Chapter 81 One Stone Creates a Thousand Waves

Farrell laughed heartily, so much so that his branches and leaves shook wildly:

"For the noble Ents, nothing is impossible! The path I walk is the sacred path once trod by the great World Tree, Teldrassil! Friendship knows no race, and strength is eternal!"

Mudbeard understood instantly, grinding his teeth and saying:

"I see, you cursed wild treant, you damned heretic! You deserve to die just like those tree-killers!"

As Mudbeard spoke, he suddenly lunged towards Farrell, but this movement was a feint. As he leaned forward, his left arm suddenly split into three thick vines, rapidly extending towards the archer, Wuge, and the staff-wielding Franklin beside him!

This treant, with its incredibly rich combat experience, immediately identified the two weakest members of the group. His goal was twofold: first, to test Fang Senyan and the others' strength, and second, to eliminate the archer and mage, making the ensuing battle easier. He was confident in turning these fellows into fertilizer for the earth!

Facing Mudbeard's sudden attack, Franklin immediately began chanting a spell, while Wuge coldly nocked an arrow on her bow, seemingly unconcerned by Mudbeard's attack. Just as the thick vines writhed like snakes, Fang Senyan and Reef darted forward, one to the left and one to the right, blocking the two.

Fang Senyan slashed at Mudbeard's tentacle vine with his blade, but found that most of the force was deflected, leaving only a white mark on the vine.

Reef, along with his shield, was directly entangled by Mudbeard's tentacle vine. The vine tightened, attempting to hurl Reef away, but Reef roared, rooted like a stone. His claws dug in, and even Mudbeard couldn't pull him away!

In that moment of hesitation, a light flashed from the frost-covered Wuge's longbow!

Before Mudbeard could even turn his head, an arrow had pierced his right chest. At first glance, the arrow's material appeared dark and dull, but upon closer inspection, the shaft's surface possessed strange纹理 (wénlǐ) patterns, shimmering with a faint, captivating, fiery red light!

The next second, the arrow exploded!

In the sunlit forest, a sky of flames erupted, along with a multitude of burning, scattered wood fragments!

A deep crater the size of a washbasin appeared where Mudbeard had been struck, almost piercing through to his back. The area around the crater was engulfed in flames, rapidly spreading across his body's surface in a blitzkrieg fashion. He emitted a painful sound, akin to a wail.

At the same time, Franklin unleashed a beam of incredibly precise freezing射线 (shèxiàn) ray. This astute mage was not simply trying to extinguish the flames on the treant, but instead struck its most vulnerable spot: its feet. Ice immediately formed there, and the freezing射线 (shèxiàn) ray reflected onto a nearby tree before disappearing.

Mudbeard abruptly released the tentacle vines entangling Fang Senyan and Reef. He realized that this team was not one he could take on alone. Just as he was about to activate his Yiqian Niümu (Leaping Twistwood) ability, Mr. Farrell, who hadn't made a move until now, pounced forward.

Engulfed in raging flames, only a little more than half of Mudbeard's original body remained intact, which naturally made his reactions somewhat sluggish. Mr. Farrell's lunge happened to perfectly coincide with the moment between when he was about to teleport and failed, and the tough, sturdy branches tightly constrained his body, abruptly interrupting his ability.

The two massive bodies collided with each other, spraying fragmented wood and flames, and crashed violently to the side, slamming into a nearby tree with a "boom," snapping it in two.

The Yiqian Niümu (Leaping Twistwood) Mudbeard roared and struggled, disregarding the raging flames on his body, but Mr. Farrell focused on defense and entanglement. Fang Senyan and Reef swarmed forward, desperately attacking Mudbeard's legs, which had become stiff and brittle after being frozen by Franklin, losing their elastic flexibility.

Franklin waved his staff, directing one freezing light after another at the Yiqian Niümu (Leaping Twistwood) Mudbeard's unburned joints. As they attacked, the ferocious roars of the 強兽人 (qiángshòurén) orcs could be heard from behind them, indicating that they were frequently triggering the effects of the potion Fang Senyan had created.

Under the relentless assault, the Yiqian Niümu (Leaping Twistwood) Mudbeard's resistance gradually weakened, and finally, he stiffened completely. The flames on his body now resembled a roaring beast, covering his entire form in full force and spewing long tongues of fire, greedily devouring the delectable wooden feast.

The power of that fire arrow exceeded everyone's expectations. Clearly, the five fire arrows that Fang Senyan had brought were not ordinary goods. The flames they created had a persistent, relentless quality, almost as if they had been personally crafted by Saruman.

As the dying treant burned, the rising yellowish-brown smoke grew denser. Fang Senyan and Reef coughed and retreated. Mudbeard's body emitted crackling sounds within the flames, and a large number of light specks floated from the smoke, gathering together as if intending to move into the forest.

At that moment, Fang Senyan felt a heat on the necklace around his neck and immediately received a notification:

"Discovered 可吞噬 (kě tūnshì) swallowable soul power. Do you wish to plunder it?"

To unlock the final attribute of the 暗金 (ànjīn) dark-gold necklace around Fang Senyan's neck, he needed to plunder three powerful souls as sacrifices while the necklace's active ability was activated. Fang Senyan had been wondering how to plunder souls without a clue, but now the necklace was choosing the appropriate time itself. How could Fang Senyan pass up this opportunity?

Once he activated the ability, a beam of 暗金 (ànjīn) dark-gold light shot out from the necklace on Fang Senyan's chest, covering the scattered light specks from Mudbeard's body. However, those light specks quickly coalesced, forming a bizarre and unique symbol that struggled and attempted to fly towards the depths of the forest.

Fang Senyan roared and hurled a bottle of curse potion onto the ground. The shockwave from the curse potion now was different from past times, a sight akin to a nuclear explosion. First, a mushroom cloud-like smoke rose from the center. While the smoke was being created, it generated a massive attraction force on the surrounding creatures, and then the terrifying shockwave rapidly spread in all directions!

More importantly, the shockwave was able to inflict damage when it struck the symbol composed of light specks. At the same time, a semi-corporeal illusion of Saruman appeared in the air, raising his staff and summoning a lightning bolt to attack the deep-rooted soul specks!

"The authority effect of晕眩 (yūnxuàn) dizziness really is different!" Fang Senyan couldn't help but think triumphantly.

After suffering damage, the mysterious rune finally dissipated, transforming back into soul specks that were completely absorbed by the 暗金 (ànjīn) dark-gold necklace on Fang Senyan's chest.

However, no key dropped after Mudbeard died. Seeing that the flames engulfing Mudbeard were raging even more fiercely, and that Mr. Farrell sensed several treants rapidly approaching, Fang Senyan and the others concealed their tracks and scent before disappearing into the forest once more.

Less than five minutes after Fang Senyan and the others left, the tall and sturdy Grab strode into the battlefield. He saw the charred remains of Mudbeard being consumed by the raging fire and was immediately stunned.

The fire assailed him, and Grab's bark began to emit 青烟 (qīngyān) green smoke. Despite the intense heat radiating through the air and earth, Grab showed no signs of evading. Crystalline tears the size of ping pong balls welled up in his brown eyes, and his muffled voice resonated in his chest, sounding particularly sorrowful!

"I harmed you, Mudbeard!! Why did I send you to track those people? Why did I stop to heal and not rush to help?"

The treant's cry was simple, yet filled with deep sorrow, questioning, and guilt!

At this moment, a long-branched treant leaped out from the thicket, forcefully pulling Grab away from the fire and stomping out the scattered flames on his body.

"Grab, this isn't your fault. It's all the fault of those tree-killers! We were living peacefully in Fangorn Forest. Why did those guys come to kill our friends? Why did they take our children?"

Another thorny treant who had just arrived also said earnestly:

"That's right. In the battle against these damned tree-killers, Mudbeard isn't the first to fall, nor will he be the last. All we can do is treat those damned tree-killers with even more cruel methods! Grab, you should hurry to the Ancestor to comfort Mudbeard's soul. Then, find a better sapling for him to slumber in. In a few hundred years, we can see him again."

Tears streamed down Grab's face, filled with unprecedented grief:

"I can't sense Mudbeard's soul!!!!! And I know that his soul has dissipated in Fangorn Forest! The enemies he faced were so powerful that they could even剥夺 (bōduó) plunder souls, and I was the one who caused him to jiao战 (jiāozhàn) fight these enemies!"