Chapter 46: The Seed of the Ley Line, the Withered Moonlight, and the Elves' Swan Song

Priestess Liyana's piercing spiritual shriek was like an icy awl, stabbing viciously into the depths of Lin Mo's soul. The fragmented images transmitted over—silver light shattering, thorns collapsing, a massive purple claw tearing apart the last hope—made Lin Mo feel as if he had plunged into an ice cave in an instant!

"Priestess Liyana!" he roared hoarsely, his eyes nearly splitting with rage! A surge of emotion—overwhelming fury, boundless worry, and deep helplessness—erupted in his chest like a volcano! The Seed of Life, struck by its master's violent emotions, sent the power fused with the ley line fragment deep within its core into a frenzy. Verdant light, tinged with scorching orange-red, burst uncontrollably from his body, scorching the surrounding air until it warped slightly!

"Boss! What's wrong with you?!" Wrench was startled by the violent aura suddenly erupting from Lin Mo. He dodged clumsily as the remaining two "Obstacle Clearers" attacked, shouting in alarm.

The Doctor's projection hovered in the air. Behind his gold-rimmed glasses, his gaze was cold and playful, like a scientist watching a specimen struggle in a desperate situation. "Do you feel it, Lin Mo? This is the price of refusing me. That elven priestess… is finished. Her world will become the Rotclaw's nest. And you… can do nothing." His voice carried a cold, all-controlling tone, attempting to crush Lin Mo's will utterly with the destruction of the elven world.

"Shut up!" Lin Mo jerked his head up, his eyes blood-red, fixing a death stare on the Doctor's projection. His voice was hoarse, like that of a wounded beast. "You… what do you know!"

"I understand power!" The Doctor's projection's voice rose sharply, tinged with a hint of fervor. "I understand how to control it! To use it! Not like you—relying on ethereal will and… acting on emotion! Give me the weapon! Join the Black Scorpion! Only then will you gain the true power to protect those you wish to protect! Otherwise…" He paused, his virtual finger pointing down at the gravely wounded, unconscious Sister Ai Li and Xiang Lingna guarding her. "They… will be next!"

A naked threat!

Lin Mo felt a rush of blood to his head, wishing he could tear apart the cold projection before him on the spot! But his remaining reason held the impulse in a death grip. He knew anger would solve nothing. Priestess Liyana was in mortal danger! Sister Ai Li was gravely wounded! Xiang Lingna and Wrench needed protection! He had to stay calm!

Just then, the thorn-passage node in his consciousness connecting to the elven world had not closed completely despite Priestess Liyana's grievous injuries. Instead, it transmitted an extremely faint, yet incomparably tenacious spiritual fluctuation! It was Priestess Liyana!

Her thoughts came in broken fragments, filled with deathly weakness and agony, yet still carrying a heartbreaking gentleness and resolve:

"Lin Mo… don't… bother with me…"

"The Rotclaw… too strong… my… mission… has ended…"

"But… hope… still remains…"

"Feel… the ley line… the seed…"

"Use… it… to protect… Sister Ai Li…"

"Use… your… weapon… to sever… the corrupted… roots…"

Along with this final thought, an extremely pure force of natural origin—yet carrying endless sorrow and the aura of withering—poured along the thorn passage, crossing dimensions, surging into Lin Mo's Seed of Life! This force was not an attack, but a… transmission! A sacrifice! A ritual entrusting the remnants of the world's origin!

【Warning! High concentration of 'Withered World Origin' (Elven Lament Fragment) received! Contains powerful natural force, but is deeply corrupted! Forced absorption will cause severe erosion!】

【The Seed of Life is producing a strong rejection reaction! Energy conflict intensifying!】

"Argh—!" Lin Mo Like Struck by Weight, his body trembling violently! That cold, decayed force, brimming with despair, surged in madly, clashing fiercely with the vitality-filled power of the Seed of Life within him! His meridians felt as if pierced simultaneously by countless ice needles and branding irons! Faint, vine-like purple patterns instantly surfaced on his skin! His mind was flooded with despairing illusions of countless trees withering, the earth cracking, and living beings wailing!

Priestess Liyana was using her last strength to forcibly transmit the origin of the corrupted world fragment she had been guarding to him! It was her final gift, and her final curse! She hoped Lin Mo could use this power, but she had underestimated the erosive force of the corrupted origin!

"Priestess Liyana… you…" Lin Mo groaned in agony, tears mixed with traces of blood sliding from the corners of his eyes. He could feel the resolve of guardianship Priestess Liyana had transmitted, but this "gift" was nearly dragging him into the abyss along with her!

"Hahaha! Do you feel it? The taste of withering!" The Doctor's projection let out a piercing laugh. "The elves' death throes will only hasten your destruction! What a foolish sacrifice! Now, give me the weapon!" He commanded again, the projection's virtual arm extending, reaching for the suspended war-blade prototype.

"Get lost!" Lin Mo, enduring the searing pain from the frantic clash of two forces within him, jerked his head up. A terrifying light erupted in his eyes! He no longer suppressed the surging withered origin, but instead forcibly guided it, mixing it with the violent power of the Seed of Life, and channeled it all into the Moonlight Crystal on his chest!

This crystal, riddled with cracks, its core branded with purification runes, and eroded by the Rotclaw's corruption, now became the perfect vessel!

Hum—!

The Moonlight Crystal erupted with unprecedented, chaotic, and blinding radiance! Pure silver glow, sinister purple filth, verdant life, withered yellow despair, and the violent earth-fire force Lin Mo had channeled in… several diametrically opposed forces clashed and collided madly within the crystal!

Crack! Crack-crack!

The cracks on the crystal's surface instantly widened and spread! The entire crystal trembled violently, as if it might explode at any moment!

What was Lin Mo trying to do? Destroy himself?

The Doctor's projection paused, a flicker of confusion and wariness crossing his electronic eyes.

At the very limit, just as the crystal was about to shatter—

Lin Mo summoned every ounce of strength in his body and hurled this crystal, shining chaotically like a small sun, viciously at the scorched, cracked earth beneath his feet! The target was precisely that ley line fissure radiating residual heat!

"In my name! Seed of the Ley Line—Awaken!!"

Boom——!!!!

The instant the crystal touched the ground, it was like detonating an energy bomb! The chaotic radiance exploded instantly! An indescribable shockwave, mixed with blinding light, swept across the entire depression in a ring!

The scorched earth rolled like waves! That ley line fissure, struck by the chaotic energy, suddenly split open and widened as if alive! Deep within the fissure, instead of dark-red magma, a deep, heavy, orange-red radiance burst forth, pulsing like the heartbeat of the earth! An energy fluctuation far purer and more vast than before, carrying the will of the primal earth, erupted with a thunderous roar, as if an ancient primordial beast had been awakened from slumber!

【Detected 'Minor Ley Line Heart' (prototype) forcibly activated by high-energy impact! Energy level: Gao Wei! Status: Extremely unstable!】

【Warning! This energy source contains planar fragment origin characteristics; forced guidance may trigger uncontrollable spatial effects!】

The entire depression was shaking violently! Wrench and Xiang Lingna were sent flying by the shockwave, and the remaining two "Obstacle Clearers" were also knocked askew, their electronic systems blaring chaotic alarms! The Doctor's projection flickered and wavered violently under the intense energy impact, becoming blurred and indistinct!

"You… madman!" The Doctor's projection let out a distorted roar. He felt the terror and… uncontrollability of that awakened earth-origin power! This completely exceeded his calculations!

Lin Mo stood at the edge of the ley line fissure, the gale whipping his bloodstained clothes. His face was deathly pale, his body swaying on the verge of collapse, the purple vine-like patterns on his skin appearing even more eerie under the orange-red glow. But his eyes burned with a frantic flame, fixed intently on the pulsing orange-red orb deep within the fissure—the prototype of the Seed of the Ley Line!

He had gambled Priestess Liyana's gift (or rather, curse), gambled the Moonlight Crystal, forcibly activating the deeper ley line power beneath this wasteland! He would borrow the wrath of the earth to fight against the desperate situation before him!

However, the very instant this earth origin was forcibly awakened, another anomaly arose!

Beside the pulsing orange-red orb deep within the fissure, an extremely fine, yet abyss-deep strand of dark-purple energy, like a leech scenting blood, silently emerged and greedily coiled toward the newborn Seed of the Ley Line! The aura emanating from this dark-purple energy was identical to the withering power on the Rotclaw, yet purer and more ancient!

The corrupted world origin Priestess Liyana had transmitted, while activating the Seed of the Ley Line, had also branded a trace of the Rotclaw's origin imprint… upon this newborn ley line!

In the direction of the Withered Forest, Priestess Liyana's last faint spiritual connection was utterly severed. The Rotclaw's massive claw, which had torn through the silver light and reached for the falling elf, seemed to sense something the instant it was about to touch Priestess Liyana's body—its movement abruptly stalled! Its murky yellow giant eye turned suspiciously toward the wasteland, letting out a low growl mixed with fury and greed!