Chapter 46 – Ancient Tree, Giant Eagle, and Little Lizard

Volume 2: Battlefield Between Two Worlds

As the Sapphire Giant Eagle flew farther and farther away, the area around the Ancient Tree seemed to spring to life all at once. Several plump rats crawled out from underground and began gnawing on the surrounding grass roots.

A large swarm of fist-sized Mutant Ants rushed out at high speed, directly encircling the big rats, and a bloody hunt began!

And around the Ancient Tree, some slightly larger animals flickered in and out of view.

With a gust of wind, the Ancient Tree rustled softly. At the junction where the canopy connected to the branches, a pair of cloudy, earthy-yellow eyes opened.

Watching the mountain forest become active again as the Giant Eagle's oppressive presence vanished, a kindly look showed at the corners of the Ancient Tree's eyes.

The mountain forest should be full of life and vitality, not turned into a dead land by a single super Mutant Beast!

The branches, like hands, began to wave, gently stroking its own abdomen.

At the Ancient Tree's abdomen was a narrow little space. A Little Lizard was licking the sweet, fragrant liquid that flowed out from there. As the lizard fed, its body slowly began to change.

It grew bigger, grew longer, and even its back and head began to bulge with two small fleshy lumps.

This was a change in its life form!

…

Wen Yu drove the Steel Blade into the Zombie King's neck, and the Zombie King's roar was forcibly cut off.

Seeing the Zombie King's ashen-gray eyes slowly fill with despair, Wen Yu ignored the Zombie King's violent struggle. The Steel Blade in his hand moved slowly within the Zombie King's neck.

As filthy blood sprayed out, the Zombie King's strength of resistance grew weaker and weaker-until the Steel Blade completed a full circle inside the Zombie King's neck!

The Zombie King's head was cut off by Wen Yu!

Looking at the decapitated Zombie King, Wen Yu sat down on the ground, panting heavily. He directly deactivated the Combat State and summoned One-Eye.

With the drop in Physical Attribute brought on by the deactivation of the Life-And-Death Combat Ability and the fusion with the Soul Beast, Wen Yu immediately felt a tightness in his chest!

His internal organs had been injured.

And One-Eye's injuries were even more miserable. Its entire body was scorched by flames with not a patch of good skin left; it had gone blind in one eye again; and where it had been struck by the Zombie King's right hand, the flesh had caved in, with who knew how many ribs broken!

One-Eye's injuries had fully erupted; it lay sprawled on the ground, limp and motionless.

Although its Physical Attribute had been boosted to an extremely terrifying level by Fate Struggle, once the injuries became too severe, no matter how strong its Physical Attribute was, it couldn't exert any effect at all!

"Time to eat. Can you still move?"

Seeing One-Eye covered in horrifying wounds, Wen Yu felt a pang of heartache and asked with concern.

One-Eye blinked its intact right eye, saw the Zombie King lying on the ground, let out two "whimpers," staggered to its feet, and immediately began tearing into the Zombie King's head.

There wasn't much meat on the Zombie King's head, but its brain matter was where the essence lay. As One-Eye ate in huge mouthfuls, its wounds began healing faster. It even showed signs of growing larger again.

The Evolution Energy that the Zombie King's corpse could provide to One-Eye was absolutely beyond imagination!

This was also the greatest gain from this battle.

Just as One-Eye finished eating the Zombie King's head and was about to start on the body-

A clear, piercing eagle cry rang through the dim sky!

"Shrii."

Wen Yu's expression changed drastically at once. The sound was incomparably sharp, so much so that his mind felt as if it were being stabbed by needles.

This wasn't a Skill-just an effect caused by sheer crushing superiority in Physical Attribute. To achieve such an effect, this creature's Physical Attribute had to exceed Wen Yu's by more than five times.

Just from that sound alone, Wen Yu could conclude that this Mutant Beast was absolutely an existence on the same level as Simba.

Absolutely not something he could take head-on!

That was Wen Yu's first reaction.

He immediately activated the Soul Realm and, on the spot, recalled One-Eye, who was in the middle of feeding.

Wen Yu turned and ran at once. It was a pity to give up the Zombie King's body, but between loot and life, Wen Yu knew perfectly well which mattered more.

A gust of fierce wind swept past behind him. A violent chill blasted forward, and the trees along its path instantly crusted over with thick ice.

By the time Wen Yu, shivering all over from the cold, had burrowed into a safe place, the wind noise behind him rose-then grew more and more distant!

That had merely been the Mutant Creature's way of shooing away insects!

Wen Yu looked back. In the night, a ghostly blue avian creature had its talons clamped around the Zombie King's mangled remains, flying farther and farther away.

"Damn Feathered Beast!"

Wen Yu cursed through clenched teeth, but when he considered the gap in strength, he decisively abandoned any thought of doing something.

After hesitating for a moment, Wen Yu summoned One-Eye again.

"Woof, woof."

One-Eye looked at Wen Yu with grievance, then glanced at where the Zombie King's body had been. Clearly, he was seething with resentment over his stolen food.

"Eat this."

Wen Yu opened the Spatial Ring and took out the Zombie King's right arm, which had undergone a second Mutated change, placing it in front of One-Eye.

Watching One-Eye struggle to tear and chew at the Zombie King's right arm, Wen Yu comforted him. "Don't worry. Stick with me and there'll be bread. Once we reach Level 3, we'll go look for trouble with that Feathered Beast."

Wen Yu was not the type to swallow a loss willingly. And seeing the Giant Eagle's silhouette just now, an idea abruptly popped into his head.

"If I can form a contract with that flying creature, then I'd count as being able to fly too, right?"

…

"Kree, kree-kree."

As the eagle's cry rang out, near the Ancient Tree.

The ants and rats that had been locked in battle quickly ended the fight. Each dragged its spoils and swiftly burrowed underground.

A big cat that had been tearing at a Mutant Goat dragged its food straight up the tree; with a few flickers amid the dense canopy, it vanished in no time.

Just as when the Giant Eagle had been here earlier, the scene fell instantly silent, like a lifeless dead land!

The ghostly blue Giant Eagle flew lower and lower until it landed on the crown of the Ancient Tree.

Its enormous body lay sprawled atop the Ancient Tree, as though the tree had sprouted a mass of ghostly blue leaves.

As the Giant Eagle rapidly pecked at the Zombie King's corpse, the Black Crystal on its forehead began to flicker quickly.

The Giant Eagle's body slowly began to change. Between its two legs, a spot suddenly bulged, as if something were about to break through the skin!

This was not the Giant Eagle's Skill, but an effect brought about by the Black Crystal!

Below, the Ancient Tree noticed the rapidly flashing Black Crystal on the Giant Eagle's forehead; a flash of hatred passed through its eyes.

Its lush roots swiftly drew nutrients from the earth, transporting them through the main trunk into its body.

Inside the Ancient Tree, a richly fragrant fluid was secreted in great quantity, and the Little Lizard within it grew larger and larger, stronger and stronger.

All of this happened right under the Giant Eagle's nose, yet it did not notice a thing!