Twenty thousand meters deep beneath Shanhai City.

Inside the Underground Palace.

An elder with a clover mask, leaning on a cane, held a conch covered in runes in his hand.

The conch was emitting a voice, "Ku He, immediately seize Shanhai City!"

This voice was filled with urgency.

The clover-masked man, who was the Divine Plant Cult's Great Elder, listened with a slight frown.

He asked, "Sect Hierarch, has something happened in the Origin Land?"

No sooner had he spoken than the conch relayed, "A mysterious and extremely powerful woman has suddenly appeared in the Origin Land, and the High Priest, the Left and Right Protectors, the Second Elder, the Third Elder, and the Fourth Elder have all been killed!"

"What?!"

The Great Elder's face showed shock.

The Sect Hierarch said, "I suspect there is a traitor within our cult who is tipping off that mysterious woman, exposing our base in the Origin Land!"

"You must now attack Shanhai City without delay, lest any changes arise!"

"I will mobilize a large number of beasts to attack other human strongholds, to draw away the warriors from the three human strongholds beneath Shanhai City, assisting you in seizing Shanhai City and establishing an Origin Land base!"

"..."

The Great Elder replied, "I understand, Sect Hierarch."

The Sect Hierarch declared, "Enough talk, quickly organize the beast horde to attack Shanhai City; I am now organizing an assault on other human strongholds."

After this last sentence, the conversation between the two ended.

The Great Elder stored the Conch of Sound Transmission.

He left the central Underground Palace.

He arrived at a smaller Underground Palace closest to the surface.

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Then, he took out a scarlet seed and walked to an altar at the center of the Underground Palace, burying the seed in the soil at the heart of the altar.

Next, he released his Qi-Blood, condensing a drop of thick Essence Blood that fell onto the seed.

The moment the seed touched the Essence Blood, it immediately sprouted roots and shoots at a speed visible to the naked eye.

It sent out a massive network of roots digging deep into the altar.

Sprouts appeared, growing rapidly until they were tall and strong.

In less than half a minute.

What had been an empty altar now featured a Scarlet Giant Tree tens of meters high.

"Blood, I need blood..."

"This avatar shell is too weak..."

"I need to absorb a great deal of fresh blood to develop and evolve this avatar into a kilometer-high tree..."

"To take root in this land permanently..."

"To control the land within a ten-mile radius..."

On the trunk of the Scarlet Giant Tree, a fierce human face emerged, speaking in a thick voice.

The Great Elder, looking at the face, said, "Wait a moment."

As he spoke, he tapped the ground with his cane, producing a "thud, thud, thud" sound.

Seconds later.

A Giant Mutant Rat over ten meters in length burst through the soil and emerged.

"Great Elder, what are your orders?"

The Rat King lay on the ground, its voice respectful as it inquired.

Its aura had grown stronger.

Over the past years, it had received quite a few Evolution Resources from the Great Elder.

Its Biological Level had evolved to High Level Fourth Order.

The Great Elder said indifferently, "I need one thousand Giant Mutant Rats of at least Ordinary Fifth Order."

Upon hearing this, the Rat King glanced at the Scarlet Giant Tree on the altar, aware of the fate awaiting those one thousand of its kin.

However, it didn't hesitate for a moment and immediately turned its head toward the row of holes on the side, emitting a sharp and lengthy squeak:

"Squeak—!"

The moment the sound arose,

a earthquake-like commotion suddenly emanated from the row of holes on the side.

A moment later,

a throng of giant mutant rats burst forth from the openings.

In an instant, they filled the entire underground palace.

"Buzz!"

"Buzz!"

"Buzz!"

The sharp sound of something cutting through the air rang out.

In the blink of an eye, a myriad of spikes shot out from the scarlet giant tree, aiming for each and every giant mutant rat except the Rat King.

"Pfft!"

"Pfft!"

"Pfft!"

This was followed by a series of dull thuds as flesh was pierced by hard objects.

All of the giant mutant rats in the underground palace were skewered by the vines, which greedily sucked at their flesh and blood.

In just the blink of an eye, these giant mutant rats were all drained into mummified husks, their skins as thin as cicada wings and piled up on the ground.

On the contrary, the scarlet giant tree, which was feasting on their flesh, was growing and expanding at a rapid pace.

Tens of meters!

A hundred meters!

Several hundred meters!

A kilometer!

The scarlet giant tree shot up over a kilometer in height, bursting forth from the center of Shanhai City and becoming a colossal umbrella that cast a scarlet shadow over the city center.

...

In the dormitory,

Lin Zichen sat cross-legged on the bed, focused on breaking through his second acupoint.

The acupoint he was targeting was the brain aperture.

The first acupoint he had opened was the heart aperture, which enhanced his Qi-Blood abilities.

With the idea of balance in mind, this second acupoint needed to be of a different type.

The brain aperture, which could enhance his spirit abilities, was a good choice.

"Hoo—"

After an unknown span of time, Lin Zichen slowly opened his eyes and let out a deep breath with a relieved smile on his face.

He had successfully opened a brain aperture.

His mental burst strength had increased by 10%.

Next, it was time to open the body aperture.

"Smiling so happily, did you successfully open your brain aperture?"

Shen Qinghan, who was sitting cross-legged nearby, looked at Lin Zichen with smile and asked, one hand propping up her cheek.

Seeing her smiling face, Lin Zichen guessed what had happened and asked, "Did you manage to open yours too?"

"You guessed it!"

Shen Qinghan snapped her fingers.

Then she lay back, resting her head on Lin Zichen's legs, and said smugly with a small face, "Lin Zi, I managed to open my acupoint more than ten minutes before you did, I'm pretty amazing, right?"

"That's incredibly amazing."

Lin Zichen stroked Shen Qinghan's pretty face, looking down at her with a smile as he complimented her.

The praised Shen Qinghan beamed as brightly as a flower.

She hardly ever outdid Lin Zichen in anything, from childhood till now.

Being the first to open her brain aperture before Lin Zichen filled her with a sense of accomplishment, as if she had defeated the ultimate boss in a game.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by Aunomay Read