Chapter 148: Thorn Whispers, Ancient Tree's Lingering Memories

Lei En and the Wrench were dancing on a knife's edge. The residual energy turbulence within the node area sliced like invisible blades, cutting into their skin, while the dark-green corrosive aura gnawed at their wounds. The wreckage of the Wrench's scrapped mechanical arm even let out ominous crackling sounds when it touched the energy. But they gritted their teeth, focusing every ounce of their attention on guiding those thorny vines flowing with silver-white halos.

"Quick... a little closer..." Lei En growled low. A turbulence slash opened his arm, blood streaming down, but he paid it no heed, his emerald eyes locked on the vine tips reaching toward Xiang Lingna.

The Wrench used his twisted survival-arm frame, clumsily but firmly brushing aside the obstructing energy aftershocks, muttering under his breath: "Come alive, baby vines... go help that girl..."

A miracle occurred! Perhaps sensing the order aura of the same origin within the guardian light cluster inside Xiang Lingna, or perhaps Lei En's natural elven affinity at work, those guided thorny vines, as they neared the edge of the chaotic energy field around Xiang Lingna, spontaneously sped up! The tender buds at the vine tips, like awakening tentacles, carefully probed into that violent energy field!

Sizzle sizzle sizzle—!

The moment the vine tips touched the rampant corruption energy on Xiang Lingna's body surface, they immediately let out a searing sound, the silver-white halo dimming in an instant! But they did not retreat! The order energy contained within the vines, originating from the ancient forest's veins, trickled like a thin stream, stubbornly resisting the corruption and attempting to establish a connection with the emerald light cluster at Xiang Lingna's heart!

Wisps of faint silver-white order energy, carrying a cool, soothing aura, painstakingly pierced through the chaotic energy field and merged into that emerald light cluster!

Hum!

The emerald light cluster blazed suddenly! As if reinforced by fresh troops, its radiance intensified in an instant! It forcibly pushed back the dark-purple patterns spreading across Xiang Lingna's face and neck by a fraction! The power of guardianship was temporarily strengthened!

"It's working! Keep going!" Lei En and the Wrench were invigorated, ignoring their wounds, redoubling their efforts to guide more vines closer!

While the external support was painstakingly proceeding, Xiang Lingna's consciousness sank into a bizarre, surreal illusion.

She felt herself floating in a boundless chaotic ocean woven from emerald and dark purple. Countless memory fragments, like shattered mirror shards, drifted and spun around her—

She saw Priestess Liyana's gentle smile, teaching her to identify forest herbs;

She saw Uncle Copperbeard waving his rune carving knife, forging weapons in the Furnace Fortress, letting out a hearty laugh;

She saw Uncle Suolin wiping down his longbow under moonlight, silver hair like frost, eyes resolute;

She saw Brother Lin Mo harvesting his first basket of potatoes at the wasteland farm, his gaze weary yet content...

The memory fragments of warmth, guardianship, and hope radiated a soft emerald glow.

But more numerous were the terrifying dark-purple fragments:

The Doctor's cold gaze;

The Rotclaw Beast's ferocious fangs;

The Rot Shepherd's murky, greedy eyes;

Lei En's blood-soaked fighting figure;

And... the image of Brother Lin Mo bound by chains in the furnace, struggling in agony...

The dark-purple fragments of despair, fear, and destruction radiated a cold aura, ceaselessly assailing the emerald light cluster.

Xiang Lingna's consciousness drifted in the tug-of-war between these two forces, like a lone boat in a raging sea. Her guardian will let her tightly grip those emerald fragments, but the dark-purple waves surged violently, nearly swallowing her whole.

Just as her consciousness was about to sink once more, a grand, ancient will, filled with endless sorrow and weariness, like the tolling of a deep bell, pierced through the chaos and rang out in the depths of her consciousness:

【Child... hold on...】

【Listen... to the forest's... memories...】

Accompanying this will, a clearer, more ancient vision forcefully inserted itself into Xiang Lingna's consciousness—

It was a boundless, vibrant emerald forest! Towering ancient trees with interwoven branches formed a green dome. Clear streams flowed among the roots, exotic flowers and herbs exuded fragrance. Elven songs drifted through the woods, moonlight fell like a light veil. At the forest's core stood a colossal tree beyond words to describe its grandeur and holiness, its canopy seemingly connecting to the starry sky, its roots plunging deep into the earth's veins, radiating a majestic and pure life-origin aura! That was the World Tree in its prime!

【Home... Emerald Dream...】

The vision suddenly shifted! Dark-purple corruption, like a plague from the heavens, spread madly from the forest's edges! Wherever it passed, emerald leaves withered and fell, clear streams turned foul, elven songs became terrified wails! The majestic World Tree let out a pained groan, its emerald trunk entwined and eroded by dark-purple veins! Countless elven warriors fell in the tide of corrupted beasts, ancient buildings turned to ruins beneath annihilation pillars...

【Rotclaw... descends... erodes...】

【I... origin... shattered... fragments... scattered... hope...】

The vision finally froze on the World Tree's core will, bound by dark-purple chains, imprisoned within a crystal pillar, its radiance dim! It conveyed its final will: its origin shattered while resisting the Rotclaw's erosion, core fragments scattered, and the emerald fragment in Xiang Lingna's hand was one of the most important pieces! Containing part of its life origin and purification laws! One of the crucial "keys" to repairing the forest and fighting the corruption!

【Find... other... fragments... repair... veins...】

【Awaken... the slumbering... guardians...】

【Thorn Corridor... is... the final... passage...】

This broken memory from the World Tree's core, like a timely enlightenment, instantly made Xiang Lingna understand the true meaning of the emerald fragment and her own mission! She was not alone! She bore the forest's last hope!

This realization, like the most powerful force, instantly ignited the guardian light cluster deep in her soul! The emerald radiance exploded within the consciousness space, like a rising sun, instantly dispelling the surrounding dark-purple gloom! Those memory fragments representing despair and destruction melted like ice and snow!

"I... understand!" Xiang Lingna's consciousness let out a resolute cry within the light cluster, "Brother Lin Mo! Wait for me! I will definitely find the other fragments! Awaken the guardians! Rescue you! Repair our home!"

In the real node, with Xiang Lingna's consciousness revival and the sublimation of her guardian will, the emerald light cluster at her heart instantly erupted with unprecedented radiance! Not only did it forcefully push back the dark-purple patterns on her body surface, it even began a counterattack, tracing the claw-mark brand on her right arm, retroactively purifying the corrupted node energy that had just been drawn in! At the same time, the silver-white order energy infused by the thorny vines also flowed into the light cluster like a hundred streams returning to the sea, making it even stronger!

Xiang Lingna's body shuddered violently in the mire, and she slowly opened her eyes! In those clear eyes, though weariness and pain still lingered, deep within burned a flame of unprecedented resolve!

"Girl! You're awake!" the Wrench shouted joyfully.

Lei En also breathed a sigh of relief, but his gaze remained Heavy and Solemn. Though Xiang Lingna had awakened, the energy conflict on her body still existed, especially the brand on her right arm radiating a cold aura.

Just then—

Hum!

The entire Thorn Corridor violently trembled! Stronger than any time before! The vines on the corridor walls let out pained groans, large swathes of silver-white halos dimming in an instant! A powerful, malicious spatial fluctuation, like a giant hammer, slammed hard against the corridor's "barrier"!

"Not good! It's the Rot Shepherds! They're forcibly attacking the corridor's spatial nodes!" Lei En's face changed drastically, instantly identifying the attackers!

The Rot Shepherd leader, using the coordinates branded on Xiang Lingna's arm, had finally locked onto the Thorn Corridor's location and begun to forcibly tear through space at any cost, pursuing! The corridor's tranquility was utterly shattered, and a greater crisis descended!