853: Chapter 853 Are you all strong enough to take me down?

Ye Chen smiled: "Fine. You can take the fruits from the tree; I only want that giant spirit stone."

"Huh?"

Mo Yuan was stunned.

Because Ye Chen had agreed too readily...

But desire clouded his mind, and his eyes turned red: "Are you sure you aren't going to snatch it???"

"That's right."

Ye Chen nodded. "I have no interest in those fruits. Take as many as you like. If I try to snatch them, I'm a spineless coward."

Mo Yuan was overjoyed. Fearing that Ye Chen might go back on his word, he prepared to pounce on the Tree of Eternal Life right then and there.

This action scared Zola half to death...

However, Saintess An Miaoyi, standing to the side, furrowed her brows slightly. She tugged on Ye Chen's sleeve and asked: "Ye Chen, why are you so quick to agree?"

Ye Chen grinned.

"Doesn't he like them? I'm letting him have them!"

Saintess An Miaoyi shook her head: "You aren't the type to be so generous."

Ye Chen was indeed not the generous type.

To put it another way...

He wasn't the kind of person who liked to let others take advantage of him.

He was more likely to swindle someone for all they were worth than to give something away.

As if!

Ye Chen couldn't help but laugh when he heard this.

"You saw right through me, didn't you?"

"As expected of my future maid!"

Mo Yuan, having just rushed forward two steps, stopped abruptly upon hearing this. He turned back and glared at Ye Chen: "What do you mean?!"

Ye Chen slowly crossed his arms and said indifferently.

"I mean that so-called immortality does exist."

"But it is the tree that is immortal. Those who eat the fruit are merely fertilizer for it."

Mo Yuan's expression stiffened: "Bullshit!"

He didn't believe a word of Ye Chen's nonsense.

It was ten-to-one that this bastard wanted to keep it all for himself and was just trying to scare him off!

Ye Chen shrugged, his expression tinged with a hint of pity.

"Don't be so quick to curse."

"Think about it. A tree growing deep underground, worshipped like an ancestor by a group of Blue-skinned People, and named the 'Tree of Eternal Life'..."

"How could it possibly bear fruit that grants immortality?"

"The laws of heaven and earth are always fair."

"To obtain eternal life, one must pay an equivalent price."

"And this tree's method of achieving eternal life is to have those who eat its fruit feed their own life force back into it."

"The more you eat and the longer you live, the more your soul and essence blood will be drained away by it, bit by bit."

"Until you become an empty husk, forever hanging from a branch, becoming a part of this tree."

"At that point, you will truly 'live as long as heaven and earth'."

The greed on Mo Yuan's face instantly drained away, replaced by a deathly pallor: "You... you're spouting nonsense! How could such evil magic exist in this world?!"

Ye Chen spread his hands.

"Believe it or not, that's up to you."

He wasn't making things up.

The Houtu Inheritance clearly recorded that this type of tree was known in ancient times as the Spirit-Devouring Wood, which fed exclusively on the essence blood of living beings.

The fruits it bore did indeed contain immense vitality, and consuming them could indeed extend one's lifespan, but the price was becoming its living nutrient.

Therefore, it was extremely evil.

He certainly didn't need such things to prolong his life!

Upon hearing this, Mo Yuan hesitated...

Ye Chen's words didn't sound like he was just trying to scare him, but Mo Yuan couldn't bring himself to give up the chance of immortality that was right before his eyes.

But even if he took a step back...

Would someone like Ye Chen, who loved to keep everything for himself, be kind enough to give up such a good thing?

It was clearly impossible.

Could it be... that it was really as he said?

He was so unwilling to accept it!

Something was definitely wrong!

He gritted his teeth and suddenly turned back to glare at Ye Chen: "Stop trying to scare me with alarmist talk! You clearly just want to scare me off so you can keep this tree all to yourself!"

Ye Chen tilted his head and looked at him as if he were looking at a fool.

"Do you think I need to scare you?"

Mo Yuan choked.

Ye Chen added: "Are you even worth the effort of scaring?"

Mo Yuan's face turned the color of a purple eggplant.

He stared intently at those shimmering fruits, and finally steeled his heart.

"Just because you say it's an evil tree doesn't make it so!"

"Show me the proof!"

Ye Chen spread his hands: "I don't have any proof."

"Then shut up!"

Mo Yuan threw that back at him and turned to walk toward the tree.

Ye Chen sighed, too lazy to even stop him. He just tilted his chin toward the little bear: "Go on, take that large spirit stone at the top. Don't worry about him."

The little bear had been waiting for those words.

Upon receiving the command, it pushed off with all four paws and launched itself into the air, pouncing straight toward the flawless spirit crystal at the top of the tree.

Zola watched this scene, his breath hitching in his throat.

That flawless spirit crystal was the core energy source of the entire underground world and the hub that maintained all the defensive formations. Once it was taken...

the protective barriers of the entire underground city would collapse in an instant!

"No!!!"

Zola scrambled up from the ground with all his might, roaring as he lunged toward Ye Chen. "You can't touch that! That's the foundation! The lifeblood! Without it, the entire underground world will..."

Before he could finish his sentence,

"Boom!!!"

A dull, deep booming sound erupted from deep within the distant tunnel.

Then came another.

"Boom!"

"Boom!!"

"Boom!!!"

The second, the third, one after another, accompanied by a crushing pressure that rolled in from the end of the tunnel.

Zola's expression instantly turned to joy.

He recognized the familiar rhythm in the sound; it was the "Awakening Bell" passed down through his clan for generations.

Every time it rang, it meant the clan elders were waking from their slumber.

He abruptly turned his head toward the tunnel entrance and shouted excitedly: "The... the clan elders are here!"

No sooner had he spoken than dozens of lights suddenly flared in the depths of the tunnel.

Then, like a swarm of meteors shooting up from deep underground, each beam of light carried an aura of pressure no weaker than that of the Golden Core Stage.

In the blink of an eye,

dozens of figures filed out from the tunnel entrance. They had blue skin and were dressed in archaic robes.

The elder leading them came to a halt. Gazing at the devastation around him, he roared: "Where is the holy stone???"

The Blue-skinned people elders behind him also looked over, and the sight before them left them all stunned.

The spirit stones were all gone!

All that remained was the flawless spirit crystal at the top of the Tree of Eternal Life, which had been hanging there for countless ages.

And at this moment,

a little bear was hugging the spirit crystal, its mouth seemingly open, ready to swallow it...

Well...

although its mouth was far too small to swallow such a massive spirit crystal, its actions were enough to scare the living daylights out of someone...

The elder leading them hurriedly roared: "Stop! That is our clan's holy relic!!!"

The dozens of Blue-skinned people clansmen behind him simultaneously mobilized their true qi, turning into dozens of streaks of light as they lunged toward the little bear.

The little bear hugged the spirit crystal and looked back at Ye Chen.

Ye Chen stood where he was and said indifferently: "Just swallow it. Ignore them."

The little bear let out an "Aowu," opened its maw wide, and prepared to unleash its spatial devouring...

"Crack!!!"

As it turned out, because the target was far too large, a cracking sound rang out.

The flawless spirit crystal was forcibly snapped into two halves from its perch at the top of the tree.

One half vanished into thin air, while the other remained suspended above.

But everyone could see... the halo on the tree had dimmed, and the spiritual energy throughout the entire area had weakened by half.

Zola collapsed onto the ground, completely numb: "Fuck... it's over!"

Seeing this, the elder's expression shifted drastically; the murderous intent in his eyes was almost palpable.

"I have guarded this for 1,300 years..."

He raised his hand, his fingers curling into claws as his true qi surged and churned like magma.

"How dare you destroy the spirit crystal???"

The dozens of Blue-skinned people clansmen behind him also had faces dark as water. Their true qi erupted, shrouding the entire abyss in a heavy, oppressive aura of murder.

Mo Yuan stood beneath the Tree of Eternal Life, his hand—which was just about to reach the fruit—frozen in mid-air. He couldn't advance, and he couldn't retreat.

He looked back at the dozens of murderous Blue-skinned People, then glanced at Ye Chen. His heart turned cold.

That bastard had broken the spirit crystal; if he picked the fruit now, wouldn't he be held accountable along with him?

No!

At least not right now!

He had to see how the situation played out first!

Instantly,

he hurriedly retracted his foot, not daring to move.

Watching this scene,

Ye Chen grinned: "Don't get excited. It's all a misunderstanding."

The elder's gaze was as cold as a blade.

"A misunderstanding? You brought a beast to devour my holy stone and dismantled the foundation of our holy tree, and you're telling me this is a misunderstanding???"

Ye Chen's smile didn't falter.

"Leaving this thing underground is useless to you anyway. Better to put it to good use."

"Besides, the spiritual energy in this crappy underground city of yours is so thick you could almost raise fish in it. Even without these spirit stones and crystals, it can still hold up for a year or so—long enough for you to move out."

The elder was trembling with rage: "You... you are courting death!!!"

He robbed them!

And then claimed it was a misunderstanding!

He even had the nerve to say their spiritual energy would last for a year or so?

Was this even something a human would say?

He was nothing but a bandit!

The middle-aged Blue-skinned people woman behind him could no longer restrain herself. With a flick of her robe, a blade of qi tore through the air, slashing directly toward Ye Chen's face.

"Shameless brat!"

"Today, we will make sure you sleep here forever and become a part of the holy tree!!!"

Ye Chen dodged to the side, the blade of qi grazing past his ear.

Immediately after,

the smile on his face faded, and his tone turned cold.

"Think clearly before you make a move."

"Are all of you combined enough for me to take on?"