Chapter 120: Sinking Into the Lake to Retrieve the Pearl, the Descent of Annihilation

The faint emerald glow at the bottom of the lake, like a single firefly in an abyss of despair, instantly reignited the hope that had been on the verge of dying in everyone! The Moonlight Treasure Pearl! It was still there! It had sensed the call of the Star Dust!

"It's responding!" Uncle Suolin's voice trembled with excitement and disbelief. "The power of the Star Dust... stimulated it! Quick! Someone has to go down and activate it!"

Go into the lake? Activate it?

Everyone looked at Moon Tear Lake. The lake water was murky beyond words, taking on a bizarre dark green color, its surface covered in rotting foam and fungal mats. The corrupting energy contained within the lake water made one's skin sting and breathing difficult just from getting close! Not to mention whatever corrupted aquatic monsters might be lurking at the bottom!

Who could go down? Who could find and activate the treasure pearl in this kind of environment?

Lin Mo's body was already at its limit, the glow of the Star Dust crystal could extinguish at any moment. Copperbeard's severed arm had crystallized, making movement difficult. Wrench and Xiang Lingna were even less likely.

"I'll go!" Without a moment's hesitation, Uncle Suolin's silver-grey eyes burned with the flame of a death-defying resolve. "I'm an elf! I still have a faint affinity for water... and besides... the power of the Moon God Arrow... might resonate with the treasure pearl!" He unfastened his tattered leather armor, revealing his lean, wiry upper body covered in scars and purplish-black veins.

"No! You're too badly wounded! The corruption hasn't been cleared!" Copperbeard immediately objected. Uncle Suolin's condition was barely better than Lin Mo's; going down would be almost certain death.

"There's no time!" Uncle Suolin pointed at the sky. That massive Annihilation Rift had already expanded to a terrifying degree! The horrifying phantom eye formed of pure decay energy at the center of the rift was growing clearer and clearer, more and more solid! A cold, all-disdaining will rained down upon the earth like tangible hail! The Doctor's descent had entered its final stage! He could even faintly see twisted, inhuman, colossal silhouettes slowly moving deep within the rift!

"This is our only chance! For the forest!" Uncle Suolin let out a low roar. Without waiting for anyone to dissuade him further, he took a sharp breath and plunged headlong into the dark green lake water that reeked of deadly stench!

Plop!

Viscous water splashed up. Uncle Suolin's figure was instantly swallowed by the murky lake water.

"Uncle Suolin!" Xiang Lingna cried out involuntarily.

Copperbeard and Lin Mo's hearts leapt into their throats, staring fixedly at the lake's surface.

Time seemed to freeze. Every second stretched into eternity. Apart from the bubbles of decay, the lake's surface showed no movement. In the sky, the Annihilation Rift expanded another ring! That phantom eye now occupied nearly half the sky!

"He... did he fail?" Wrench's voice carried a sobbing tone.

Just as despair was about to swallow everyone once again—

Hum!

Deep at the bottom of the lake, that faint emerald glow suddenly blazed to life! No longer pulsing, it erupted with dazzling brilliance like an awakening star! A condensed pillar of emerald light, like a waterfall flowing in reverse, violently tore through the murky water from the lake's heart and shot straight up toward the massive Annihilation Rift above Wang Ting!

Wherever the pillar of light passed, the thick corrupting aura melted away like snow and ice! A verdant tear was ripped open in the dark crimson sky!

"It worked!" Xiang Lingna leaped up joyfully.

Roooaaar————!!!

A howl more terrifying and more furious than all the roars before combined suddenly erupted from deep within the Withered Court! The entire corrupted earth trembled violently! It was the furious rage of the Doctor's will! The light of the Moonlight Treasure Pearl had interfered with his descent channel!

In the sky, the massive Annihilation Rift, under the impact of the emerald pillar of light, suddenly stalled in its expansion! Fine, glass-shattering-like cracks even appeared at the edges of the rift! The horrifying phantom eye at the center of the rift fluctuated violently, filled with offended, furious rage!

It worked! Uncle Suolin had succeeded!

However, everyone's joy lasted only an instant.

They saw the emerald pillar of light, surging upward, seemingly slam into an invisible, indestructible barrier as it neared the Annihilation Rift! The light rapidly dimmed and scattered!

Crack!

A crisp sound of shattering seemed to echo in the depths of every person's soul! That emerald pillar of light, like fragile glass, began to shatter and disintegrate inch by inch from its peak!

The power of the Moonlight Treasure Pearl was ultimately too faint! It had been eroded by corruption for too long, and had been forcibly stimulated by Uncle Suolin; it was already at its last gasp! Yet the stability of the Annihilation channel the Doctor had opened far exceeded imagination!

The pillar of light completely shattered, transforming into a sky full of drifting emerald specks that were swiftly devoured by the aura of decay emanating from the Annihilation Rift.

Beneath the lake's surface, the glow representing the Moonlight Treasure Pearl, like a candle in the wind, flickered a few times and went out completely.

Uncle Suolin... had he failed? Had he sacrificed himself?

In the sky, the stalled Annihilation Rift, after a brief hesitation, suddenly expanded with even more violent speed! That massive phantom eye fully solidified, its cold pupil turning, indifferently locking onto Lin Mo and the others on the ground like ants! An indescribable, terrifying pressure, as if the entire heavens and earth were bearing down, instantly descended!

The Doctor's will was about to cross the rift and truly descend!

"No—!" Xiang Lingna let out a desperate cry.

Lin Mo stared fixedly at the fully solidified massive eye, the shadow of destruction reflected in his ice-blue pupils. The Star Dust crystal on his chest, its faint glow, beneath this world-ending pressure, burned stubbornly, madly, like the very last spark!