149: Horror Tree Sea

A deathly silence hung over the dense forest.

Whoosh...

A spiral black light tore through the air, hurtling from afar.

The black light abruptly halted, Li Ke a jet-black nail, firmly embedded in the clearing within the forest.

Hatties's figure appeared, and he looked around.

The forest was utterly silent, a silence that was somewhat eerie.

There were no twisted creatures, nor any ordinary beasts.

Not even the usual chirping of insects or birds could be heard—they had completely vanished...

Hatties furrowed his brow.

He could sense that something was off here, but he couldn't pinpoint what it was.

Whoosh...

The next instant,

Hatties's figure once again transformed into a straight spiral black light,

And headed deeper into the forest.

A moment later, Hatties's figure suddenly froze.

He stopped in an even darker part of the forest,

Surrounded by towering giant trees, each requiring several people to encircle.

The dense canopy blocked out most of the sunlight.

The air carried the scent of fallen leaves and humus.

Here, too, there was a deathly silence.

"Do you feel it, White Spider Mother?"

Hatties whispered.

He keenly perceived that

Countless invisible gazes were cast from the shadows of the trees in all directions.

Yet, in his vision, there was no trace of any living thing.

The White Spider Mother on his shoulder, her six segmented legs trembling slightly,

She also hadn't detected the source of the anomaly.

Whoosh...

Hatties's figure instantly vanished from his spot.

A black light continuously darted and flickered among the thick branches, so fast it left trails of afterimages.

Bang!

He half-crouched on a thick branch of a giant tree, his body as steady as a rock.

The continuous high-speed movement hadn't allowed him to shake off the feeling of being watched.

On the contrary, he felt that

Those invisible gazes had become even clearer.

One of them seemed to come from...

Boom!!!

Suddenly, beneath Hatties,

The large tree violently stirred!

Countless branches and leaves instantly came alive, wildly flailing and rapidly converging inward, attempting to strangle Hatties on the spot!

As the branches swayed, countless air currents surged, emitting roars similar to those of giant beasts.

"What the hell is this..."

Hatties's expression remained unchanged.

His legs suddenly transformed into spirals,

Instantly unleashing terrifying Spiral Force,

The thick branch beneath his feet exploded in response, and he plummeted towards the ground.

However, on the ground.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh...

Countless thick tree roots tore through the soil,

Coming alive Li Ke venomous snakes, intertwining with each other, and coiling towards him.

Boom!!!

Jet-black flames suddenly surged from Hatties's body.

The black flames spiraled wildly around him,

Forming a towering, jet-black tornado that instantly incinerated all the pouncing tree roots into ash.

Hatties used the ground for leverage, flashing past several large trees.

Wherever he stepped, all the trees he trod upon ignited with unquenchable black flames.

Those trees twisted and struggled violently, emitting terrifying roars Li Ke giant beasts desperately gasping for air.

Hatties's figure moved at high speed through this awakened, dense forest.

However, all the trees around him gradually awakened.

Countless branches and roots coalesced together,

Transforming into an enormous sharp cone, pursuing Hatties.

Boom!!!

Hatties turned and pointed a finger,

A [Spiral Penetrating Kill] shot out, completely piercing through the giant plant cone.

He himself was lifted high into the air by the air current, leaping into the sky.

As his height surpassed the dense canopy,

Hatties looked up, his pupils sharply contracting.

Only to see that as far as his gaze could reach,

This boundless sea of trees was now all gently swaying, slowly moving forward.

Beneath him, countless trees furiously converged on him.

Countless branches and leaves intertwined, forming an impenetrable wall of trees.

The entire forest seemed to have become a colossal living entity, pressing down on him, intending to utterly crush him...

...

Boom...

Inside the impenetrable forest,

Countless intertwined and gnarled branches and leaves had already formed a giant tree cocoon.

Suddenly, a terrifying Spiral Force shot out from within.

It pierced through countless layers of tree walls and disappeared into the clouds high above.

Hatties's figure rapidly flew out from the long tree hole that had been pierced through.

Black flames burned on his body, and his entire hunting suit clung tightly to him.

He was Li Ke a jet-black drill, escaping towards the outside.

Just as Hatties was about to burst out of the sea of trees, out of this tree cocoon formed by countless trees besieging him.

Pfft!!!

A blood-red root, Li Ke a crimson bolt of lightning,

Suddenly shot out from one side of the tree hole and fiercely pierced through Hatties's chest.

Hatties's rapidly moving figure was instantly nailed in place.

The long tree hole around him continuously grew lush branches and leaves, slowly closing in.

Looking at the sky not far away, Hatties's face was expressionless.

He suddenly raised a hand, and the pure white spider on his fingertip transformed into a white light, instantly flying out of the tree hole.

The sky gradually closed in.

...

At the same time, Charles Manor.

Butler Barton, holding a watering can, was slightly bent over,

Patiently explaining something to a maid in the flowerbed in front of the castle gate.

"These Moonlight Flowers are very delicate; you can't water them too much, or they'll drown."

"But not too little either, once every evening, no more, no less."

"See, just Li Ke this, along the edge of the flowerbed, gently pour it down."

He personally demonstrated once, his posture unhurried.

"Understood?"

"Understood, Butler Barton."

The young maid reached out, about to take the watering can from Barton's hand.

But she found that Barton's fingers had suddenly tightened around the handle of the watering can, unmoving.

The maid tugged gently but couldn't move it.

She looked up in confusion,

And found that Barton had straightened his back at some point, looking towards the south of the manor.

The kindness and benevolence on his face had vanished without a trace,

Leaving only an iron-Li Ke solemnity.

...

In the study, Li Ke sat cross-legged,

Countless jet-black humanoid figures continuously rose from his body.

These jet-black humanoid figures did not vanish into the Void Realm,

Instead, after circling in the air for a while, they all entered an ancient, dark-gold snuff bottle in Li Ke's hand.

Li Ke was currently using the Divine Ability of Myriad Things Demonized,

To forcibly demonize the snuff bottle, gradually changing its attributes.

Doing this, on one hand,

Could further influence that terrifying fierce spirit,

Reducing its resistance when it becomes the main spirit of the Soul Summoning Banner in the future.

On the other hand,

He planned to refine this snuff bottle together into the Soul Summoning Banner.

Although the material of this snuff bottle was unknown,

Having endured a long period of time, it could still maintain its intact form,

Presumably, it also had extraordinary qualities.

Pfft...

Suddenly,

The black Qi humanoid figures rising from Li Ke's body abruptly paused,

Then suddenly scattered in all directions, circling endlessly in the room.

Beneath the Devilish Qi so dense that his face was obscured,

Li Ke abruptly opened his eyes,

He slowly turned his head, looking towards the south of the manor.