120: Chapter 120 Blue and Gold

Year 150.

A war broke out between the Golden Giants and the Tree Spirits.

The Golden Giants were the descendants of a metallic civilization. Their bodies were formed from condensed pure metal, standing anywhere from three to ten zhang tall. Their skin was a brilliant gold, flashing with a piercing light even amidst the Yin Qi. Four hundred and fifty thousand Golden Giants were settled in the Golden Ruins, a place formed from the residual energy of the Golden Realm, where every inch of land was gold.

The Tree Spirits were the descendants of a natural civilization. Their bodies were formed from the roots and branches of ancient trees, standing from several zhang to dozens of zhang tall. Their skin was emerald green, covered in patterns like leaf veins. One and a half million Tree Spirits were settled in the Emerald Jungle, a place formed from the residual energy of the Emerald Realm, where ancient trees towered and vines intertwined.

The conflict between the Golden Giants and the Tree Spirits originated from resources.

The Golden Giants needed metal to maintain their physical strength, but the metal veins in the Netherworld World were limited. The Tree Spirits needed sunlight and moisture to sustain life, but the Netherworld World had no sunlight, only grayish-white Yin Qi.

The Golden Giants attempted to mine metal veins from the Emerald Jungle, but the Tree Spirits refused.

“The Emerald Jungle is the home of the Tree Spirits,” said the successor to the Ancestor of Ancient Trees, an ancient tree named ‘Qing,’ standing at the edge of the Emerald Jungle. His body was fifty zhang tall, his roots reached a hundred li underground, and his branches and leaves shielded the entire sky. “You cannot mine here.”

The Golden Giant King, a giant twelve zhang tall, stood before Qing.

His name was Jin. His body was taller than any other Golden Giant, his skin was covered in battle scars, and his eyes were two pools of golden flame.

“Tree Spirit, there are rich metal veins beneath your jungle.” Jin’s voice clanged like metal striking metal. “The Golden Giants need those metals to maintain our bodies. Without metal, our bodies will rust, disintegrate, and die.”

“That has nothing to do with us.” Qing’s voice was ancient and calm. “The Emerald Jungle is the territory of the Tree Spirits. Any intruder will pay the price.”

Jin fell silent.

He did not want to go to war with the Tree Spirits. The Tree Spirits outnumbered the Golden Giants three to one, and their life magic could heal all injuries. But the bodies of the Golden Giants were rusting. If they did not find metal veins soon, all four hundred and fifty thousand Golden Giants would die within a hundred years.

“Then it shall be a fight to the death.”

Year 153, the Golden Giants invaded the Emerald Jungle.

Jin’s tactics were simple: concentrate power and break through the front. The bodies of the Golden Giants were sturdier than the Tree Spirits, and their strength was greater. Their metal fists could shatter the trunks of ancient trees, and their metal bodies could withstand the entanglement of the Tree Spirits' vines.

But there were too many Tree Spirits.

One and a half million Tree Spirits rose from every inch of the Emerald Jungle. Their roots intertwined into a massive web, trapping the Golden Giants within. Their vines wrapped around the Golden Giants' bodies, tightening, contracting, and squeezing.

The bodies of the Golden Giants began to deform under the entanglement of the vines. Cracks appeared on their metal skin, and their joints began to stiffen.

But the Golden Giants did not retreat.

Jin charged at the very front. His fists shattered one ancient tree after another, and his body broke through vine after vine. Behind him, four hundred and fifty thousand Golden Giants were like a golden tide, surging into the depths of the Emerald Jungle.

The war lasted for ten years.

By Year 163, one-third of the Emerald Jungle had been occupied by the Golden Giants. The Tree Spirits lost four hundred thousand, while the Golden Giants lost one hundred and fifty thousand.

But the Tree Spirits' life magic was too strong. As long as the Ancestor of Ancient Trees, Qing, remained, the Tree Spirits could continuously regenerate. Qing’s roots reached a hundred li underground, his branches and leaves shielded the entire sky, and his life energy continuously poured into the body of every Tree Spirit.

Jin realized that to win this war, he had to kill Qing.

In Year 164, Jin personally led ten thousand Golden Giants in a charge toward Qing.

Qing did not hide. He simply stood there, his fifty-zhang body like a mountain. Emerald light surged from him, illuminating the entire Emerald Jungle.

Jin rushed before Qing, raised his fist, and smashed it into Qing’s trunk.

Boom!

A massive crack appeared on Qing’s trunk, and emerald sap surged from the fissure. But Qing did not fall; he simply looked down at Jin.

“Golden Giant King, your strength is great,” Qing’s voice was ancient and calm. “But you have made a mistake.”

“What mistake?” Jin roared, raising his fist again.

“You forgot that this is the Emerald Jungle. This is the Tree Spirits' home ground.”

Qing’s roots surged from the ground like countless giant pythons, wrapping around Jin’s body. Those roots were harder than steel and tougher than rope, making Jin’s body creak and groan.

Jin struggled desperately, but his metal body began to deform under the constriction of the roots. His arms were snapped, his legs were broken, and his torso was twisted.

“No!” Jin let out a roar of despair. Golden flames erupted from his eyes, burning the roots to ash. But his body was already battered and broken, and his aura plummeted from the peak of the Sixth Rank to the initial stage of the Sixth Rank.

He struggled to stand, preparing to charge once more.

But behind him, scream after scream rang out.

The Golden Giants' formation was torn apart by the Tree Spirits' vines. Those vines surged from the ground, hung from the sky, and poured in from all directions, wrapping, tightening, and crushing the Golden Giants one by one.

In Jin’s eyes, the golden flames flickered out.

“Retreat.” His voice was hoarse and weary. “Retreat!”

The Golden Giants retreated like a ebbing tide, leaving behind a ground littered with metal fragments and Tree Spirit remains.

In the Battle of the Emerald Jungle, the Golden Giants suffered a crushing defeat.

One hundred and fifty thousand Golden Giants died in battle, and three hundred thousand retreated to the Golden Ruins with broken bodies. Jin’s strength fell from the peak of the Sixth Rank to the Fifth Rank. His body was covered in cracks, and his metal skin had lost its luster.

From then on, the Golden Giants never stepped foot into the Emerald Jungle again.

They began to search for metal veins in other parts of the Netherworld World, but there were too few. Their bodies were rusting, their numbers were dwindling, and their civilization was in decline.

The Golden Giants were on the verge of extinction.

...

One day in the three-hundredth year, Jin left the Golden Ruins alone.

His body was covered in rust, and his strength was a shadow of its former self, but his will remained firm.

He walked through the Gloomy Swamp, where there was no longer any trace of the Shadow Walkers, only purple mist drifting about.

He walked through the Blood Sea Abyss. The sea of blood was as calm as a mirror, its crimson surface reflecting his rusted figure.

He walked through the Dragon Blood Wasteland. The leader of the Dragon-Blood Orcs watched him, a flash of complex emotion in his dark-gold vertical pupils.

Finally, he arrived at the edge of the Extreme Cold Ice Plains.

The Frost King stood upon the ice wall, his silver eyes watching the rusted giant.

“Golden Giant King, what have you come here for?”

Jin looked up at the Frost King.

“Ice Crystal King, I need your help.”