Beneath the Sea of Filth, in an unfathomable abyss, the scene had drastically changed.
Torrents of energy surged, eclipsing the gray-black tides and illuminating the dark depths. Under this brilliant light, monstrous figures surged forth, the space around them shattering, vast stretches of the ocean swept away.
Within this fractured, dreamlike, and ever-shifting expanse, a flicker of green unexpectedly emerged.
Initially subtle, the verdant hue spread rapidly within moments, forming a boundless, verdant forest. Roots grew, flowers bloomed, and a sweet fragrance filled the air, a process that repeated endlessly, expanding the forest's reach.
When the mythics recovered their senses, they found themselves within a vast forest, roots anchored in the seabed, petals drifting in the water. The surrounding filth seemed to have been dispelled; they had arrived at the bottom of the deep sea, within a dreamlike forest.
And in this beautiful, dreamlike forest, the most spectacular and eye-catching sight was the colossal, towering tree at its very center, reaching from heaven to hell, appearing as if it were the world itself. Beside it stood a figure in a white robe, appearing incredibly small yet in reality more majestic than the giant tree.
He let out a soft sigh.
"Alas..."
Could Fang You not sigh? He had only intended to piggyback on the forces of the Four Great Hegemons, gathering more intel on eldritch gods, abominations, and pollution. How had he stumbled into a major crisis?
The eldritch god faction was indeed powerful, but had they not precisely anticipated the target of the Gu Yue Dynasty's team and laid an ambush days in advance, it would have been quite easy for this exceptionally equipped team to escape.
Even now, he didn't believe the Gu Yue Dynasty was simply waiting to be slaughtered.
Some would undoubtedly escape, but how many, he couldn't say.
Fang You was confident that with his current capabilities, escorting Xing Jinglei and the other two would not be difficult; it could be done in an instant. Yet, after a few seconds of thought, he decided... to intervene!
He acted immediately, regretting nothing, except for the painful cost.
He attached himself to Little Huan, not descending directly, but instead using the 'Gate of Infinity' skill to stack fiftyfold 'Meditation' upon himself, then empowered himself with 'Nirvana Holy Fire', and finally, through Little Huan's unique ability of interdimensional traversal, he descended like a divine being.
Then, he employed the legendary skill 'Tree of Life' to manifest a boundless, verdant forest!
However, these few methods alone were insufficient to directly confront an eight-awakened demigod. Fang You then gathered the faith of the destiny apostles, sub-apostles like An Jianyou, and simultaneously, gritting his teeth, poured in the faith he had accumulated over the past month!
All in!
His sigh was genuine. Over a month's accumulation, their Mentor Fang had suffered a massive loss!
Roots continuously grew, verdant giant trees steadily ascended, petals fluttered, and vines spread, like a world in constant growth, forcefully pushing back the nearly closing, immense, tens-of-thousands-of-feet-high palm.
With the amplification of a massive amount of faith, the life energy within Fang You surged, pouring out like a breached dam.
"Tree of Life is a continuous, area-of-effect skill. The concept of 'one strike' can last for a long time, meaning the immense amplification brought by the faith of 'burning fire' can persist for a while."
"But... faith can only amplify, it cannot replace the consumption of life energy."
Fang You possessed incredibly potent life energy; even in terms of sustainability, mythics far surpassed ordinary six-awakened beings.
But at this moment, to maintain the existence and expansion of the world-forest, his life energy would not last long.
It could only sustain... less than thirty seconds!
After all, Fang was merely a one-divinity mythic. No matter how his combat power was boosted, his hardware was inferior to that of veteran mythics.
"Thirty seconds. Eleven seconds have already passed. The remaining time is insufficient to change the tide of battle, but..."
Since Fang chose 'Tree of Life', a legendary skill, as his primary attack, it wasn't just because he was most familiar with it. The Tree of Life also had its drawbacks: strong sustain, control, and domain, but relatively weak offensive power, low damage output, and poor single-target effectiveness.
He could choose to amplify 'Nirvana Holy Fire' and transform into a super mentor, but after careful consideration, he still felt that amplifying the Tree of Life was the most stable and offered the greatest certainty.
Because...
The verdant forest, which had rapidly spread and occupied a quarter of the area within the black line ritual circle, had already engulfed numerous mythics and a large number of abominations.
As the mythics recoiled in terror, they saw deep green branches lashing out from various parts of the forest. Under their horrified and vigilant gazes, these branches pierced into the bodies of the surrounding ferocious abominations.
"Thwack—"
"Thwack—"
"Thwack—"
Like a spider capturing prey, after piercing the abominations' bodies, more branches swarmed, completely enveloping them. Barbed thorns dug in, while the vines dragged the giant cocoons deeper into the forest.
Leaving behind scarred earth, the forest regenerated branches, quickly returning to its original state and continuing its outward spread.
Rumble—!
The abominations struggled, wreaking havoc, but the branches' resilience far surpassed imagination, and the forest's regenerative speed was comparable to the abominations' abnormal self-healing capabilities.
If the mythics' gazes could penetrate the forest depths and see the abominations of disaster, hell, and cataclysm level cocoons, they would discover sharp, straw-like branches piercing these abominations, constantly draining their energy.
The abominations visibly withered, yet under the influence of a mysterious power, they continuously healed themselves.
Absorption and regeneration maintained a delicate balance.
The abominations were left half-crippled, with little strength to struggle, yet not dying. As long as the abominations remained alive, their terrifying self-healing power would activate indefinitely.
This activation now served as countless charging cocoons, supplying the growth of all vegetation within the Tree of Life Forest.
In a short while, the Tree of Life Forest had spread to half the territory, and tenacious branches began to entwine several seven-star abominations, making it difficult for them to break free.
Even more, thick, deep green branches intertwined to form wooden dragons thousands of meters long, roaring as they charged towards the colossal silhouette tens of thousands of feet tall.
"Is this a descended mythic?"
"That's impossible!"
The vast and profound power shook the mythics witnessing this. They couldn't comprehend how a 'divine descent avatar,' which could only bully mortals, could wield such incredible power.
Madam Gong and Old Man Nan Li, two top-tier mythics, were equally shocked and bewildered.
"It can't be a divine descent avatar? No, it's possible!"
Demigod Xiguang was also shocked, but after eliminating all impossible options, he reached a startling conclusion.
This was indeed a divine descent avatar!
Divine descent was the mighty power awakened by seven-awakened mythics, capable of crossing infinite distances in a single thought, even traversing the barriers of world walls.
However, divine descent could only construct a fragile and ordinary body. Regardless of whether it was a one-divinity, two-divinity, three-divinity mythic, or a demigod, or even a top-tier demigod, their divine descent avatars were all the same, existing at the level of weak mythics.
This was because the strength of demigods lay in their forged demigod bodies and divine manifestations. If these were lost, and they were on the same low level, a demigod's divine descent would have at most more varied methods than a mythic's, but not much more power.
But, what about above demigod?
The ninth tier began to touch upon authority, a profound mystery that even an eight-awakened demigod like himself could not comprehend or touch. He only knew that under the influence of authority, everything would be transformed from decay into the miraculous, and the impossible would become possible.
Just like now!
Xiguang could tell that the energy level of the Tree of Life Forest was not high, and the life energy contained within seemed scarce, yet it could spread into this forest that he found astounding.
This was authority, a domain he could not yet comprehend!
"Is this one of the Sages?"
"No, even a Sage might not be able to rival or even suppress an eight-awakened demigod with just a weak divine descent body!"
Moreover, Sages were extremely rare, and the style of this being's actions was unfamiliar; he didn't think so.
"It's more likely an ancient and great existence!"
"I never imagined..."
He was shocked and sighed, hastily stopping the 'ancient and mysterious' melody he was humming.
It seemed he no longer needed to seek help from that person, and besides, two ancient existences appearing in the same place at the same time might make matters worse.
...
The abyssal bottom of the Sea of Filth had completely transformed into a deep green ocean.
Demigod Xiguang fiercely stabbed the disaster source-level abomination, then glanced at the nearby Tree of Life, which was locked in a fierce struggle with the colossal black silhouette tens of thousands of feet tall. But that white-robed Excellency wasn't just dealing with the eight-awakened demigod of the eldritch god faction; he was simultaneously dragging over a dozen seven-star abominations and several mythics of the eldritch god faction into the Tree of Life.
This lord, with his own power, was holding back most of the force, and that too with just an avatar. What incredible power this was! What high tier did this great existence belong to?!
Demigod Xiguang had no idea.
At this moment, Fang You, the great, ancient, mysterious, one-divinity mythic, helplessly glanced at Iloxi and the others, who were both shocked and excited, and had to use contract communication to wake them up.
These foolish children were still spacing out, not realizing the need to seize the opportunity to break free!
The mythics also recovered their senses, exerting all their might to bombard the black line ritual, finally shattering it completely. One by one, they transformed into streams of light and shot upwards through the seawater.
In a short while, only Fang You and Demigod Xiguang remained at the dark seabed.
He looked at the demigod, who seemed prepared to cover their retreat, and after a moment's thought, said, "Leave."
The colossal, world-reaching figure paused, then forcefully repelled the disaster source-level abomination. He then shrunk his body back to normal human form. He bowed respectfully in the direction of the giant tree, "My Gu Yue Dynasty will never forget this kindness. Xiguang departs."
With that, he lingered no longer, shaking his spear and tearing through space to depart.
Only the following remained on the scene:
Abominations Abominations Abominations
Abominations Fang You Abominations
Abominations Eldritch Servants Abominations
He could hold off one eighth-tier enemy, but not two. However, the brief time he had stalled was enough for the mythics to escape to safety.
Without the ritual's obstruction and no traps laid, the eldritch god faction would need several times the manpower to prevent the mythics, whose escape capabilities were top-notch, from fleeing.
He had already seen from Iloxi's perspective that they had broken out of the Sea of Filth and were stealthily heading towards the nearest island.
Fang You then released the eight-awakened demigod, and the latter also ceased tearing at the forest.
The ten-thousand-feet-tall black silhouette stared intently at the giant Tree of Life. The eldritch servant seemed to want to pierce through the boundless forest and remember his figure.
He was destined to be disappointed.
Seemingly aware that fighting like this was pointless, the ten-thousand-feet-tall demigod then shrunk his body and disappeared into the darkness.
Now, only the abominations, most of whom were weakened by Fang You's absorption, and the mindless, roaring disaster source-level monster remained.
The Tree of Life seemed able to hold on for a while longer, so Fang You continued to control the thousands-of-meters-long branches, engaging in a binding game with the disaster source-level abomination.
He was in no hurry to leave, merely surveying his surroundings before finally settling his gaze on... the still-existent, continuously bulging and contracting giant fleshy mass.
The source of disaster was still there!
This materialized source of disaster seemed to possess extremely strong 'all-element resistance.' No matter what kind of attack landed, it only suffered minor damage. Even when the mythics had unleashed their full might earlier, the mass only sustained superficial abrasions.
Furthermore, at this moment, the mass was fading.
Not about to perish, but rather... about to exit its materialized state and vanish from sight!
"Will the materialized effect of the source of disaster end as the special abomination artifact is recalled?"
Not long ago, at the moment of the ambush, Madam Gong had immediately pulled out and recalled the artifact's core, sending it into the interior of the palace.
But he didn't recall there being some artifact parts remaining around?
Using the Tree of Life, Fang You spread his tendrils and divine sense, quickly locating several fragments embedded in the ground.
"Most parts were damaged by the battle, leaving only these few pieces, and they are not complete. Hmm, I'll take them back for Master Wang to study."
He looked up again at the gradually fading giant fleshy mass, and with a wave of his hand, thousands of wooden dragons roared forth.
Hoooooosh—!
Space vibrated, wooden dragons shattered!
The damaged fleshy mass let out a piercing shriek.
"@#¥%@...!"
Even though he was prepared, Fang You's mind trembled, illusions appearing before his eyes, plunging him into a daze.
Half a second later, he recovered his senses, feeling a lingering fear.
Then, Fang You, just like the mythics in many previous disaster-extermination operations, repeatedly bombarded it with wooden dragons. He was alone, but his output was higher than that of over a dozen mythics combined. In a short while, he completely pulverized the giant fleshy mass.
Cracks appeared on the materialized mass, spreading outwards, and in moments, hundreds of cracks covered its entire body.
The next instant, the entire mass exploded into pieces, scattering fragments that turned into dust-like particles, drifting away and disappearing into the ocean. However, the mass contained a large amount of energy and divine power. As the mass shattered, this energy settled, forming numerous crystals that plunked like raindrops into the bamboo basket woven by Fang You with wide branches.
"The number of abomination crystals is countless, and divine crystals, there are a full 36! Although they are all stained with heavy pollution."
Gazing at these sparkling crystals, Fang You wore a happy smile of harvest.
The harvest was not limited to this.
He dispersed his divine sense again, controlling wooden tendrils to sweep up the materials dropped by the surrounding abominations, regardless of their value or grade, and collect them.
There were even over twenty legendary materials dropped by seven-star abominations! It was because these abominations were foolish and didn't know how to flee, unlike those eldritch servants who had long since vanished with that demigod.
Fang You picked and picked, and picked and picked. Even though he manipulated his wooden tendrils to gather materials, as if he had hundreds or thousands of hands, it still took him hundreds of seconds to collect all the surrounding materials. His storage artifact was filled with twelve units.
Fang was exhausted, but the exhaustion of a bountiful harvest was equally pleasurable.
However, at this moment, his Tree of Life Forest could no longer be maintained. Its range had shrunk to a quarter of its maximum scale, its intensity less than a tenth, and it was rapidly declining.
This manifested as his inability to resist the disaster source-level abomination any longer.
"Roar—!!!"
The abominable and grotesque abomination roared at him, tearing at the forest trees as if shredding paper.
Seeing this, Fang You swept his gaze around one last time, memorizing the appearance of the dark seabed and the formidable disaster source-level figure.
"Can't afford to provoke, gotta go."
He unleashed his spatial traversal ability, a faint golden light flashing and disappearing in the dark seabed. The white-robed figure vanished into the spatial crack.
Without his power to support it, the Tree of Life Forest also rapidly withered, turning into debris and dust that scattered on the abyssal seabed.
With that, the last glimmer of light disappeared. The bottom of the deep sea returned to its silent and dark state.