Ch 799 - The Tree Spirit

Arthur's wave of the hand was full of energy, and not even the gap between him and Copper diminished it. A nearby tree was smashed by the impact.

Then, a metallic sound was heard from Copper, and he went flying, before landing on the ground again. But in less than a second, he stood up again, and then he charged at Arthur at a high speed.

"He's still not dead!" muttered Arthur in exasperation. "Why is he not dead?"

He had three major killing moves. The first one was the heart-shattering technique, which he often used after asking someone a question and receiving an unsatisfactory answer. He would point at any part between the person's eyebrows and throat, and the person's heart would stop, causing them to drop dead.

But this figure in front of him had been hit by the heart-shattering technique, and yet, not only was he fine, but he was even jumping around with vigor.

He didn't know that, since Copper was a divine beast, he was immune to Arthur's heart-shattering technique.

Arthur's second killing move was the lightning palm strike, which was extremely powerful. He would wave his hand forcefully, releasing an electrical discharge and killing his opponent. But Arthur had also tried to use this technique on the figure, and yet his opponent had jumped back up, clearly not dead.

Copper had indeed taken a solid hit from the lightning palm strike. First, the clothes on his body had torn away, and then a large handprint had appeared on his chest, leaving an imprint. It had been extremely terrifying.

If Copper had been an ordinary person or even another grand master, then the lightning palm strike would have killed him.

Unfortunately for Arthur, Copper wasn't human. As long as his soul wasn't destroyed, then he couldn't die.

Of course, Arthur still had his third killing move to try. After two consecutive strikes of the lightning palm strike had failed, he resorted to the power suction technique. He took a step back and then rushed toward the figure. As he held his hand up, a strange suction formed in his palm. Then he moved his hand back and pulled the figure closer to him.

"I can't kill you from a distance," he shouted. "But I can pull you closer and crush you. Then you'll die for sure."

But it was only wishful thinking.

Just as Copper was about to collide with Arthur, the nearby tree spirit manipulated the invisible barrier and changed its formation.

Arthur instantly felt as if he had lost touch with his divine spirit, and he finally understood what it meant to make a vital mistake. The figure seemed to have just brushed past the tip of his finger, and even though Arthur had tried to grab him, he hadn't been able to get a good grip.

Ever since he had entered Lion Ridge, he had failed to capture or injure his opponent.

But he reminded himself that he was a divine-level warrior, and although he was a little disappointed by his failure, he knew he was still powerful.

He cast a spell and pointed at his forehead, and then the fog surrounding Lion Ridge started to clear. He could now clearly see the ditches, paths, fields, and the thousand-year-old herbs.

More importantly, he could also see the thousand-year-old tree spirit and the beast with copper skin. He also spotted the huge hand print on Copper's chest.

With his experience, he instantly recognized the uniqueness of Copper.

"So you're just a beast!" mocked Arthur. "How dare you try to fool me! I will destroy you first, and then I'll destroy the tree spirit. Let's see how the invisible barrier protects you."

Then he chanted a spell and struck Copper.

As a divine-level warrior who was extremely powerful, Arthur was the natural enemy of all beasts. Under his spell, Copper couldn't even hold on for another second. His eyes closed, and his body rose into the air. Then he fell heavily onto the ground and didn't move.

From the spot where he had fallen, countless vines broke out of the ground and started to wrap around Arthur's feet and hands.

The tree spirit was extremely powerful, and even a grand master couldn't escape its power. But now that the vines were wrapped around Arthur's body, they didn't seem to have any effect at all.

As Arthur stomped, the ground shook. His body was as heavy as a mountain, and no matter how much the vines pulled at him, they were unable to hold him down.

Several more vines rose, releasing a green smoke and wrapping around Arthur's entire body. The thorns on the vines were like steel nails with barbs at the end of them. If they pierced into a grand master's body, they could do a lot of damage.

But now, these thorns seemed to be blocked by Arthur's skin, which was now harder than a steel plate. No matter how hard the thorns pricked him, they couldn't pierce his skin. They stopped on the surface and couldn't go any further.

Arthur was annoyed. It's just a few vines, he thought. I'll just break them!

He looked at the countless vines in front of him, and then he pulled them hard, snapping them.

The tree spirit was extremely angry with Arthur, and it shook its leaves and branches. A chilly wind blew, and then countless ghosts started to float out from the tree crown. Among them were countless evil spirits, baring their teeth and making all kinds of ferocious expressions. They all lunged at Arthur.

Arthur realized that, since the tree was a spirit, the ghosts lived beneath it.

"How dare you challenge me!" he yelled. "Who do you think you are?"

He put his palms together and unleashed the inner strength of a divine-level warrior. As he clapped, the ghosts were instantly crushed and turned into dust.

"You evil tree!" said Arthur as he strode toward the tree spirit. "You've been plotting with the Great One for many years, but today, I will destroy you and flatten Lion Ridge. Let's see how you're going to get out of this."

As he walked, the vines and thorns that had appeared from the ground were all destroyed.

Then Arthur charged into the tree like a bulldozer. His fist dug a big hole in the tree, and then he pulled out its green heart.

"This evil tree has actually grown a heart," he muttered to himself. "If it was given another hundred years to live, then it might be able to reach the divine level. I should get rid of its heart, in case it causes trouble in the future."

As soon as Arthur held the heart closer to him, the remaining fog cleared, and the invisible barrier fell.

Arthur gripped the tree's heart tightly and grew extremely excited when he realized that the barrier had been destroyed. He threw his head back and laughed.

Suddenly, a voice called out to him, giving him a fright. "Put it back. Otherwise, I'll pull your heart out."

Arthur turned around to look, but he couldn't see anyone. The voice seemed to be coming from all directions, making it hard for him to sense where it had come from.

For a moment, he thought he was hallucinating.

"Who's there?" he called out. But there was no reply.

Although he was quite confident in his own strength, he still felt some influence from where the barrier had been. Could the sound have come from there? he wondered.

He closed his eyes and chanted a few words to calm his mind. But the moment he calmed down, he started sweating profusely, and he felt a great sense of danger coming from behind him. Now he was positive that he had not misheard. There was indeed someone there.

He turned his head to look, and there he saw a young man standing behind him, silently glaring at him.