Swish—
Swish—
The Lord of Ten Thousand Mustaches walked through a major city in the Luoxia Province, refining his plan.
Human powerhouses had always been few, but humans were numerous and adept at fortifying their strongholds. Even a formidable being like the Lord of Ten Thousand Mustaches would not infiltrate human strongholds unless absolutely necessary.
It was also difficult to infiltrate.
Humans were fond of scattering various detection arrays throughout every corner of their strongholds. However, the Holy Court had recently suffered a calamity, the entire continent cracked, and the losses were heavy. In just a few months, the Torch could rebuild destroyed cities and restore the Holy Court to its former prosperity, but it couldn't bring the entire Holy Court under its control.
The repair and reconstruction of legendary arrays would by no means be completed soon.
The Torch's control over the Holy Court would inevitably be limited.
The Lord of Ten Thousand Mustaches was one of the ancient beings who understood humans relatively well. He had received offerings from many super oases.
He stroked his beard, his divine sense whirring, and was certain of his judgment.
However, the Lord of Ten Thousand Mustaches was a rather cautious ancient being. Even with soaring confidence, he did not immediately delve into the Holy Court but instead lingered for several days in a large city near the border of the Luoxia Province, known as the gateway to the Holy Court.
He was not discovered by the Torch.
His confidence increased from 90% to 99%.
"The deduction is correct, I can depart."
The Lord of Ten Thousand Mustaches thought.
He was still unhurried. Instead of using his great power to travel to the First Province, he bought a ticket and boarded a flying boat like an ordinary person, entering the First Province as a reconstruction worker.
In the world, the aura of the Indora Life Tree grew stronger.
He couldn't help but show a look of infatuation.
Upon arriving at the First Province, there were many forbidden zones further within. One could still see sharp white bones protruding from the ground, like bone spears, like bone mountains, magnificent and awe-inspiring.
"This power... correct... the Bone Desolation Demon Lord indeed perished here."
The power of the white bones still lingered.
Within the Lord of Ten Thousand Mustaches' heart, his wariness and fear of that Torch mentor increased by another notch.
Fortunately, this mentor would not be stationed in the Holy Court. Otherwise, even with ten times the courage, he would not dare to intrude upon the Holy Court continent.
"In short, investigate cautiously."
"I am not afraid of other human powerhouses, but I cannot expose myself yet, at least not until I find the Life Tree."
His gaze swept around.
Influenced by Fang You's act of reshaping the world that day, lush trees were ubiquitous throughout the Holy Court, full of vitality, and even more so in the First Province.
If it weren't for the need to preserve some specimens for research and observation, the residual bone power on the ground would have long been diluted and extinguished by the vitality of the plants and trees.
The Lord of Ten Thousand Mustaches looked at the lush trees, his smile deepening.
"In this environment, I am like a fish in water. Let alone ordinary human powerhouses, even that mentor, face to face, might not be able to find me."
After all, he was the Lord of Ten Thousand Mustaches! The master of roots!
His figure quietly disappeared, using the roots found everywhere in the province as stepping stones to rapidly shift his position.
The entire process was extremely covert!
Because he was the incarnation of roots, his movements were like the blowing wind, the drifting dust, the flowing water in a river... He completely merged into nature.
Even those a hundred, a thousand, ten thousand times stronger than him would find it difficult to detect the subtle changes in nature.
The Lord of Ten Thousand Mustaches roamed in the world of roots, following the increasingly dense aura of the Indora Life Tree.
In just a moment, he found his target.
A divine tree hundreds of meters tall!
He stared at it, slowly becoming somewhat disappointed.
"It's not the true Life Tree, but a legendary tree that inherited the power of the Life Tree."
"Its status is high, far more precious than ordinary legendary trees."
"However..."
He was a high-ranking being of the Ninth Realm. A legendary tree, no matter how precious, would be of little benefit to him.
He wanted the real Life Tree.
"If I obtain this sub-tree, I might have the confidence to track the location of the true Life Tree, but..."
If the Indora Life Tree was not here, then it was likely at the headquarters of the Torch Organization.
That would undoubtedly be a dragon's den.
Should he charge in, or not?
Hidden in the roots, the Lord of Ten Thousand Mustaches was conflicted, both longing and timid, his thoughts wavering.
"Wait, since there is only one sub-tree here, why... is the aura of the Life Tree still so dense? And I can faintly feel the power of nature and prosperity permeating."
He pondered, and then his eyes suddenly widened, his gaze moving upward.
Above the legendary tree hundreds of meters tall, there was a divine tree of infinite height, its trunk like a pillar of heaven piercing through the clouds, its canopy wider than the entire sky.
She was so majestic, noble, sacred, and conspicuous.
But the Lord of Ten Thousand Mustaches had not noticed her at all just now.
No one in the entire Holy Court had noticed the existence of this divine tree... even though the divine tree was larger than the entire Holy Court, like a tree planted in a small bonsai pot. Within the Holy Court, no matter where people were in the thirteen provinces, they could look up and see this divine tree, see the majestic branches, and leaves like land.
Yet, there was nothing.
No one realized the existence of the divine tree.
Including the Lord of Ten Thousand Mustaches himself just now.
The Lord of Ten Thousand Mustaches became excited. "This is the true Indora Life Tree. She exists here and yet does not exist here. Ordinary powerhouses, or even ordinary high-ranking beings, could not perceive her."
And he, of course, was not an ordinary high-ranking being.
The divine object he had dreamt of was right before his eyes.
What he needed to do next was...
He was still pondering how to take away this Life Tree... His understanding of the Indora Life Tree was superficial, but the Lord of Ten Thousand Mustaches felt that with his mastery of root laws, taking away a tree would not be difficult.
But his expression changed.
A wave of repulsive force emanated from the roots where he was hidden.
Although he quickly stabilized himself, wisps of energy still leaked out.
"I... have been discovered?"
The next moment, the Lord of Ten Thousand Mustaches confirmed that this was not an accident.
A gaze looked over from afar, locking onto his figure.
It was a human woman dressed in green clothes. A serious and stern expression gradually appeared on her usually gentle face.
"Hmph!"
The Lord of Ten Thousand Mustaches flicked his sleeve and emerged from the roots. Since he had been discovered, with his noble status, he naturally disdained to continue hiding.
"High-ranking human, you cannot stop me."
"There is a saying among you humans that is very true: treasures have always belonged to those who are fated to have them."
"And the Indora Life Tree is fated to be with me. Leaving it in the hands of you humans would only be a waste of such a divine tree's power."
He flew upwards.
The profound power of root laws spread out, along with the innate divine abilities of the Lord of Ten Thousand Mustaches.
Instantly, billions of tree roots danced. The earth, stirred by the roots, seemed to churn like ocean waves, roaring and surging.
The entire First Province vibrated. Countless people's expressions changed, showing panic.
Some powerhouses also looked towards the depths of the lush forest.
"An enemy has infiltrated!"
"Such great power, the earth seems to have turned into a sea of roots... This is a high-ranking being!"
"Quick, sound the Level One alarm!"
These thoughts only flashed through the minds of the mythological figures. Before they could even move, the Lord of Ten Thousand Mustaches, with his great power, enveloped the Indora Life Tree, which was in a state of 'being and non-being'.
He, the Lord of Ten Thousand Mustaches, could destroy the entire First Province in an instant, but there was no need. Doing so would only anger the human Torch and be of no benefit to himself.
He used these roots as stepping stones to quickly pry up the colossal Life Tree.
He could also easily defeat an ordinary high-ranking being.
There was a significant difference between high-ranking beings. And he, the Lord of Ten Thousand Mustaches, was among the very top echelon of high-ranking beings.
"Rise!"
The earth roared.
Thick roots, like earth dragons, erupted from the ground, covering the human woman standing beneath the Life Tree.
"Human, step aside, otherwise don't blame me for not holding back."
His voice also rumbled like thunder.
The earth dragons soaring in the sky swooped down.
The human woman in green robes did not change her expression, but the Lord of Ten Thousand Mustaches did.
The thick root earth dragons inexplicably cracked. From these cracks, green buds broke through the earth and grew rapidly.
In an instant, the brown root dragons were covered with green branches.
The branches engulfed the earth dragons, transforming into dancing green vines that coiled back down.
"This, this..."
The Lord of Ten Thousand Mustaches no longer cared about shaking the roots of the Indora Life Tree. He discovered that this human high-ranking being was a bit unusual, definitely not an ordinary high-ranking being.
She was possibly not weaker than him.
He had to concentrate all his strength to deal with her.
"Myriad Mustaches Heavenly Net Formation!"
Roots intertwined with each other, and power spread out, supported by nodes.
This was the Lord of Ten Thousand Mustaches' signature move, with which he could amplify his law power tenfold, a hundredfold.
But as soon as the Myriad Mustaches Formation began to interweave, the roots rapidly cracked, scattering like paper scraps. Vines danced wildly, flowers bloomed, and leaves twirled.
Vines, flowers, and leaves together constructed a beautiful scene.
However, within this beauty lay a potent killing intent.
Great terror and great power swept towards him.
The Lord of Ten Thousand Mustaches' expression changed repeatedly. "Why are my roots so fragile?" His roots were so hard that even divine and demonic weapons found it difficult to cut them, yet now they were like thin paper, breaking with a single poke.
He already had thoughts of retreating.
He intended to use his roots to block the enemy and escape quickly into the trees and roots himself.
But,
He seemed unable to command the roots of the four directions' myriad trees, and the surging sea of trees gradually calmed down.
The Lord of Ten Thousand Mustaches' robes tore open, his arms and legs transforming into countless wriggling roots, revealing his true form!
Yet, he was still as if trapped in mud. His own roots were somewhat uncontrollable, and it felt as if insects were wriggling inside him, trying to break through his skin and emerge.
They were tender buds!
His own body was being used as soil.
"This is impossible!"
"Such a terrifying killing move cannot exist!"
"Wait, this kind of great power... it's authority! Are you a true god of the Tenth Realm, wielding authority?!"
The Lord of Ten Thousand Mustaches' voice became sharp and distorted.
Filled with deep disbelief and unwillingness!
He stared at the woman in green robes in the distance, full of regret!
The human Torch had only one and a half famous powerhouses.
One was the Torch Mentor, whose exact strength was unknown but was likely a strong Tenth Realm being.
The half was the Blazing Flame Yin Luoxi, who had once slightly surpassed the Devouring Yuan Giant Beast in the Ancient Alliance and was adept at fire power, which countered the Lord of Ten Thousand Mustaches.
He didn't care about any other powerhouses besides these.
He had his pride.
But he never expected that such an unparalleled powerhouse was hidden among humans.
A Tenth Realm existence who wielded a certain authority of the wood element!
He hated it!
"You, a dignified Tenth Realm existence, disguised yourself as a high-ranking being to ambush and deceive me!"
The Lord of Ten Thousand Mustaches no longer dared to burrow into the roots.
He burned all his power to suppress the abnormality within his body and fled into the void.
Then, he was entangled by countless vines and firmly suppressed.
The earth trembled.
Liu Shang walked forward and stopped a thousand meters away.
"Uninvited guest, our mentor is merciful and grants you a chance to live."
"...Now, you must make a choice."
The Lord of Ten Thousand Mustaches, suppressed beneath the vine tree, signed a devilish contract, his eyes completely losing their light.
...
The alarm of the Holy Court's thirteen provinces was sounded.
In the darkness, someone cackled with laughter.
"The Holy Court is in chaos, the opportunity we have waited for so long has arrived!"
The alarm in the Holy Court's thirteen provinces ceased, and the cities returned to their original state.
In the darkness, the cackling silhouette's laughter abruptly stopped.
He fell into self-doubt.
...
When the Lord of Ten Thousand Mustaches was discovered by Liu Shang, Xiao Huan also immediately informed him of the news.
Now, the inner circle of the First Province of the Holy Court had been brought under the actual control of the organization.
Since his mentor Fang could freely teleport within the organization's scope, he could naturally reach the scene in the First Province in an instant.
However, there was no need.
Liu Shang could easily suppress this ancient being.
It wasn't that the Lord of Ten Thousand Mustaches was too weak, but rather that Liu Shang was too strong. She wielded 15% of the authority of life, and Liu Shang's authority power had a restraining effect on the Lord of Ten Thousand Mustaches.
In battles of the same element, the disparity in strength was even more pronounced!
If the Lord of Ten Thousand Mustaches had wielded a higher authority than Liu Shang, then Liu Shang would have been at a disadvantage everywhere.
"Not only that, but the innate divine abilities of the Lord of Ten Thousand Mustaches had the effect of promoting the evolution of the Life Tree."
Perhaps this power enhanced the absorption capacity of the Life Tree's roots, or perhaps the Lord of Ten Thousand Mustaches' power was valuable food for the Life Tree.
In any case, the Lord of Ten Thousand Mustaches' current task was to continuously extract his power 24 hours a day to provide nutrients for the Life Tree. This was the price he had to pay to live.
Human rights, for a defeated prisoner, did not exist.
"The Lord of Ten Thousand Mustaches must exhaust his power. He cannot cause any trouble. Of course, if he can significantly shorten the evolution time of the Life Tree, a commutation of sentence might be possible in the future."
Fang You thought.
The recent disturbance was just a false alarm for the Holy Court.
However, it also clearly exposed the loopholes in the Holy Court's defense system.
This was unavoidable.
The original defense system was based on the Eternal Pure Land, and it had taken the Holy Court hundreds of years and countless human and material resources. Fang You's use of the Eternal Pure Land was more efficient, but he couldn't build the defense system to its previous level in a short time.
It was more practical to rely on the defense of powerhouses.
"The mystical realm is becoming increasingly chaotic, and demons and ghosts are starting to run wild."
"Let alone evil gods, even when facing some top ancient gods and powerful ancient gods, the power of our Torch is still insufficient."
What to do if the firepower is insufficient?
Cultivate and nurture!
Perhaps the defense pressure would be significantly relieved when the Torch had twenty, forty, or a hundred high-ranking beings.