The thorny branch came at Aiden swiftly, like a bullet aimed at his chest. In the faint moonlight, the sharp edges of the branch glinted brightly in his eyes, momentarily blinding him. Hanging upside down, he had no way of avoiding the incoming attack.
In short, he was fucked from all the sides.
There was only one thing he could try.
"Void Shield," Aiden shouted, and a formless shield appeared in front of his chest, deflecting the branch. However, he couldn't deflect the entire branch and a small piece brushed past his shoulder, drawing a trail of blood, sending a sharp dart of pain through his entire arm.
System: You have suffered 30 damage and 10 damage/minute as poison damage.
"Fuck You." Aiden cursed. "Alchemy Fire." A blue ethereal fire enveloped him and spread along the branch that held him in the air.
The giant black tree writhed in pain, its trunk shuddering visible. The on-fire branch let go of Aiden while the barbed branch cut across the root of the first branch, shredding it from its main body.
Aiden fell hand-first and rolled on the rough ground that smelled like rot and death.
"Healing Hand." He cast it on his left arm, which was still bleeding. The gust of healing energy eased a little of his pain and stopped the constant health degeneration, but it didn't heal his hand all the way.
"Motherfucker, if you think you can just lose the branch, then you are wrong." Aiden rushed ahead, his palms forward, fire leaping out of his steps and arms. He was going to burn this fucking tree, and he won't settle unless he burned it to ashes.
The tree trunk swayed like a vine, trying to avoid Aiden. It's barbed branch shot at him, however with his legs free, Aiden dodged it easily.
After a couple of dodged, Aiden increased his speed and caught the trunk with his palms. The blue fire swirled around the tree like a coiling dragon around a giant tower.
The thorny branch lashed at his back, but Aiden had stayed alert and sidestepped it smoothly, allowing the branch to stab into the tree's own flesh. A dark, sticky sap seeped from the wound and formed a puddle on the ground.
Aiden grabbed the branch between the barbed spikes and sent the fire riling along its length.
The massive tree and its thorny branch thrashed violently, but with no escape route, it ultimately withered and turned into ashes on the spot.
Aiden flopped on his ass when the tree reduced to ashes. Exhaustion surged through him as he gulped a mouthful of fresh water from the leather skin he carried on him.
"Healing Hand." He cast a few rounds of the healing skill on himself, easing the pain and reducing the damage. As he sat there and let the cold water ease his nerves, he took in the desperate situation he was in. He was surrounded by hundreds of, if not thousands, of the two branch black trees and the wind passing through them made a laughing noise.
They must be laughing at him.
He was fucked up.
A soothing aroma aroused his nose and when he turned around, he saw the black sap exuded from the tree had turned purple and was exuding a thick aroma of life. It didn't take an alchemist to realize it was some kind of useful herb.
"Herb Identification."
System: Purple Sap Lifeforce.
Quality: Rare
Grade: Low-tier Silver Grade
Stolen story; please report.
Formed from the blood of the Two Branch Rotten Tree, this liquid can be used to form a potent healing pills.
Aiden quickly glanced at the old man Li's memories, and a smile played on his lips intuitively.
Fuck! He was going to be rich because this was the main ingredient of a rare pill called Foundation Life Pill and it was the best pill to increase his cultivation and try breakthrough when he finally get around it.
***
Three figures met at a pre-decided place. One tall woman and two men. One of them was short and carried a bow on his back, while the other one carried a sword on his back.
"Sister Hu, I sense the target is at that side." Jian Tan checked the talisman in his hand and the arrow pointed to their left.
Hu Won's expression soured as she glanced toward the area. "That's off-limits. We're not allowed to go there."
"But why did he enter the forbidden zone?"
"He might not be in the forbidden zone, but at the fringe," The tall swordman said.
"He is right. We will continue to monitor his signature. If he comes out of the forbidden zone, we will kill him." Hu Won said. "Senior brother Wun has promised a Foundation Nearing Pill if we can complete this mission."
"Foundation Nearing Pill." The tall swordman's eyes flashed with greed, but he suppressed it when Hu Won glared at him. He was a fool to think he could even think of getting it while sister Hu was here.
"Sister Hu will be the first inner sect disciple this year once you complete the mission," Jian Tan said, feeling envious of the beautiful sister. They were tasked to kill a new disciple from alchemy hall, and even given a talisman to track him, and offered a Foundation Nearing Pill. It was like they had gotten a heavenly treasure. Too bad, everything will go in sister Hu's hands.
"It's a fluke. If sister Wang Renmei hadn't suffered the despicable attack from the dark realm bastard, she would have killed this guy already." Sister Hu chuckled.
"Sister Hu is too humble. I believe sister Hu will surpass sister Wang soon."
Hu Won snorted. "Did you find out more about this guy?" She retrieved a talisman and checked on the surrounding. "We are near the edge of the boundary. We should move left to find out the dark realm pests."
"Yes, sister Hu. He is the only red card disciple who passed through the alchemy exam this year, but I heard there are some contradictions about this year's exam. All people who passed the written test passed through, but the information is suppressed by alchemy hall, so I couldn't gather more information."
"Only red card disciple? It's very difficult to become a red card disciple in the alchemy hall. Did you check about his battle style?" She tapped a mana crystal on the talisman before putting it back. It was a Boundary Sensing Talisman, made specially to check on the boundaries of the Outerworld Battlefield areas.
Jian Tan nodded. "No battle style. He did not buy a single battle skill before coming in the quest."
"Is he mad?" Sister Hu couldn't hide her shock.
"Normally these weak people from alchemy hall take our help, but this guy didn't do it. I think he knows he is going to die, so he might be using the unorthodox method to leave the sect." Jian Tan added.
"That's impossible. No one can survive the onslaught of the beasts, and the boundary is not easy to pass. Anyway, keep checking on him. This time we will stay for seven days and kill him if we get a chance," Hu Won said.
"Yes, sister Hu." This poor bastard was going to die in any case. Now it was only a question if he die in the hands of the beasts, or in sister Hu's arms?
***
"Let me take over you," Mi Tha asked as soon as Lan Yueya stepped into a secluded area. It was night, and a moon shone in the sky, spreading love all over the Outerworld Battlefield. Lan Yueya had come here for the first time, and it felt good.
"I asked you a question." Mi Tha spoke again.
Lan Yueya bit her lower lip. She had come to the Outerworld Battlefield, and this was a dangerous place for her layer five Refinement Realm cultivator like her. Although her father was an elder in the sword hall, she had refused his help and came here alone because of the bitch resting inside her mind.
Initially, she wanted to depend on brother An, but he was stronger than her and sent to another area of the battlefield.
So, she could only depend on Mi Tha. She was powerful, and despite Lan Yueya's lower cultivation, Mi Tha could use powerful methods to battle. If she wanted to gain more benefits, she had to let Mi Tha control her body.
"If you meet brother An, you've to let me back. Don't forget, I can kick you out anytime." Lan Yueya warned the bitch. Lan Yueya knew Mi Tha could take over her body by force just a few times each day. The rest of the time, Lan Yueya had to agree to let her in. She wasn't dumb enough to hand over control of herself, but she was trapped with this bitch, and she couldn't see any way to escape the situation.
Mi Tha sighed.
"Then let me sleep for sometime." Lan Yueya let go of the control and Mi Tha took over. If people had paid close attention to Lan Yueya, they'd have spotted an obvious shift in her aura and attitude.
"Finally." Mi Tha inhaled deeply. The familiar aura rushed into her soul, enthralling her. "This Outerworld Battlefield has changed little. Too bad I'm in the low-level area, else I could have attacked the inheritance I missed previously. But it's not that bad. I can still gather the Black Demon Inheritance." She glanced at a distance, his gaze seemingly piercing a large forest of the dark trees placed in a forbidden area.