Chapter 74: Echoes of the Emerald Star, the Sleepy Priestess's Delirium, and the Doctor's Countdown

Filthy pus and shattered tissue fell like sticky raindrops, pattering down from the dome of the wreckage. The stench was so thick it suffocated, mixed with the acrid smell of burning flesh. The massive fleshy nest had become a ruin; the debris still twitched faintly like a dying beast, but the despairing, decaying field that had shrouded the entire space had already dissipated by more than half.

Lin Mo leaned on the "Leyline Arbiter," struggling to push himself up from the cold metal wall. The explosion's shock had churned his organs, and a wisp of fresh blood trickled from the corner of his mouth. The blue light of the Anchor of Order within him appeared slightly dimmer; the full-power strike just now had consumed immense energy and further agitated the Dark Purple Mark suppressed deep in his soul, which now sent waves of hidden pain and cold throbbing through him.

He immediately looked toward Sister Ai Li's direction. The silver-haired girl knelt half-seated not far away, her back against twisted pipes, breathing heavily. The wound on her left arm had been torn open by the explosion; dark red blood soaked through her damaged light armor, and the stubborn purple aura at the edges seemed to have deepened slightly. The Thorny Moonlight Shield had long since vanished, and the moonlight threads swirling around her fingertips were much weaker, clearly indicating that the strike which strangled the Eye of Corruption had exhausted her greatly.

"How are you?" Lin Mo stepped forward quickly, his voice carrying urgency.

"I won't die." Sister Ai Li wiped the blood from the corner of her mouth, her voice hoarse yet still cold and hard. She tried to channel moonlight power to purify the wound, but when the silver glow touched the purple aura, it was like cold water dripping into boiling oil, triggering a burst of sharp pain and a deeper sense of erosion, causing her to grunt and sweat to bead on her forehead. "This damn thing... is more stubborn than the ones outside."

Lin Mo's gaze darkened. The residual corruption in Sister Ai Li's wound possessed corrosiveness and stubbornness far exceeding withered beasts encountered before. This was no ordinary corruption; it was more like... a fragment of the Corrupted Claw's source pollution! He immediately summoned the blue light of the Anchor of Order and carefully guided a thread of it to the edge of her wound.

Hiss—!

It was like ice colliding with fire! The moment the order blue light touched the dark purple pollution, a violent sound of energy annihilation erupted! Sister Ai Li's body shuddered violently; the intense pain made her grit her teeth, but under the scouring of the order light, that stubborn purple aura was finally forced back slightly, allowing the silver glow at the wound's edge to penetrate deeper.

"Endure it," Lin Mo said in a deep voice, continuing to input faint order power. The blue light and purple aura clashed fiercely at the wound; every annihilation brought excruciating pain. Sister Ai Li's face was as pale as paper, beads of sweat sliding down, yet she made no sound, her cold eyes staring fixedly at the flickering blue-purple light.

Just then—

Hum...

An extremely faint resonance, carrying an indescribable freshness and vitality, brushed over the two's weary and tense nerves like a gentle breeze. The source was right at the center of that nest ruin!

Lin Mo's heart jolted, and he immediately stopped channeling energy. Sister Ai Li also endured the intense pain, her gaze sharp as she turned toward the ruin.

There, amidst the filthiest chunks of meat and slime remnants smoking with green fumes, a point of emerald green light was stubbornly piercing through the muck, flashing steadily. The source of the light seemed to be a branch, only arm-length, buried deep, carved entirely from the finest jade... a branch?

No, more accurately, a tender shoot. It was crystal clear throughout, flowing with a warm aura of life, its surface covered in fine veins resembling natural runes. Though buried deep within such filthy nest core, the aura it emitted was pure, without a single impurity, carrying the freshness of a forest and the sweetness of morning dew, utterly out of place with the surrounding environment, like an unparalleled green lotus blooming in mud.

It was exactly the emerald signal source the probe had detected earlier!

"It's it!" Wrench's voice, trembling with the sobbing of one who survived disaster, came as he rolled and crawled out from behind a collapsed control console. He was covered in dust and grime, the probe box slanted on his back, its surface covered in scratches and slime, but the Thorny Steel light at its core remained stable. "Boss! Sister Ai Li! I knew you guys were fine! That explosion was too fierce; I almost got buried alive! It's it! That signal! As pure as the scent on Xiang Lingna!"

Wrench excitedly pointed at that emerald tender shoot while quickly operating the barely functional remaining parts of the probe. Lines of chaotic but clearly directed data scrolled across the screen: 【Detected extremely high concentration of life source... natural affinity... same origin as target 'Heart of Emerald' fragment... weak activity... strongly sealed/suppressed...】

Lin Mo and Sister Ai Li walked to the front of the ruin. The closer they got, the stronger that fresh life aura became, even refreshing their spirits, and the purple aura erosion at Sister Ai Li's wound seemed temporarily suppressed by a few degrees. Lin Mo carefully used his sword tip to push aside the covering filth, revealing the full form of the tender shoot.

It lay quietly in the charred ruin, one end broken, the fracture smooth as a mirror, as if severed by a sharp blade. The other end branched into several small, equally crystal-clear leaves, their edges slightly curled, appearing somewhat withered. Most striking was that wrapped around the middle section of the shoot was an extremely complex energy seal woven from silver moonlight and emerald vines! The seal's light was dim, covered in fine cracks, clearly on the verge of collapse after long years and corrosive erosion. It was this wavering seal that barely maintained the shoot's last vitality and also shielded most of its aura.

"World Tree shoot?" Sister Ai Li looked at the complex seal, her cold voice carrying a hint of uncertainty, "A holy artifact from the Elven legends?" She had seen similar descriptions in the fragments left by Elven priests.

"Doesn't look like it." Lin Mo squatted down, carefully sensing the energy composition of that seal. The silver moonlight power was pure and cold, while the emerald vines were full of life's resilience; the two forces merged perfectly. This technique... bore a striking resemblance to Sister Ai Li's Thorny Moonlight power, yet was far more ancient, exquisite, and powerful. "This sealing technique... is from an Elven priest! And one left by an extremely powerful Moon Priestess!"

Just as Lin Mo's finger was about to touch that silver moonlight seal—

Hum!

The tender shoot shuddered violently! A faint yet crystal-clear fragment of thought, like the dream-speech of a sleeper disturbed, rushed directly into Lin Mo and Sister Ai Li's minds! This thought was not language, but a torrent of intense emotions mixed with despair, sorrow, guardianship, and unwillingness!

【... Guard... the last... hope...】

【... Mist... swallows... home...】

【... Moon Goddess... show mercy... seal...】

【... Key... stolen...】

【... Corrupted Claw... descends...】

【... Priestess Liyana... cannot hold... much longer...】

Countless fragmented images flashed forth: a withering mist blocking out the sky; elves struggling painfully in the mist, finally corrupted into dead wood; the figure of a priestess fighting with burning silver moon-fire against corrupted tentacles; a massive emerald core pierced by a cluster of purple-black crystals; and... a terrifying giant claw covered in rotten bark and crystals reaching out from the depths of the mist!

"Priestess Liyana?" Sister Ai Li caught the name in the thought, her pupils shrinking. Was this the name of the sealer? An Elven Moon Priestess trapped in desperation?

Lin Mo's mind was shaken even more violently! The giant claw appearing last in those fragmented images... was the Corrupted Claw! And that emerald core pierced by the crystal cluster... its form and aura were almost identical to the Heart of Emerald fragment in his territory! Only far larger and more majestic! Could it be...

"The key was stolen?" He suddenly recalled the keyword mentioned when the Corrupted Claw Mark whispered in the depths of his consciousness—"Key"! Was this sealed World Tree shoot, this final plea for help from the Elven priestess Priestess Liyana, related to that so-called "key"? And was the Corrupted Claw's target the core source similar to the Heart of Emerald guarded by the Elves?

"Boss! Something's wrong!" Wrench suddenly pointed to an inconspicuous corner on the probe box, where a blue indicator light representing spatial stability was flashing red frantically! "That explosion... seems to have damaged some support structures in this damn place! Spatial readings are fluctuating violently! Collapse could happen any moment! And also..." His bean eyes looked in horror toward the direction of the passage they came from, "A big one is coming! Energy readings... off the charts!"

As if to confirm Wrench's words, a terrifying roar filled with violence and destruction rolled from the depths of the wreckage like a muffled thunderclap! The entire metal structure trembled violently! A decayed pressure a hundred times stronger than the fleshy nest surged forth like a tangible tsunami!

The Doctor's cold electronic synthesized voice, like a death knell, rang through this dead space again via the remaining amplification devices within the wreckage:

【Annihilation Countdown: 00:09:59...】

【Experimental data collection complete... target response matches expectations...】

【Final annihilation program... initiated...】

【Enjoy... your final moments... insects...】

The cold countdown numbers appeared out of nowhere in the corner of the three's vision, like blood-dripping brands.