probably only one step away from death.”
Hearing this, everyone was quite curious.
Even Lin Lei listened as he frowned.
“This fatal factor is...” Wang Ye walked nearer to the purple-thunder jacaranda and said, “The beast may seem to have died, but in reality, it is about to enter its second form of battle. You think you have won, but in reality, you’re already dead.”
Hearing these words, the others were instantly shocked.
“The second form? Fierce beasts have a second form?”
“Have you heard of it?”
“I’ve never heard of it!”
“Our commander never told us such a thing...”
The investigators began to discuss amongst themselves.
For a moment, they were filled with bewilderment. Even Lin Lei was stunned.
“You don’t believe me, do you?” Wang Ye suddenly pointed at the top of the tree, “Look!”
The investigators and their pets subconsciously turned their gazes over.
Right at this moment, Wang Ye flicked his finger, and a black, round object silently shot out, bouncing onto the tree.
The instant it touched the tree, it strangely fused into it, like a stone sinking into a pool of mud.
“There doesn’t seem to be anything?”
“Something seems to be glowing. It’s probably the treasure, right?”
“I don’t see anything special about it?”
...
The investigators discussed.
“Bro, are you joking with us?” Lin Lei retracted his gaze, staring at Wang Ye with hostility in his eyes.
“Who is joking with you?” Wang Ye pointed at the large tree. “If you don’t run now, it’ll be too late. If it enters its second form, it might regain its original power. The few of you are no match for it at all.”
“Then why aren’t you running?” Lin Lei laughed coldly.
“Because I can subdue it,” Wang Ye said.
The investigators immediately felt as though they had been fooled, and were about to angrily make a move, but right at this moment!
“Roar... !” Suddenly, the dying giant tree let out a roar.
The branches on it seemed to be on fire as they began to glow with light.
A strange mist began to swirl around its body like countless ghosts.
It slowly rose from the ground, retracting its branches, as though it had transformed into an ancient tree warrior.
Its aura began to grow increasingly powerful!
“Damn! There’s really a second form?”
“Hurry up and run! This is ridiculous!”
“I’ve learned something new...”
...
The faces of the investigators turned pale as they began to retreat at high speed.
Lin Lei’s face was filled with shock as well, as though he had never seen anything like this before.
His expression changed several times, but in the end, he couldn’t hold on any longer, and unwillingly retreated with his pet.
“This fellow...” Lin Lei stared at Wang Ye.
historical
At this moment, the aura of the purple-thunder jacaranda was soaring, and it seemed to be evolving, what with the light emanating from its entire body.
Something seemed very wrong.
Seeing the others quickly retreat, Wang Ye smiled slightly but was not in a hurry to leave.
“Chirp, chirp!” Xiao Jiu cried out uneasily.
It was quite confused.
“Don’t worry,” Wang Ye walked forward and looked at the giant tree, remaining silent.
“Roar!!” The giant tree let out an angry roar, and the branches on the ground trembled like countless snakes. Then, they suddenly shot up and built rows of vine-like giant walls, instantly engulfing the surrounding area and Wang Ye as well.
With this, they were separated from the outside world.
Inside, Wang Ye and the giant tree looked at each other.
“Who... Who are you... how do you know of the strange evolution? Why did you save me?” The giant tree suddenly spoke in human language, and its voice became much clearer.
Hearing this, Wang Ye sighed, as if he had just confirmed something, “That’s not important. What’s important is that at least you’re still alive.”
“...”
Silence.
“The strange core is only from a low-level strange god, so it might not be able to last you for long,” Wang Ye said in a low voice. “But, I’d like to know something.”
“Most of my memories have been lost,” The giant tree said in a low voice. “There’s only a remnant of my consciousness left... But, I still want to say that I’m really not a fierce beast.”
“I know. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have saved you,” Wang Ye asked, “Who is the Xiao Tao that you mentioned?”
“Our big sister... We call it Xiao Tao,” The giant tree muttered, “It’s a peachwood sword. I vaguely remember that it rescued us from the dark fog and helped some of us complete the strange evolution. It killed all kinds of strange gods along the way until it lost its soul, and then it ended up here. I’ve been here to protect it. It’s not a demonic sword! How could it be like what that human had said...”
The giant tree was very agitated, and the more it talked, the more chaotic its breathing became.
“...” Wang Ye took a slight breath.
When he heard the name “Xiao Tao” just now, he inexplicably thought of Xiao Tao in Ming Tianxu’s diary.
The connection between the two made Wang Ye come forward, wanting to find out what was going on.
Now, it seemed that the two might really be related.
Was there really a demonic sword sealed in this Sealed Demon Sword Tomb?
As for the giant tree’s current appearance, it was because it had undergone strange evolution.
When a pet swallows a strange god’s nucleus and is thus infected by the strange power, there’s a certain probability that it will achieve the strange evolution.
This was one of the methods of strange evolution as recorded in the diary.
After the evolution, the pet or fierce beast would, for a short time, gain tremendous power.
It was just that they wouldn’t be able to hold on for long..
Wang Ye had originally thought that it was probably useless... but he tried it anyway, just in case.
The aura of the giant tree itself was very weak. If he wanted to understand everything, this was the only way for now.
As for Lin Lei, he didn’t have the time to pay attention to him for now.
“Right. Why did you attack Lin Lei?” Wang ye asked. “Earlier, I was watching from the side. During the battle just now, you weren’t willing to attack those investigators. In fact, you even saved Yun Xiaobei once.”
The giant tree was silent for a moment, then said, “Because they are humans. Only beasts would attack humans. We aren’t beasts.”
“...” Wang Ye.
“Are you saying that Lin Lei isn’t human?” Wang Ye’s breathing stopped for a split second.
“I don’t know... but he slandered Xiao Tao and I couldn’t stand it. I should’ve been asleep for a long time. Those words just now woke me up...”