Chapter 404: Smashing the Outer Zone, Attacking the Inner Zone

Boom! Creak, creak...

Bang! The towering, pitch-black strange tree was struck by a powerful vehicle-type puppet. The tree trunk let out a shrill hiss, then collapsed with a roar, crushing a pile of bizarre, worm-like flowers and grasses.

Hiss, hiss...

Those bizarre flowers and grasses let out the same shrill hissing sounds. They suffered no major issues from being crushed; they were incredibly tenacious, and amidst the exhalation of disease-Qi, they were brewing an attack to crush the puppets.

Click-clack, boom!

The ground split open at this moment. A ground-boring puppet lunged out, carrying a terrifying spiral storm in its wake, directly shredding those flowers, grasses, and the collapsed strange tree into fragments.

Whoosh, whoosh!

At this moment, several deep purple rays of light flashed by. Two puppets were immediately dealt heavy damage; their protective spiritual light was shattered, their forms deeply dented, and they were knocked away into the distance.

Clusters of emerald tree flowers caught them, dissipated the force, and then transported them to where they were needed, before completing their final mission.

Against the backdrop of the roaring sounds, warrior puppets dashed out. Great might erupted from their bodies, and the guandao in their hands slashed down, causing the very space to change color. They had already struck from afar, unleashing a void-slashing wave that streaked straight toward the target that had just launched the light attack.

Three man-eating flower-like diseased spiritual plants, clearly fifth-rank existences, were currently baring their fangs and brandishing their claws, dealing with the two puppets that had fallen from the sky and crashed into them, as well as two water-type puppets that were controlling water from afar, unleashing power not inferior to ordinary Daoist arts.

Splash, splash, splash! They swayed unsteadily, emitting strange cries. Their massive, jaw-like flower heads flickered with deep purple radiance, accompanied by the rapid gathering of disease-Qi, as they were about to spit it out once more.

Slash!

The void-slashing wave arrived first, directly tearing them open. Foul-smelling, corrosive liquid poured out, corroding the two puppets that had crashed in at close range until they were unrecognizable.

They were not yet dead.

It just so happened that the puppets were broken.

And so.

Boom!

The two aerial puppets exploded directly, blowing them apart along with their underground root systems.

Hum, hum, hum...

The battle in this corner of the ground had just ended when strange sounds rang out in the sky once again.

A massive puppet with long wings and a wide head and abdomen, resembling a big-headed fish, was passing high above this combat zone.

Under the cover of its small shadow, the ground suddenly burst open. A purple-black, diseased plant resembling a snake-python shattered and exploded several underground puppets, leaving them no time to self-destruct, and then it prepared to rush toward the area of the verdant wood domain to smash it to pieces.

Just then, the giant puppet in the sky opened its machine belly.

Star-like glittering objects drifted down, scattering across the entire area.

Boom, roar! High-concentration, refined, and unstable fire-element spiritual mineral essence landed on the battlefield where spiritual Qi was chaotic and magic power was overflowing, immediately igniting a terrifying conflagration!

Stretching for twenty miles and burning a hundred fathoms deep, it turned the snake-python-like diseased plant, along with other existences in the area—including some unlucky allies—into a raging sea of fire!

Black smoke billowed, and heat waves surged.

The unlucky ones who had just been caught in the blast transformed amidst the magical light, turning into various magical artifacts that whistled out of the sea of fire, pressing deeper into the Sacred Garden, toward the location of the inner zone.

Here, the verdant green of the wood domain was on the defensive, and the purple-black disease garden was opening its maw.

A terrifying aggregate of diseased flower-trees was rapidly taking shape under the pressure of external forces, surrounding the inner zone. It radiated immense might, swirling with terrifying disease-Qi, and within it, ominous, deep purple light flickered, ready at any moment to pour out an attack with an extremely wide coverage and deep striking power.

Then, those magical artifacts swarmed over, poured directly into the maw, and proceeded to self-destruct on the spot.

Boom, boom, boom...

Bright radiance rendered the ominousness; the surface of the aggregate giant bulged from time to time, like nasty pustules, but it was still within a range it could barely digest.

However, Du En, who was controlling the overall situation, would not let it have its way and digest slowly.

Immediately, flight puppets resembling golden-winged birds dove down, emitting the white light of the metal element, silent and murderous, breaking through the air! Puchi!

They directly smashed those pustules, causing all sorts of foul stenches to gush out, and thick disease-Qi also raged forth.

This was not the end; another aerial puppet with a head and abdomen like a big-headed fish swept high overhead.

A group of water-based puppets carved out river channels out of thin air, puppets in the ground heaved up a small mountain, and the wood domain began to increase its power; hundred-fathom giant trees began to grow, and parasitic vines climbed up them one after another.

The Great Five Elements Offensive!

Starting with the metal element, then the wood element took the lead, the water element's river channels erupted with a roar like a mountain flood passing through. The water-based puppets, which were diving beasts like crocodiles and piranhas, accelerated while riding the water, waving their claws and teeth.

Spiritual light shimmered, filled with murderous intent.

The aerial cargo puppets opened their bellies, scattering fire-element brilliance. Finally, the earth-heaving puppets, after a round of self-destruction, blew apart the mountain roots, causing the heaved-up mountain to protrude entirely from the ground, nearly a thousand fathoms high, like a lifted peak, collapsing with a roar.

Striking from all directions, they vowed to open a breach in the inner zone of the Sacred Garden! Hum, hum, hum, hum... Ding!

The festering aggregate giant, suffering the great offensive, now emitted a dangerous sound. Finally, the ominousness compressed deep within erupted, directly unleashing a terrifying deep purple storm.

The wood domain swayed, the lifted peak struggled to fall, the flood was blocked, the heavenly fire was extinguished... At this moment, with a violent roar, one of Du En's trump-card puppets stepped forward.

Its entire body was cast from flawless, disease-free essence stone, crafted with a metal-element marrow core, and its grade reached the peak of the fifth rank. It was further blessed by the Sacred God, plated with a layer of radiant Sacred God membrane. Its hands were like spears, its killing power surging. It charged forward, the dual might of the puppet and its internal restrictions erupting, directly tearing apart the deep purple storm that was about to push back the other offensives! The storm's momentum weakened here, and the Five Elements forces swarmed in!

There were even more friendly offensives that could spare the opportunity, all cast from afar, truly covering the sky and earth.

Boom, boom, boom...

After a round of chaotic bombing and shelling, Du En's losses were not small, but the results were obvious: the last stubborn defensive line of the Sacred Garden had finally been beaten to a pulp by him, allowing the wood domain and others to drive straight in.

The battle continued, and the war was far from over.

Because within that inner zone, there were still many deep-rooted, even more terrifying individual diseased spiritual plants!

The battlefield remained a festering mess. It looked like Du En's side had begun to gain the upper hand, but he himself did not let his guard down.

Because the person who had roared earlier, the suspected fallen apostle Lie, was now in a state of abnormal silence.

He did not try to salvage the situation again, just sank into silence out of thin air.

Because it was unknown, it was concerning! "How many have been destroyed?"

The Sacred God looked at the devastated battlefield, the various roars and killings showing no signs of ceasing. Her voice sounded somewhat ethereal and distant, as if she were seeing the scene of the Great Sacred-Dark War from not long ago.

Of course, what pained her even more was that the enemies this time were supposed to be various good medicines that save lives and heal the wounded, but now they had become this strange shape, and she could only choose to cut the weeds and pull up the roots! Regardless of the final outcome, it could be concluded that the 338,630 species of rare flowers and grasses that had been collected and protected here were all destroyed, and it was impossible to see them on the native Sheng-Yuan Star Realm again.

Actually, that might not be the case; True Monarch Buyi surely would have kept seeds and retrieved the valuable ones long ago...

Du En glanced at the Sacred God, thinking this, but did not speak.

Facing his calm gaze, she lowered the hanging lamp with a sense of dejection.

Because she actually had an idea in her heart of exactly how many had been destroyed.

The variety reached 288,430 types, and the quantity had multiplied by more than three or four times; the entire outer area of the garden could be said to have been thoroughly swept clean by Du En, with only some corners still harboring grass putting up a desperate struggle.

The battle results were remarkable!

But their own side had also suffered immense losses! Of the dense army of puppets, only about a hundred of the fifth-rank high-grade or above remained; the others had all perished together, the remaining usable combat power was rapidly dwindling, the available consumables were nearly exhausted, and his own expenditure of magic power was constantly climbing! By now, it was basically the Wood Domain acting as the main force, grappling with the sick flowers of the Remnant Garden.

And that Apostle Lie still showed no signs of appearing! The Holy God seemed to have an idea about this, opening her mouth to say: "It looks like, in the end, I still have to step inside and take a walk myself."

Du En nodded slightly.

After all, that strange object, the Gap Flower, was planted at the very core, and in a situation where divine sense could not be projected, if one did not want to accidentally damage it, one had to approach it personally to pick it.

Moreover, the fact that Apostle Lie had no ripples or movements was truly something that made one concerned.

"He is a person of a dull temperament; it is said there were other reasons for his choice to retire and become a gardener, though I cannot truly understand them, but I imagine it will be the key to what follows?"

She said this at this moment, drawing Du En's attention.

And the Holy God here also revealed a look of recollection and nostalgia, yet was quite puzzled: "Simply put, he once told Su and the others back then that he had fallen in love with a flower."

Hmm? A flower? A flower that had gained sentience, a flower demon that had taken human form? Du En naturally had this association; after all, at first glance, it sounded like a similar situation.

But he quickly noticed the discrepancy.

The strange flowers and rare grasses here in the Holy God's Garden did not have a single plant showing signs of becoming a demon! There were plenty of fifth-rank ones, but not a single one showed the slightest hint of taking human form!

So, it was impossible for it to be a demon; then, was it really just a flower?

The Gap Flower?

"Not the Gap Flower."

The Holy God denied it.

Because it was neither a flower demon that had gained sentience and taken form, nor was it that strange flower that grew in the gaps of the human heart, she still could not understand this matter to this day.

"Su, as his good friend and best brother, wore a look of 'I understand' back then, but unfortunately, I didn't ask for the specifics, and now that Su has already fallen into eternal sleep, and the others have all become infected and insane, there really isn't a single clue left to find."

Was there really no clue? Du En cast his gaze toward the Holy God's Garden.

Wasn't the person involved the biggest clue of all?

Boom!

Just as they were staring, a loud noise suddenly erupted, followed by an object flying wildly at high speed, grazing past them, disturbing their hair and the light, and finally smashing heavily into the ground in the distance behind them, directly creating a concave valley! It was the Puppet General! It had originally been under control, leading the remaining puppets to penetrate deeper into the inner area, but it had suddenly encountered a sneak attack and was sent flying out in one blow, appearing extremely disheveled and miserable; the various lights on its outer shell had already dimmed, the whole thing looked as if it had fallen apart, and even the magic power lead wires of the puppet had all snapped!

In the end, his level of puppet manipulation was still insufficient, so Du En did not hesitate and directly triggered the self-destruction of all those puppets that had entered the inner area.

Boom-boom, bang-bang...

There were not even two self-destructions before an abrupt shattering sound occurred!

It was like a bubble being poked; it had been blasted apart before it even had time to self-destruct!

What a strong fellow, Apostle Lie? Du En raised his eyebrows slightly and began to take steps.

Because this was an enemy that could not be killed by sheer numbers, it was time to make an appearance personally.

His pace was calm; each step did not strive for uniformity, but was peaceful and natural, seemingly slow, but actually very fast.

Bang! Just as he reached the edge of the devastation in the outer area of the garden, a patch of soil suddenly exploded, and from it sprang a diseased, twisted plant resembling a Venus flytrap, opening a giant mouth capable of easily biting a fifth-rank mid-stage demonic beast to death.

Then it was casually blasted apart by Du En.

And along the way that followed, there were more fish that had slipped through the net, appearing from who knows where—perhaps hiding on the reverse side of the surface, perhaps hiding in the sea of disease within the inner spaces, or even originally located in the inner area, now driven to shift through space specifically to obstruct his path.

However.

Pfft! Pfft! Pfft! Regardless of what kind of messy things they were, they were all blasted apart with a single punch; he was not delayed or hindered at all, and he very easily walked out of the devastated outer area and arrived before the inner area.

Compared to the outer area, which no longer looked like a garden, the inner area still retained its general appearance and landscape.

Trees towered, flower beds were orderly, and nature and artifice had originally been extremely harmonious; even now, many traces remained, but the ravages of the Fluorspar Disease had ultimately completely twisted the harmony here.

The Daoist Wood Domain was still contending with the diseased flowers and strange grasses, and with Du En's arrival, more Fiber Flower Seeds began to scatter and spread, relying on and augmenting the Wood Domain, further strengthening the Daoist technique's dominance over the wood element within the area.

Du En looked around, while the Holy God was nervous.

They could only see broken puppets everywhere, but they could not find the specific perpetrator.

Hiss! Ha! Plop!

Various fifth-rank diseased flowers were still scrambling, crowding together and ignoring the lashing of the Daoist technique, intent on rushing toward Du En to finish him off...

Then.

Flames covered and burned, refining flowers into artifacts.

Du En arrived here and performed the technique himself; these various diseased spiritual plants became excellent materials for the Earth-Wood Holy Refining, and at this moment, he directly restarted the tactic of supporting the war through the war.

Refining artifacts, self-destructing, killing enemies, taking the enemy's fragments, refining artifacts again, self-destructing again, killing enemies again! Because he was now present, the competition of Daoist techniques naturally shifted from focusing on individuals to the whole, intending to thoroughly subvert and replace the Holy God's Garden, as various normal spiritual plants and flowers spread out within the vibrant forest domain.

The repeated self-destructions seemed like a celebration.

Cleansing the filth and turning it into fertilizer.

Gradually, this Holy God's Garden seemed to truly return to the way it was in the past.

Even the Holy God was somewhat dazed.

The one acting in the shadows seemed to be moved as well, and for a time, did not make another move.

(End of chapter)