Chapter 175: The Root Network, Lin Mo's Return

Viscous, icy darkness, saturated with the breath of annihilation.

Lin Mo's consciousness drifted like a candle in the wind, rising and sinking within the boundless cold and deathly stillness. He felt like a leaf tossed on the waves, swept along in a raging, filthy river of dark energy, plummeting toward an unknown abyss. The sensation of his body (soul) was one of nothingness; only a single point of faint yet stubborn starlight glow burned on at the dark core, stubbornly maintaining his last sense of existence.

Where was this? Deep within the root nodule's energy transport conduit? Or… a passage leading to some even more terrifying place?

Countless fragments of chaotic will battered his fragile consciousness: the Doctor's icy gaze, the agony of shackles tearing, the desperate resolve of the starlight eruption, and… at the final moment, seen through the stone wall, Priestess Liyana's cool, clear eyes, and… the burst of chaotic radiance from Xiang Lingna, carrying a familiar yet strange aura…

Lingna… was she still alive? Where was she? Did Sister Liya save her?

This thread of concern, like an anchor in the darkness, let Lin Mo's nearly dissolving consciousness re-coalesce by a sliver. He tried to "sense" his surroundings. Apart from the icy flood of annihilation energy, he caught some extremely faint yet tenaciously existing "root" wills.

【Pain… bondage… darkness…】

【Light… the light from before… warmth…】

They were the forest roots that had not yet been completely corrupted! They spread throughout the entire forest's underground, like the neural network of the earth! The Doctor's corrupted-claw root nodules and transport conduits were parasitizing right on top of them! The conduit where Lin Mo's soul phantom currently resided was, in essence, forcibly remodeled from corrupted giant roots!

A thought flashed like lightning through Lin Mo's chaotic consciousness—use these roots! They were like information channels spread throughout the forest's underground! Though most were corrupted and controlled, there were always some that retained a faint autonomous will!

He carefully guided that point of starlight at the core, no longer fighting against it, but attempting to let a wisp of the purest, most gentle power of starlight order, like the softest soothing touch, slowly seep out from his soul phantom and make contact with the root bodies beneath the corruption-covering on the conduit's inner wall.

Hiss…

The instant the starlight touched the roots, like a water droplet landing on red-hot iron, it instantly triggered a violent annihilation reaction! The roots spasmed violently, rejecting it! Lin Mo's soul was racked with tearing agony!

But he did not give up! He recalled how Lingna had handled things in the Thorn Corridor and the corrupted-claw node—not opposition, but communication! Resonance! He poured his intense will seeking guidance and help, mixed with the starlight's belief in "protecting the woodland" and "saving companions," and transmitted it like a prayer!

【Help me… guide me… toward the light… toward the direction of the Moon Shadow Sacred Tree…】

This time, the sense of rejection seemed to weaken by a sliver. The roots heavily coated in corruption remained icy and numb, but deeper within, some extremely faint, deeply hidden root consciousnesses seemed to have been stirred by this pure starlight power and will filled with goodwill.

【Light… Sacred Tree… Moon Goddess…】

【Pain… but… want to come closer…】

Broken, struggling fragments of will fed back to him. Though faint, Lin Mo saw hope! He guided the starlight with even greater focus, like the most patient gardener, nourishing that faint consciousness deep within the roots that longed for light, while continuously transmitting a clear directional will—the Moon Shadow Sacred Tree! The New Moon Woodland!

Gradually, something wondrous happened. Within the giant energy conduit where Lin Mo was, the filthy energy flood still raged, but the "texture" of the conduit's inner wall seemed to undergo an almost imperceptible change. In the areas touched by the starlight, the flow of corruption energy seemed to show an extremely slight sluggishness, while some energy pathways hidden deep within the roots, untouched by corruption—like sleeping capillaries—were faintly awakened by the starlight power!

Lin Mo's soul phantom no longer drifted completely at the mercy of the current. He felt an extremely faint yet truly existent "pulling force," transmitted along those activated, uncorrupted fine root networks, coming from a certain direction! That direction was precisely where the Moon Shadow Sacred Tree's pure radiance lay, as sensed by the starlight power!

The root network was responding to him! Though the force was faint, unable to let him go against the current, it was like a lighthouse in the darkness, showing him the way and providing extremely faint assistance, letting him, amid the violent energy flood, struggle to adjust the direction of his "drift," moving bit by bit toward the source of the Sacred Tree's radiance!

This process was slow and agonizing. Every adjustment of direction meant his soul phantom had to expend precious starlight power to resist the impact of the filthy flood. His consciousness struggled back and forth on the edge of clarity and blur, able only to cling tightly to the images of Lingna and Sister Liya, and to the guidance of the Sacred Tree's radiance, as the motivation to keep going.

After an unknown span of time, Lin Mo felt as if he had pierced through a layer of viscous, obstructive energy barrier. The surrounding energy flood suddenly became much gentler, and the breath of annihilating corruption was suppressed and purified by a powerful force of order brimming with vitality.

He "saw" that the giant root conduit he was in seemed to extend to its end, merging into a vast network composed of countless roots of varying thickness, flickering with faint silver-white and emerald-green luster! This root network emanated a tenacious, ancient, and pure aura, and at its center, a massive, warm source of order radiated brilliance like a sun!

The Moon Shadow Sacred Tree's root network! He had entered the woodland's range!

Immense joy instantly overwhelmed Lin Mo's exhaustion! He nearly cheered aloud! However, just as his soul phantom was about to follow the root network toward that warm source of order (the Sacred Tree's body)—

Weng!!!

A vast will, icy, viscous, and filled with absolute surveillance and malice, like a sky-covering dark cloud, suddenly descended above this root network! It was the Doctor's will! He had discovered Lin Mo's escape path!

"Found you… little mouse…" The icy will coiled around Lin Mo's soul like a venomous snake, "You thought… crawling into a turtle shell… meant you were safe?"

The terrifying pressure of will bore down like a mountain! The root network that had just been guiding Lin Mo instantly grew stiff and sluggish! Those faint pathways awakened by Lin Mo's starlight power were severed in an instant! A tremendous suction force came from the direction of the conduit Lin Mo had come from, trying to drag him back into the dark abyss!

Even more terrifying, the Doctor's will was not aimed solely at Lin Mo! Like an invisible blade, it stabbed viciously at the massive source of order at the center of the root network—the Moon Shadow Sacred Tree!

"First I'll crush your hope… then drag you back!" The Doctor's will was filled with cruel mockery.

The Sacred Tree's radiance dimmed sharply! The entire New Moon Woodland seemed to tremble! The root barrier protecting the woodland instantly suffered a tremendous impact!

Lin Mo's soul phantom, caught in a pincer (the Doctor's suction and the pressure of will), grew extremely dim, like a candle about to go out. He resisted the suction with all his might, sending a silent wave of will toward the Sacred Tree's radiance, filled with warning and a final message:

【Be careful! He's coming! Protect… Lingna…】

The soul phantom could hold on no longer; under the Doctor's powerful suction, like a leaf swept into a whirlpool, it was instantly pulled back into that filthy energy conduit and vanished into the depths of darkness. Only that final warning will, like a stone dropped into a calm lake, stirred a faint yet clear ripple within the Moon Shadow Sacred Tree's root network, spreading toward the Sacred Tree's core, and into the hearts of Sister Liya and Tylande, who were guarding beside Lingna's cocoon of light!