Wang Xu’s long blade twisted and stabbed into the ground, then began to spin rapidly. Under the S-Level weapon and immense strength, the soil was like tofu, and a pit was soon dug out.
More root vines emerged from the underground, breaking through the soil and clawing towards Wang Xu. A faint lightning glow appeared, shredding all the roots and vines to pieces. Wang Xu jumped into the pit and continued hacking his way forward.
The root vines were endless, surrounding Wang Xu from all sides, forcing him to speed up his path to move towards the vibrations emanating from underground.
"Where’s Wang Xu? Where did he go?" Yan Cheng swung his great saber, slicing through the surrounding root vines, scattering willow wood debris everywhere. With just a glance, he noticed Wang Xu was missing and his expression changed instantly.
But he had no time to look back, as a swarm of root vines surged towards him. Yan Cheng silently prayed for Wang Xu, focusing on dealing with the root vines.
Sword Qi scattered, spreading the willow wood like a rainstorm of broken wood, endless and boundless.
The God of Slaughter let out an angry shout, and the Sword Qi from his bronze sword surged to dozens of meters. The fierce aura it exuded attracted even more root vines towards the God of Slaughter, who immediately slashed down with tremendous force.
With a loud boom, a massive trench was carved into the ground, bottomless. Under the Sword Qi, no Willow Demon survived, all turned into ashes.
But the God of Slaughter still underestimated the regenerative ability of the Willow Demon. The shattered willow wood fell into the soil and quickly sprouted, growing in just a few breaths. The dead Willow Demon was reborn again.
"Damn it, endless and unkillable, we should switch to fire attacks!" one member of the Black Eye Battle Group, "Hot Blast," suggested.
Hot Blast was a master of explosions, skilled in creating bombs. His bombs had unique shapes, some as large as houses, while others were as small as sesame seeds, each varying in form. It’s possible that the sand underfoot was one of his bombs.
"No! The Willow Demon isn’t afraid of fire. If the root vines catch fire and attack us, it’ll be even more difficult!" Onew Eye on the God of Slaughter’s right arm spoke out.
One Eye didn’t literally have only one eye; there was a deformity on his forehead resembling an eye.
At this time, the deformed eye on One Eye’s forehead was glowing red, projecting a small energy barrier that enveloped the rescued girls.
"We should’ve never helped; not only did we fail to save anyone, but we also wasted our troops," another member, "Green Foot," broke the nearby root vines with a phantom-like footwork.
"No, we have no choice," Qian Li calmly analyzed. "Thousand Poison Hand threw those girls to the Willow Demon as food to awaken it. Once the Willow Demon awakens, we can’t bypass it, we can only retreat."
Upon hearing this, the group fell silent and refrained from complaining, continuing to fend off the attacks from the Willow Demon.
Retreat? When has the Black Eye Battle Group ever retreated?!
Each held the pride of a strong individual in their hearts, making retreat an unfathomable choice.
In Wang Xu’s hands, the long blade kept spinning like a high-speed fan, shredding all the encircling root vines while simultaneously extending a pathway. He was drawing ever closer to the mysterious vibrations.
The tunnel got deeper until it was about three hundred meters down, and Wang Xu could clearly feel the nearby vibrations.
The trailing root vines seemed to sense something and suddenly retracted.
"It’s here!" Wang Xu’s eyes lit up, and his long blade thrust forward. An invisible Sword Qi burst forth, breaking all the soil ahead open.
Suddenly, a dazzling green light appeared.
Wang Xu squinted to see, and in front of him, thick roots intertwined like a web. In the center, a mass of green light emitted a soft glow, suspended in the air, surrounded by a faint mist.
"What is this?" Wang Xu wondered, but suddenly, as if sensing his presence, a thick root vine shot up, racing towards Wang Xu.
Wang Xu’s eyes focused, and the long blade in his hand traced a faint lightning arc, slicing down on the thick root vine.
The root vine was cleaved in two by Wang Xu’s blade, but in an instant, several thick root vines attacked again.
"I can’t waste time here," Wang Xu realized instantly that the thick root vines were more troublesome than the smaller ones, with strength several times greater and even more formidable regenerative abilities.
Wasting no time, Wang Xu utilized his Heart Level body technique, constantly shifting amidst the assault of the thick vines, his form flickering and swaying unpredictably, yet the thick vines couldn’t touch him.
Reaching the green light, Wang Xu reached out, stretching his fingers wide, and violently pulled it down.
Simultaneously, the thick root vines seemed to hit a critical point, all going limp and powerless.
The members of the Black Eye Battle Group continued to resist the never-ending roots and vines.
The Bronze Sword in the God of Slaughter’s hand never stopped moving, constantly slicing, shaving off a layer of earth around him, yet there seemed to be no reduction in the Willow Demon.
After a prolonged stalemate, the group members were heavily exhausted, sweat dripping from their brows, their faces pale, and even the God of Slaughter frowned.
"What should we do!" Yan Cheng’s face was grim, the relentless assault of the roots and vines was overwhelming even for someone of his Tier Eight level.
Yan Cheng looked towards One-Eyed, who was the right-hand man of the God of Slaughter and a strategist-like figure for the Black Eye Battle Group. Everyone’s eyes were also on One-Eyed.
"Dealing with the Willow Demon is simple. The infinite roots and vines exist because it has a ’Willow Heart’. As long as the Willow Heart is extracted, the Willow Demon will immediately regress into an ordinary mutated plant," One-Eyed’s face was pale, the prolonged support of the Energy Barrier had greatly exhausted him, "but the location of the Willow Heart is hard to grasp, finding it is extremely difficult."
Everyone was anxious, at this moment, the voice of the God of Slaughter came through: "I will search for it."
"Leader!" One-Eyed exclaimed, "The location of the Willow Heart is uncertain, finding it in the vast expanse of the Willow Forest is like looking for a needle in a haystack. If you enter the depths of the Willow Demon, the attacks will be ten times stronger than now, don’t take the risk easily!"
"No other choice." The God of Slaughter replied firmly.
Everyone shouted in unison. Despite the God of Slaughter’s tough demeanor with them usually, it’s always him who stands at the forefront at critical moments.
Suddenly, the endless roots and vines seemed to be hit by an immobilization spell, all stopping before collapsing weakly.
"What’s happening?" Joy blossomed on everyone’s faces.
The roots and vines fell en masse, crashing to the ground with a thud, no longer possessing regenerative capabilities, just like ordinary plants.
The God of Slaughter also showed a puzzled expression.
At that moment, from a spot in the soil not far away, a fluctuation of energy emerged. Everyone looked over and saw a figure burst out of the ground, leaping up with a hearty laugh on his face.
Everyone was bewildered yet delighted, and One-Eyed’s pupils contracted: "That... that is the Willow Heart!"
Wang Xu landed heavily, holding a head-sized green light orb, the gentle green glow making the surrounding roots and vines seem alive. But as Wang Xu moved forward, the roots and vines collapsed once more.
Seeing this scene, the God of Slaughter’s thoughts cleared up, and he understood everything.
"This... is truly the Willow Heart. Wang Xu, how did you do it?" One-Eyed retracted the Energy Barrier, looking at the Willow Heart with burning eyes.
Wang Xu rubbed his nose, smiled, and said, "I sensed a wave earlier and followed its direction to find this thing."
"This is really... unexpected that something we Tier Eight couldn’t achieve was accomplished by a Tier Six junior. It’s embarrassing, truly embarrassing..." One-Eyed couldn’t help shaking his head.
But immediately One-Eyed approached and asked, "Wang Xu, why not sell me this Willow Heart? I’ll offer three billion Contribution Points, how about it?"
"Three billion!" Wang Xu’s eyes lit up.
"The Willow Heart isn’t very useful to you, but to us, it’s an excellent material for making Genetic Potions, able to produce a 20% concentration potion, invaluable. Unfortunately, I only have three billion Contribution Points in hand, it’s truly embarrassing," One-Eyed said sincerely.
Upon hearing this, no one else came up to compete with One-Eyed, as One-Eyed had been stuck at Tier Eight for too long. The Willow Heart was extremely important to him.
"Alright." Wang Xu readily agreed.
He wasn’t worried about One-Eyed deceiving him, and the Willow Heart held no use for him. Better to exchange it for three billion Contribution Points.
Thus, the transaction was swiftly completed.
"Let’s go, it’s time to settle the score with Thousand Poison Hand." After a brief rest, they had the girls sent back, while the rest of the group continued the campaign.
A short while later, looking into the distance, they saw hundreds of black-clad figures holding weapons, waiting down the road.
The God of Slaughter’s face turned icy cold, the Bronze Sword in his hand hummed softly, then his figure flickered, rushing forward to attack!