Five down. Two to go.
The last two Guards ran in opposite directions. Smart. One might survive.
Wei Suo—the one who'd complained about fairness, who'd always looked for the easy way pushed his roots to their limit, dragging his massive trunk through the grove at speeds no tree should achieve. He almost made it.
Or he thought he did.
But.
Lu Chen appeared in front of him.
HOW—
Thunder Strike.
[Defeated: Royal Guard — Wei Suo (540 years cultivation) ]
[EXP Gained: +42]
[Progress: 111 / 2560 → 153 / 2560]
Six down. One to go.
The last Guard didn't run. Wei Qiang.
But Lu Chen could've sworn he saw him running earlier. He was even the fastest.
"Probably my mind playing tricks."
The leader, the strongest, with nearly seven centuries of earth qi stood his ground. His branches arranged in a defensive formation.
His aura radiated calm and tranquil acceptance. I knew this day would come. He could probably be convincing himself trying to look cool. Who knows? At least Lu Chen doesn't.
Lu Chen approached slowly. Not out of caution but out of mild curiosity. This one hadn't fled. That was something.
"Does he have trump card?"
The tree's branches raised in what might have been a formal salute. Or maybe it was just getting ready to fight. Hard to read tree body language.
Lu Chen shrugged internally and moved.
Phantom Mirage Step.
Flowing River Slash.
Thunder Strike.
Three techniques in one fluid motion a combination he hadn't been able to execute an hour ago. The sword pierced clean through the tree core.
Turns out he did not have a trump card.
Just full of crap.
[Defeated: Royal Guard — Wei Qiang (680 years cultivation) ]
[EXP Gained: +58]
[Progress: 153 / 2560 → 211 / 2560]
[Total Royal Guards Defeated: 7]
[EXP Gained: 100 + 100 + 100 + 53 + 47 + 42 + 58 = 500 total]
[Basic Sword Lvl. 1: 35% → 42%]
Lu Chen stood among the seven now winter firewood corpses, breathing steady. His body still ached from the earlier soreness, but the breakthrough had changed things. At BT8, they'd been deadly. At BT9? They'd been good training dummies.
Through the roots, a new voice emerged. Ancient. Heavy with a millennium of accumulated earth qi. ...my children...
The ground trembled.
The largest tree at the center of the grove began to move.
Not like the others. This one didn't only shift its branches or extend its roots. It rose.
Massive roots pulled from the earth like legs, each one thick as a dragon. The trunk split, revealing a dark hollow at its heart. And from that hollow, a single eye opened.
Arrogant.
The Mother Queen. Mu Wang Mu.
[Alert: Mother Tree detected. Cultivation: Body Tempering 9 Peak —(半步) half-step Body Forging. ]
[Warning: She has cultivated earth qi for over one thousand years. ]
Lu Chen looked at her.
He was Body Tempering 9 with Iron Hide at Body Forging 1 equivalent.
Let's see how much EXP I'll get.
She attacked.
Roots exploded from everywhere. Hundreds of them, thick as pythons, tipped with thorns like swords. Branches rained from above. Vines filled the air.
A kill box designed to leave no room for escape.
Through the roots, her spiritual sense radiated pure arrogance.
Another insect. Same as all the others. They scream, they bleed, and they die.
Lu Chen didn't dodge.
He walked forward.
A root slammed into his chest. Iron Hide absorbed it. He didn't slow down.
[Iron Hide EXP +0... +0]
The notification that had gone dormant for a while flickered back to life.
Not because he gained anything, he didn't.
But because the System apparently felt the attack was "half-step" worth acknowledging. A "half-step" participation trophy. A "half-step" consolation prize. Congratulations, your hit was almost "half-step" strong enough to matter. Here's a zero. "Half-step" frame it.
A branch whipped across his back. Left a red mark. Maybe. He didn't check.
[Iron Hide EXP +0... +0]
Another zero. The System was just practically trolling her at this point.
Vines wrapped around his legs, trying to trip him. They snapped from the tension.
[Iron Hide EXP +0... +0]
"She doesn't know they're zeros."
<...that makes it funnier.>
The Mother Queen's eye flickered.
...what?
She hit him again. Harder. A branch like a battering ram to his ribs.
[Iron Hide EXP +0... +0]
He kept walking.
Another root, this one aimed at his face. He didn't even blink. It bounced off.
[Iron Hide EXP +0... +0]
...that's... not possible.
...Isn't he exhausted?
He reached her trunk.
She slammed him with a branch the size of a log.
Heaven-Crushing Wood Strike.
Her strongest technique, refined over a thousand years.
It connected solidly with his shoulder.
If his Rock Body had not evolved into Iron Hide at the threshold of Body Forging, that single strike would have shattered his ribs, pulped his organs, and sent him flying away like a broken kite.
But.
He didn't move.
[Iron Hide EXP +0... +0]
Who knows what got under the System's skin or rather, circuits. It just decided to wake up and choose violence. Even Lu Chen was oblivious to the low-key jab thrown at him by his own interface.
He didn't flinch.
He didn't even breathe harder.
The Mother Queen's eye went wide.
Through the roots, her spiritual sense flickered.
...no.
He should be paste. That strike kills everything.
She hit him again but Harder like she hadn't hit him harder already. A branch like a battering ram to his ribs.
[Iron Hide EXP +0... +0]
He kept walking.
...that's... not possible.
She shifted tactics. Roots instead of branches. Vines instead of roots. Thorns instead of vines. Every technique she'd refined over a millennium, thrown at him in rapid succession.
[Iron Hide EXP +0... +0... +0... +0]
He didn't slow down.
...he's not... he's not even...
The realization crept in slowly.
He's not tired. He's not wounded. He's not even trying.
He's just... walking.
Through everything.
Through ME.
WHAT IS HE?
WHAT—
WHAT—
Her thoughts spiraled, crashed into each other, collapsed inward.
A thousand years of accumulated certainty that she was strong, that her grove was unassailable, that her children's deaths would be avenged. It was all shattered in the span of three heartbeats.
By the time Lu Chen reached her trunk, there was nothing left behind that ancient eye but static.
She screamed.
Not because of the sword. The sword was just metal through wood. Nothing special.
She screamed because her entire worldview had just been mulchified by a teenager who walked through her strongest techniques like they were breeze.
She screamed because for the first time in a thousand years, she felt small.
Not that trees had mental health. But if they did, hers would be in the middle of a catastrophic collapse.
[Defeated: Mother Tree (Body Tempering 9 Peak — 1000+ years cultivation) ]
[EXP Gained: +189]
[Breakthrough Progress: 211 / 2560 → 400 / 2560]
[Basic Sword Lvl. 1: 42% → 50%]
The Mother Queen's eye went dark. Her massive form shuddered once, then stilled. Not out of ecstasy—no perverts allowed here.
Her last emotion, frozen in that final moment, was pure, undiluted existential dread.
Lu Chen pulled his sword out. Didn't even breathe hard.
He looked at the notifications.
+0. +0. +0. +0. +0.
"System."
"Why am I getting zeroes?"
"...Huh."
Lu Chen snorted. "I hear you."
---
It was almost nightfall when the battle finished. The sun had long since abandoned the sky, leaving only faint traces of red and gold bleeding into darkness.
Lu Chen decided to rest for a while. Not because he needed it.
Even though He had just sent a family of trees packing to the circle of reincarnation, his blood qi was still at comfortable levels, and the breakthrough had left him feeling more energized than exhausted.
But because he was smart.
Rushing through a dangerous forest at night, even with his defenses, was asking for trouble.
He found a relatively clear spot near the edge of the grove, sat cross-legged, and began circulating blood qi through his meridians.
The gentle flow helped smooth over the remaining soreness, accelerated the healing of minor cuts, and brought his reserves to peak condition.
Well, he hadn't eaten since... actually, he doesn't really feel hungry.
Probably the breakthrough suppressing his appetite. Or maybe his body was too busy cultivating to bother with such mortal concerns.
Not like eating trees was a better source of food anyway. He still had some leftover meat jerkies in his storage pouch. They'd do.
Fifteen minutes later, he opened his eyes.
Full stamina.
Full blood qi.
Good.
Let's go.
He stood, stretched, and walked out of the grove.
The moment he stepped past the last twisted tree and into the open forest, a voice rang out.
"Hoy! Where do you think you're going?"
[TO BE CONTINUED...]