"Are all the dead people turned into zombies controlled by that evil tree?"
Ye Ling looked at the countless reanimated corpses around him, his eyes narrowing slightly. He immediately put away the stone slab and tossed the skeleton to Xiao Yu. "Xiao Yu, this skeleton should be your ancestor. Try to find some information from him. I'll handle this evil tree and those zombies."
"N-no problem."
Xiao Yu caught the skeleton and replied somewhat flusteredly.
Ye Ling also allocated a portion of his Karma Mirror Domain to protect Xiao Yu, then gripped his Void Sword and walked out of the Karma Mirror Domain.
The moment Ye Ling stepped out of the Karma Mirror Domain, the surrounding reanimated zombies seemed to have found their target and lunged at Ye Ling in a frenzy!
These reanimated zombies appeared to lack intelligence, but their speed was peculiar, and most of them possessed the strength of a ruler from an ordered world!
If it were anyone other than Ye Ling, or any other ruler participating in the ranking competition, they would likely have been devoured by the zombies in an instant!
"Dead chunks of flesh should lie peacefully in the earth, becoming nourishment for the land. Don't flail about here."
Ye Ling snorted coldly and unleashed a sword strike. The space at the bottom of the Abyss of Devouring Stars was cleaved open, and a large number of zombies were sucked into the spatial rift, disintegrating into dust within it.
Empowered by the Void Sword, Ye Ling cleared nearly half of the zombies with a single strike.
The screaming ancient tree seemed to be intimidated by Ye Ling's power. It stopped manipulating the remaining zombies to attack Ye Ling and instead sent out a barrage of bloody branches from the ground, piercing towards Ye Ling at speeds faster than light!
"Too slow!"
Ye Ling ignored the attacking branches, casually tossed the Void Sword onto the ground, and distorted the space beneath the earth.
The ancient tree's roots, deeply embedded in the earth, were shattered in that instant. A large amount of flesh and blood splattered, and the sharp branches attacking Ye Ling rapidly withered.
As Ye Ling shattered the ancient tree's roots, the massive ancient tree lost its supply of nutrients. Large patches of human skin peeled off its surface, and the flesh within rapidly shriveled and withered.
The surrounding zombies, deprived of nourishment, collapsed back to the ground.
Outside the ancient tree, the injured Sickle Beast watched as the two ferocious bounty hunter corpses collapsed before him, then slumped to the ground. "They're too fierce... I almost lost my life. What's going on out there?"
With his hands free, the Sickle Beast finally had time to look at the ancient tree ahead. He had intended to leave the Karma Mirror Domain, but upon seeing the large pile of corpses outside, he retracted his thought.
If he stayed within the Karma Mirror Domain, he only had to face two zombies. But if he went out, he would face a horde of zombies, and would also have to guard against the ancient tree's bizarre branches.
Unless one was a powerhouse like Ye Ling, anyone else going out would only meet their doom!
However, before the Sickle Beast could rest for long, the two bounty hunter corpses that had fallen down slowly rose before him.
"Th-they're back?"
Seeing the two bounty hunters revive, the Sickle Beast immediately sprang up, tightly gripping his scythe.
Meanwhile, beneath the ancient tree.
Ye Ling, who should have severed all of the ancient tree's roots, suddenly discovered that the roots had regrown and re-embedded themselves in the earth.
The fallen zombies were also getting back on their feet.
"Their regenerative ability is terrifyingly potent."
Ye Ling couldn't help but exclaim as he saw the ancient tree regenerate flesh and blood in such a short time.
However, Ye Ling merely marveled at it and didn't feel any threat.
So far, the ancient tree had only displayed immense power and extremely fast regeneration. But none of these were particularly troublesome for Ye Ling.
With his Source Power, Ye Ling's internal strength was already limitless. As for the ancient tree's regeneration speed, Ye Ling could uproot it and destroy it instantly if he applied a little more force.
The reason Ye Ling hadn't acted yet was that he vaguely sensed something was amiss...
Although this bizarre tree was strong, it wasn't strong enough for Ye Ling to take it seriously.
After all, this ancient tree had killed two bounty hunters, and they were bounty hunters who wielded Karma Skills. With the power the ancient tree had currently displayed, it was insufficient to accomplish such feats.
"Since you're still hiding your strength even at this point, I'll increase my efforts and see how long you can hide!"
Ye Ling looked at the regenerating ancient tree, a fierce glint flashing in his eyes. He summoned the Void Sword to his hand, preparing to destroy the ancient tree with a single strike!
"My lord! Wait!"
Just as Ye Ling was about to act, Xiao Yu suddenly called out to him.
"What is it?" Ye Ling looked at Xiao Yu, who was holding the skeleton, and asked.
Xiao Yu: "My lord... my ancestor still has a residual consciousness. He hasn't completely died yet, and the damage you inflicted on that evil tree just now has been transferred to my ancestor!"
"There's such a thing?"
A hint of surprise flashed in Ye Ling's eyes. He immediately withdrew his attack and teleported to Xiao Yu's side, looking at the skeleton.
The skeleton was now covered in dense cracks, appearing as if it were about to shatter.
Xiao Yu: "When you severed the evil tree's roots, these cracks appeared on my ancestor. I think that evil tree wants to use your hands to eliminate my ancestor."
"This is unbelievable!" Hearing Xiao Yu's words, Ye Ling became serious. He enveloped the skeleton with his divine soul and carefully examined the interior of the bone.
However, even after Ye Ling had examined the skeleton thoroughly with his divine soul, he only detected a faint power hidden within. He couldn't sense any consciousness inside at all.
Nevertheless, Ye Ling did discover some peculiar carvings on the skeleton, which looked like some kind of ancient curse seals.
Regardless of what those curse seals represented, it at least indicated that the skeleton was not as simple as it appeared on the surface.
After examining the basic condition of the skeleton, Ye Ling withdrew his divine soul and asked Xiao Yu, "Xiao Yu, how are you sure this is your ancestor?"
Xiao Yu immediately replied, "I can establish contact with my ancestor through my blood. However, my bloodline is somewhat diluted, and the connection with him is intermittent."
"Contact through blood?" Ye Ling pondered for a moment, then asked, "Can you get any information from your ancestor? How should we deal with that evil tree?"
"I'll try!"
Xiao Yu replied, then closed her eyes and fell silent.
Ye Ling waited quietly by her side. Protected by the Karma Mirror Domain, the ancient tree and zombies outside couldn't affect them.
A moment later, Xiao Yu's eyes snapped open, and she said to Ye Ling, "My lord, ancestor has replied!"